Enraged Webmasters Demand SideWiki Blocker! As Seen On Warrior Forum.

[Catalin Ionescu]

Hi fellow Warrior,

Recently Google has introduced a new "feature" with their latest Toolbar update. This is called SideWiki and it allows anyone to post public comments on your site, comments that appear IN your site as others view it.

Think blog comment spam, only 100 times worse. Why?

Because with SideWiki - you - the owner of the site who paid out of your own pocket for the domain, who worked so hard to maintain a good image and reputation have no say over the comments left by your visitors.

This new tool makes it child's play for anyone to come along and siphon off your traffic that you worked hard to build.

ANY visitor, including your fiercest competitor, can put on your own site one or more messages that say "This site is crap, come to my site."

Further more, someone determined enough can easily create a LOT of gmail accounts and post comments on each of your site pages for the sole purpose to destroy your online business.

If you aren't yet convinced of the utmost harm this SideWiki can do to your sites, your reputation and your very business online, just do a search on this very forum, or on Google and read what the vast majority of webmasters are feeling about it.

And it's not something bound to happen in some distant future. This very moment I am receiving Private Messages from online business owners such as you that see their revenue reduced to dust because of the comments on their sites. The harm is real, and is happening as we speak.

I've spent the past days looking for an effective way to put you back in control of your site.

Well, I am happy to say now there IS a solution...

... and is now available for you to put on your own site with little to no effort or time.

It's dead simple to install on any kind of static or dynamic website, Linux and Windows hosted, and it produces no extra load to your site.

Three Words.

YOU DID IT.

Please make sure Allen gets a copy of this for the Warrior forum and it would be a good idea to let Paul Myers test it if he is willing.

As far as I can see YOU HAVE A WINNER.

Congratulations,

George Wright

What's more, it doesn't block access to your site for those that have the toolbar installed. They can still see and interact with your site, they can even add their own Sidewiki comments...

... only nobody will be able to see their comments...

Truth is there's no way to prevent a user from leaving a SideWiki comment on any page of your site.

What this tool does is present a "sandboxed" version of your site to each individual visitor. Even the same visitor coming later to your site will see another "sandbox" that is comment free.

And the tool makes sure the comments they leave are only visible from within the same sandbox, in effect making them invisible to other visitors.

Even more, each sandbox self-destructs itself after a while, taking any comments your visitors may have left with it.

This is only one of the carefully designed features unique to SideWiki Blocker, and it effectively prevents your visitors from publicly sharing their "sandbox". Your site stays protected no matter what they're up to.

If George & I have managed to add it to our site, then anyone can do it.

Bev Clement

There isn't any cloaking or shady techniques used to make the application.

Only pieces that are commonly found on a ton of large and small sites out there, carefully selected and put together to make this work.

In the past days I have seen a few "free" blockers that you can get and put on your site without paying a cent to anyone. If you can't afford the more than reasonable price for SideWiki Blocker - which by the way comes with free updates for life and full support from someone that does programming for a living (me) - then please do yourself a favor and install one of those. It's better than nothing...

... however, I have downloaded and carefully analyzed each and every one of them that's out there and not even a single one of them matches the reliability and functionality SideWiki Blocker gives you.

After all, there must be some reason why SideWiki Blocker powers this very forum, don't you agree?

Fair warning:
Once the word is out about this application, Google might update their toolbar to "fix" it. This could be happening 3 days from now, or 9 months from now. In the past Google never updated his toolbar sooner than once in a few months...

... and once they do, I will be back to the drawing board and will not stop until a new solution to disable it will be found.

With your purchase, you are entitled to free SideWiki Blocker upgrades for life.

After you download it, please check your mail for important instructions on how to subscribe to my exclusive SideWiki Blocker customer list.

This is the only place where I frequently announce and publish updates to make sure you always get the best blocker there is humanly possible.

So, it's really up to you if you want to make a small investment to protect your online image now and in the future.

Sincerely,
Catalin Ionescu


Added on 10/03/2009:

New version 2.3 has been released and is now sent automatically to everyone that buys it (existing customers have already received their upgrade package through the customer list). In addition to the original features, here are the most outstanding ones:

+ WordPress native plugin

With this new feature, you simply upload and activate this plugin to your blog, then visually click buttons to set it up just the way you'd like.

You no longer need to edit your template files to protect your blogs.

+ Display SideWiki like messages to your visitors

You can now show a custom message to all visitors that have the Google Toolbar with
SideWiki installed. They will see this message in a SideWiki like box.

+ Better protection against sandbox sharing

With previous versions it was possible for a user to leave a comment on your site, then share his sandboxed version of the site to others, effectively working around the protection.

This is no longer possible, and sandboxed versions of the site that are viewed by your visitors automatically dissappear - along with any comment they may have left - as soon as they leave or refresh the page.

Even if they copy the link they see in their browser address bar and share it, others will be unable to see the comments they left.

+ Completely rewritten User Manual

With a lot of new features added, the User Manual was rewritten from scratch.

In 11 pages filled with explanations and pictures you can now follow step by step instructions specific for your particular type of site, whether it's static HTML, a WordPress blog, or any other dynamic site.

Advanced users have specially highlighted sections they can follow for more flexibility in the installation and extra options they can configure.

+ Affiliate Program

In the past days I've received a lot of inquiries about an affiliate program. It is now available, and you will find more instructions in the User Manual about it (or PM me).


Finally, I'd like to thank once more all the great warriors that have helped me make this a better application that anyone can benefit from. Your continuous support and feedback has been nothing short of outstanding. Thank you!


Added on 10/08/2009:

Many of you have expressed a very valid concern:

Will installing this SideWiki Blocker affect my SEO position in Google? Will Google, out of retaliation, decide to delist my site if I install this blocker?

Well, as of a few minutes ago I can give you official information from Google...

... installing my SideWiki Blocker will not, in any way whatsoever attract retaliation from Google. Here's a quote from the official notification I just received:

"To avoid further confusion, I'd like to clarify the following point:
Google Search and Sidewiki are separate. Sidewiki doesn't affect ranking and Google hasn't made any Sidewiki-related changes to its indexing. If anyone experiences diminished SEO as a result of any third-party tools, it's not related to us. It's up to you to make sure any tools you implement on your site do not adversely affect indexing on Google.com."

Sincerely,
Catalin Ionescu

[Robert Boduch]

I recently had the pleasure of "meeting" Catalin and I can tell you, he's the real deal -- a stand-up kind of guy. He went out of his way to lend a helping hand, not just once, but a couple of times without even being asked. Catalin even brought another issue to my attention that I wasn't aware of, allowing me to take action to remedy the situation.

I feel confident in knowing that his "free updates for life" and "full support" will be honored in a timely way. Sounds like a sure bet to me.

[sbucciarel]

I was/am a beta tester for this script and it's on most of my sites now. I don't have to worry about Sidewiki sabotage, spam or hijacking comments from my blogs anymore. This script is as easy to install as it gets and works .... what more could you want?

Don't let Google hijack your site. Get this.

[George Wright]

Hey Warriors,

No pressure here, no scare tactics just the facts. Buy this and save yourself a lot of problems. Save your self some embarrassment, loss of sleep and loss of money.

If you don't believe me and if you don't know why I'm saying this after all the talk about this subject then I can't convince you.

Buy it, Use it. That's my recommendation.

George Wright, P.S. Everyone is always saying "I buy so much stuff that I never use." Well, not this time. This only takes a couple of minutes to implement so you will use it. It's not just another HardDrive dust trap.

[uclaboyz]

Is this something that needs to be installed on every site that you own?

[TristanPerry]

I've got this installed on nearly all my websites now.

It's a brilliant script, a great idea.

It's definitely worth it. Who would want your website - potentially your entire business - ruined due to spam/silly comments written on SideWiki?

I wouldn't, hence would recommend this tool to everyone.

[Nealva61]

Looks like an essential tool if you have blogs and sites that you value.

I have a question about this sidewicki. Are the comments that someone leaves on an unprotected site viewable by every visitor or only the visitors that have the Google toolbar installed?

Cheers!
Neal

[leesr]

Does this work for wordpress?

[Joe118]

Am I correct in assuming you need to have JS enabled to benefit from this workaround for blocking sidewiki?

[Bev Clement]

I'm also a beta tester, and it is easy to use. Catalin has done a great job. It took me a couple of seconds to install it, and this is from someone who is non-techy.

It can be easily added to wordpress sites, very simple to do if you use xsitepro.

If you don't want people seeing comments which are untrue about you or your business, then you need this script.

Bev

[leesr]

If you don't want people seeing comments which are untrue about you or your business, then you need this script.

I also don't want them sharing site passwords right there at the site.

[Catalin Ionescu]

Hi,

Some very good questions here, and I'll try to address them now.

Originally Posted by uclaboyz

Is this something that needs to be installed on every site that you own?

Yes. The license is good for every site that you own.

Originally Posted by Nealva61

Are the comments that someone leaves on an unprotected site viewable by every visitor or only the visitors that have the Google toolbar installed?

Neal, yes the comments are viewable by everyone, even if they do not have the Google toolbar installed, provided they know how (it's not as hard as you might think). But without the Google toolbar, the comments do not appear on your own website, and that's the single thing that enraged webmasters.

Other people can write articles about you, reviews about your own product and business and so on, and they can do it without SideWiki. But they aren't on your site, seen by every visitor and potential prospect.

This tool puts you back in control of what appears on YOUR website. There's no way - apart from legal wars - that allows you to control what appears on other people sites.

Originally Posted by leesr

Does this work for wordpress?

Yes, it does work for WordPress. It's dead easy to install on WordPress powered sites too. Takes about 3 minutes.

Originally Posted by Joe118

Am I correct in assuming you need to have JS enabled to benefit from this workaround for blocking sidewiki?

Yes, this is correct. Please note that SideWiki itself needs to have JS enabled to function.

So if your visitor doesn't have JS enabled, SideWiki doesn't work for them in the first place.


Sincerely,
Catalin Ionescu

[abundantliving]

Wow... this sounds like a tool EVERY marketer with a website MUST have. I'm in!

[Jill Carpenter]

You got my $17 bucks. Just installed the first one of about a million for the day.

Thank you for doing this.

[pbennett]

ack, I tried to install it as a plugin and Wordpress returned the message "The plugin does not have a valid header"

How do you install it?

[Catalin Ionescu]

Hi pbennett,

The instructions on how to install SideWiki Blocker on your Wordpress blog are quite similar to the static HTML sites, only much easier. Please also refer to the User Manual that came inside the ZIP for additional instructions.

Here are the steps you need to take...

#1. Upload the JS file included in the ZIP file to the root of your blog using any FTP client of your choice. This is where wp-config.php and index.php are.

#2. Once you've uploaded it, go to your blog administration area and select Appearance, then Editor. Click on Footer on the right side of your screen. This will open the blog footer for editing.

Look for the </body> tag, and insert the line of code mentioned in the User manual right before it. If there is no </body> tag in your footer template, insert the line of code mentioned in the User manual as the last line of text.

Press "Update file" and you're done.

Please let me know via PM or email how it went for you.

Sincerely,
Catalin Ionescu

[Aljiro]

This SideWiki Blocker looks really good!

Darn I need to save up. I hope you offer this for a longer time. I am currently saving up so I can donate to the victims of typhoon Ondoy here in the Philippines.

Thank you.

[Jason_V]

I see there's javascript involved with this. Will this cause people's anti-virus to give them a false positive about the site it's installed on? Are there any other problems related to it because it's javascript?

Some people are saying that the sidewiki comments are actually showing up in the search engine results now. Will this tool prevent the comments from showing up in the search engines?

[Amy Bass]

Does this only give a sandboxed copy to google toolbar users and a regular version to other users?

[Amy Bass]

I uploaded it to my root directory and I added the code to my footer.php before the /body tag. I visit my blog and don't see any change. I use google toolbar and even tried from another computer using google toolbar and I don't see any change to the URL of the blog posts. I cannot figure out why it wont work for me.

UPDATE: I can get it to work on my blogs that are on their own hosting accounts, but not addon domain blogs. Is there a different procedure for those?

UPDATE AGAIN: I figured out a work around. Basically I uploaded the blocker to one of my domains and used the url location for it there in the footer for all my other sites. Not only did it work, but now when he has updates I only need to change the script in one location and all my sites will update automatically.

[Catalin Ionescu]

Amy, it should work equally well for both. If you PM me the link to one of the blogs where it doesn't work I can give you specific advice on how to fix it.

It gives a sandboxed version to each Toolbar user, and this sandbox recreated differently as soon as the user leaves the page. Non-toolbar users, or those with older versions of the toolbar won't see any difference whatsoever to how the site appears to them.

Jason, this SideWiki blocker does not interfere with anti-virus software in any way. None should give any false positives.

And no, there aren't any problems that I'm aware of that could potentially come from the use of this tool.

SideWiki blocker doesn't prevent people from leaving comments, nobody can do that. What it does is prevent the comments from showing on your own site, thereby allowing you control over what you want to display on your site.

[envisionnet]

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

I was/am a beta tester for this script and it's on most of my sites now. I don't have to worry about Sidewiki sabotage, spam or hijacking comments from my blogs anymore. This script is as easy to install as it gets and works .... what more could you want?

Don't let Google hijack your site. Get this.

Suzanne

please check your PM and email

Thanks
Alan

[Jason_V]

Originally Posted by Catalin Ionescu

Jason, this SideWiki blocker does not interfere with anti-virus software in any way. None should give any false positives.

And no, there aren't any problems that I'm aware of that could potentially come from the use of this tool.

SideWiki blocker doesn't prevent people from leaving comments, nobody can do that. What it does is prevent the comments from showing on your own site, thereby allowing you control over what you want to display on your site.

Thanks for answering my questions but I think I must have not made you understand well enough on my last question.

From what I understand, Sidwiki comments are now actually starting to show up in the search engine results. I understand your tool prevents the comments from showing up.

I guess what I'm trying to ask is does the tool actually not allow the comments to show up or does it just "mask" the comments.

For example, let's say I have a site and Joe Blow comes along and says in a sidewiki comment: "This site sucks, come to http://www.joeblow. com " I know your tool prevents that comment from being "seen" However, will it prevent Google from indexing the comment?

I hope I'm making sense.

[Amy Bass]

As far as SEO goes, make sure you use Canonical URLs and you'll be fine. For Wordpress the All in One SEO plugin will make them for you automatically.

[Catalin Ionescu]

Originally Posted by Jason_V

I guess what I'm trying to ask is does the tool actually not allow the comments to show up or does it just "mask" the comments.

It does not allow them to show on your site.

Originally Posted by Jason_V

However, will it prevent Google from indexing the comment?.

No. There is no way to prevent that, with my tool or any other tool. Further more, they don't even have to come to your site to leave a SideWiki comment for your site.

What you're saying is no different than a twitter comment saying the same, or a blog full of abuse against you. While these twitter comments, or blogs, or SideWiki comments all show up in the search engine results, none are actually displayed in your site, side by side to your content for all your visitors to see.

That is what SideWiki Blocker prevents.

[Jason_V]

Originally Posted by Catalin Ionescu

It does not allow them to show on your site.



No. There is no way to prevent that, with my tool or any other tool. Further more, they don't even have to come to your site to leave a SideWiki comment for your site.

What you're saying is no different than a twitter comment saying the same, or a blog full of abuse against you. While these twitter comments, or blogs, or SideWiki comments all show up in the search engine results, none are actually displayed in your site, side by side to your content for all your visitors to see.

That is what SideWiki Blocker prevents.

I understand now. Thank you for clearing that up for me.

[Josh Anderson]

If Allen is running this on the Warrior Forum then it is working... I have left a couple Sidewiki comments on forum threads and they have vanished.

That is enough of a testimonial for me.

I think I need this one :-)

[Jill Carpenter]

I don't know if it will make a difference, but there are discussions of "claim your site" with the first comment.

I'm thinking to do this with a cut and paste message for the main URL's.

Here is my question - If I do this message without sidewiki blocker installed, and then do the install, will the one message show up on the side?

I was thinking to do something along the lines of:

"The owner of this site would like to encourage you to please leave your comments in the comments section of the blog. Feel free to also use social bookmarking sites such as Stumbleupon or Digg if you would like to comment or find something of interest. A sidewiki blocker has been installed on this site in a effort to avoid misuse of this new technology. Any comments you leave within the sidewiki will only be viewable to you, and not to others who are visiting this address.

Overall web browsing safety is a priority for us and for our visitors.

Thank you for your visit!"

Or is there a quick little something to add into the script where this message would pop up? I'm thinking it would discourage comments in the first place, thereby avoiding the comments or spam winding up on the search engines (for those who aren't so clever)

Please let me know if this is an idea that can be worked with.

Thanks again,

Jill

[Aljiro]

Nice Idea Jill.

It might be helpful for me as well. Also I signed the petition in your siggy.

[Catalin Ionescu]

Jill,

SideWiki Blocker hides all messages, including the one you may create as a site owner, even after you've claimed your site. Technically there is no way to selectively hide only some, while leaving others visible.

However, your idea is so good that I have to do something about it.

Sincerely,
Catalin Ionescu

[Josh Anderson]

Something interesting I found that happens once a site is using this script is that people cannot delete their sidewiki comments after they post them... so if they post something dumb its permanently stuck in their sidewiki profile because every time they click the link to read the comment where they would have the option to delete or edit it they are instantly redirected and do not have enough time to click edit or delete.

If the comment is longer this leaves little time for anyone seeing it on a sidewiki profile to read the entire comment because they must visit the page it was posted on.

At the very least people should be using this script on all their unsecured download pages so that people cannot leave sidewiki comments on them which exposes them to being linked to from sidewiki profiles which are indexed by google.

[Catalin Ionescu]

Josh,

There is a way for owners to delete their own comments without even having to be on the site where they left them.

Before you follow the link, I'd like to emphasize the fact that only comment owner can delete the comments they made.

Here's the link you might find interesting:

Josh Anderson - Google Profile


Sincerely,
Catalin Ionescu

[kaanb1]

Just bought it to be on the safe side!

Thanks

Kaan

[steveniam]

It's a crisis for site owners but it an opportunity for someone to take advantage of.

It's seem I have to buy the script it to avoid any spammers or unwelcome comments.

[Josh Anderson]

Originally Posted by Catalin Ionescu

Josh,

There is a way for owners to delete their own comments without even having to be on the site where they left them.

Before you follow the link, I'd like to emphasize the fact that only comment owner can delete the comments they made.

Here's the link you might find interesting:

Josh Anderson - Google Profile


Sincerely,
Catalin Ionescu

Actually that was what I was referring to.

In order to see the delete option you have to click on the comment on your profile which directs you to the page you made the comment on which in the case of the comments I made on WF which is running your script you are immediately redirected from that page and are not able to click the delete link because of your script.

This is a little annoying for the commenter but I think it is a good annoyance for those who are deploying your script and want to cause that :-)

[Jill Carpenter]

Originally Posted by Josh Anderson

Actually that was what I was referring to.

In order to see the delete option you have to click on the comment on your profile which directs you to the page you made the comment on which in the case of the comments I made on WF which is running your script you are immediately redirected from that page and are not able to click the delete link because of your script.

This is a little annoying for the commenter but I think it is a good annoyance for those who are deploying your script and want to cause that :-)

True! If they can't edit or delete what they have said, they won't be able to say "I never said that" when the account gets banned.

Visitors could be warned up front "you will be unable to see others comments and unable to edit any comments you leave on this site."

[bellabee]

I'd like to use this on my e-commerce business site. I use Zencart, will that be possible?

[Catalin Ionescu]

Yes bellabee, SideWiki Blocker works with e-commerce sites.

If you are able to edit the template for your site - and I believe with Zencart that you should - then you can easily use this.

In fact, it is much easier to install it on a template driven site than it is on static HTML pages.

If you have any problems to integrate it with your Zencart site, please email me (you will get my personal email address when ordering) and I'll do my best to walk you through it.

[Catalin Ionescu]

Earlier today I received notification from a kind warrior that SideWiki blocker failed for him.

To verify this, I have downloaded the latest version of the Google Toolbar with SideWiki and tested it using both Internet Explorer 7 and FireFox 3.5 on a few sites - including Warrior forum - that have this blocker installed.

SideWiki blocker worked on all sites that I tried, with no exceptions.

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Does the blocker require any type of coding language on the server? Or is it strictly JavaScript?

I have HTML & PHP sites, but also have some sites that are built using a less common coding language.

[Catalin Ionescu]

It doesn't require any type of coding language on the server. It is strictly JavaScript and will work on all your sites.

A plugin for Wordpress to simplify the installation, as well as a ton of new features have been added in the latest version, including the ability to display (or not) a message of your choice - or use the predefined message - in a SideWiki like bar on the left or your screen to all Toolbar users.

All warriors that have bought it will soon receive a notification on the customer mailing list with instructions how to download their update.

[Amber Jalink]

Originally Posted by avenuegirl

I don't know if it will make a difference, but there are discussions of "claim your site" with the first comment.

I'm thinking to do this with a cut and paste message for the main URL's.

Here is my question - If I do this message without sidewiki blocker installed, and then do the install, will the one message show up on the side?

I was thinking to do something along the lines of:

"The owner of this site would like to encourage you to please leave your comments in the comments section of the blog. Feel free to also use social bookmarking sites such as Stumbleupon or Digg if you would like to comment or find something of interest. A sidewiki blocker has been installed on this site in a effort to avoid misuse of this new technology. Any comments you leave within the sidewiki will only be viewable to you, and not to others who are visiting this address.

Overall web browsing safety is a priority for us and for our visitors.

Thank you for your visit!"

Or is there a quick little something to add into the script where this message would pop up? I'm thinking it would discourage comments in the first place, thereby avoiding the comments or spam winding up on the search engines (for those who aren't so clever)

Please let me know if this is an idea that can be worked with.

Thanks again,

Jill

It seems that Google already has this to a point... I'm wondering if it could be used for your idea?

Sidewiki : Create a webmaster Sidewiki entry - Toolbar Help

According to google, all you have to do is:

Confirm your site, then complete their steps to "add it as owner".

Perhaps that will then appear right from the start, and stop people from bothering if they know that its there.

Alternately, if it STILL appears in search results, I'm thinking that people will use it JUST for the sake of getting the SEO aspects

You can supposedly "report" a post as abusive, but I highly doubt Google has hundreds of people sitting there daily JUST to delete people who abuse/spam the side wikis.

Could have been a good idea - unfortunately unless its monitored 100%, or like Wordpress where a person can turn OFF blog comments that also WON'T appear in Google, Google is just opening the door to a LOT of unhappy people.

Just read a sidewiki on Bing lol - first post, the person said they switched 100% to bing because they are furious at the sidewiki at Google.

Anyway - thanks to Catalin for creating this!

Amber

[Rosie Cottis]

Originally Posted by Amy Bass

UPDATE AGAIN: I figured out a work around. Basically I uploaded the blocker to one of my domains and used the url location for it there in the footer for all my other sites. Not only did it work, but now when he has updates I only need to change the script in one location and all my sites will update automatically.

I just bought this and assuming Amy is right and you can install on one site and then call the script on all other sites by quoting the full URL of the single installation, this is SO cool and should be included in the manual. Some of us have a lot of sites and this will save a huge amount of time when there are updates.

Just wanted to point this up in case Amy's comment was lost in all the other praise for this script :-)

Rosie

[Chris Morris]

Just picked up a copy.

Thanks Catalin!

[Spencer Chun]

Please send me the download link Transaction ID: 86X92835PS386803M

[rwtilton]

Thank you for this excellent solution! I just bought it.

[Catalin Ionescu]

Originally Posted by Rosie Cottis

you can install on one site and then call the script on all other sites by quoting the full URL of the single installation

Hi Rosie, that's a great suggestion.

It is included in the newest User Manual which you should receive shortly, down the "advanced users" section. There are some small issues that could arise for regular users from this approach, and that is why I don't recommend it to everyone.

However, it can definitely be done, and it's a time saver if you have many sites when upgrade time comes.

Originally Posted by Spencer Chun

Please send me the download link Transaction ID: 86X92835PS386803M

Spencer,

Download links are automatically and instantly available through WarriorPlus immediately upon payment, and also two emails are sent with important instructions. Please check your bulk email folder if you haven't received them.

If all else fails, please let me know via PM, and I'll immediately send you your copy.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Catalin Ionescu

[tvanslooten]

If I have comments left in SideWiki on my sites and I install this blocker, will it delete those comments or block them from being seen moving forward?

Travis

[Catalin Ionescu]

Travis,

It doesn't matter if the comments were left prior to installing this tool. They will no longer be seen on your site after you install it.

They are still there, but it will not be possible for your visitors to see them side by side to your site content on your site.


Sincerely,
Catalin Ionescu

[timapps]

Hi Catalin,

After reading all the messages above sound like a 'Must Have' tool.

You have got my vote of confidence.

Cheers