To set up the Akismet (for comment spam) and WordPress.com Stats plugins, you’ll need an API key from wordpress.com. This video shows you how to get the key, where to put it, and how to activate the plugins.
Akismet
Akismet compares your comments with the Akismet web service (from Automattic, the creators of WordPress) to see if they look like spam or not and also lets you review what it catches under your blog’s “Comments” admin screen. From there, you can manage your comments, allowing, denying, or even blocking.
WordPress.com Statistics
Installing the WordPress Stats plugin is just like installing Akismet, all you need is to put in your API Key and the rest is automatic, or, Automattic. Once it’s running it’ll start collecting information about your page views, which posts and pages are the most popular, where your traffic is originating from, and what posts people click on when they leave–which might help you understand why they’re leaving. It’ll also add an overview screen to your dashboard. A small chart will appear in your admin bar if you are running WordPress 3.1 or later. And that’s about it. Less is more.
