Hello,

I recently started a WordPress blog using hosting at MyDomain (they offer the application "natively"). The blog works fine, however I have two plugins I can't seem to install correctly.

First, the WordPress.com Stats plugin requires the API Key. When I input it, I get the following message:

Error from last API Key attempt:

Your blog was unable to connect to WordPress.com. Please ask your host for help. (transport error - could not open socket: 110 Connection timed out)

Second, the Akismet plugin is not configured. When I go to Akismet page to insert my API key, it has the following message:

There was a problem connecting to the Akismet server. Please check your server configuration.

I assume the two issues are related... I approached my hosting provider about the subject and all they said is that they don't support WordPress, only provide means to install it.

To clarify, up to this point I have only been able to install plugins that don't require an API key.

What can I do to diagnose the problem and fix it? As a work-around, are there comparable stats and anti-spam plugins that don't require an API key?

Many thanks.