Handling SPAM

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LCZLAPINSKI

Post by LCZLAPINSKI »

It's a shame that spammers are spoiling the site for everyone. We might have to go to only allowing registered users to comment which is a shame. Don't know how much that would help though.

{Posted by LCZLAPINSKI}
santa c

a few ideas for handling the spam waves...

Post by santa c »

not sure it'd be a good idea... but there should be some restrictions like -
- posting every 30 secs time (unnecessary if the following applies, right?)
- checking if the msg is already in the comments (using checksum)
- auto marking comments including suspicious keywords (with priority for unregistered users) for mods to review
- blocking bots by using the "copy the word in the picture" method which's preety popular... for a good reason...
- and really important - disable table corrupting using html - makes disabling an annoyance... (or maybe html altogether - well other than some basic tags?)
- a "report spam" link to flag'em for mods to review (would require the bot protection image mechanism as well for unregistered users)

also a great thing would be to remove the "removed" comments from the list returned by the search in the problems page and maybe add a link to enable them? (could also be a default setting for registered users) as they're serious clutter for the avarage user...

of course what is said to be done by mods can be done by the general public if a slightly more open approach (look at the wiki forum) is applied but it's not a simple matter...

either way - you might want to look at the previous correspondence, here.

spam's getting worse, btw. it seems that the most spammed problem atm - 5652 - is mine and has over 1000 such comments...!

{Posted by santa c}
Andre Engels

Post by Andre Engels »

Another idea: Give posters and moderators the option of "remove all comments after this one." It won't stop the spam, but it will make it easier to remove it again.

{Posted by Andre Engels}
Andre Engels

Post by Andre Engels »

Also, a search over only undeleted comments rather than all comments would be useful here.

{Posted by Andre Engels}
admin

Post by admin »

well, i decided to take the more aggressive step of limiting comments to registered users. this may be a good idea anyway to encourage more accountability. other approaches would have required a lot more work... let's see how this works out.

adum

{Posted by admin}
santa c

Post by santa c »

wow that's an agressive approach indeed... but don't you think this is going to hurt the site? not even all registered users always post as such...

{Posted by santa c}
santa c

a couple more suggestions -

Post by santa c »

mods (and problem authors) could also use
- massive remove options -> checkbox style

also wherether or not the current method's to remain, you should make it translatable (the "only registered users can comment") and add a link to the register page with a note about it being a fast and free process...

also the register page itself should have a list of benifits registered users get, such as track of solved problems and customised language and such...

{Posted by santa c}
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