Suggestions on how to fight Spam (pop, members, review, myspace)

Guybrush · 02-19-2009, 05:04 AM

Heya!

The last few days, I've seen several suggestions for preventative measures against all the spam that goes on around the boards. I thought it would be better if we could gather all those ideas in one thread.

So, I see a lot of spammers coming in during the day, posting ads and littering threads with no-content posts in an attempt to get to the 15 posts link-limit. This takes time and effort for the mod team to deal with, so maybe we can come up with some preventative measures that are actually smart and feasible. I don't know what goes in vbulletin and what doesn't. Maybe you don't either, so instead of worrying about what can or can't be done, just post suggestions and if there are enough, maybe one will be heads and shoulders better than everyone elses and could be a potential solution.

Here's one idea :

Make it so that there's a post count limit of 1 to post in every forum except introductions. That means that the first post of any user would have to be in the introductions forum - and posts there would add to post count. Now, change the permissions for the introductions forum so that they match those of the journals forum. Instead of posts being immediately submitted, they need to be reviewed and accepted by a moderator.

I'm not sure if it would reduce the amount of work for moderators significantly, but it might reduce spam on forums outside introductions. If you enforce rules that introduction threads should be more than just a line or two, then it should also increase the amount of proper introduction threads that say a bit more than "hi, new newb here!" ..

What do you think?

Have a better idea?

jackhammer · 02-19-2009, 05:51 AM

There are some measures currently being worked upon that would virtually eliminate spam but we don't want to jinx it so watch this space!

~~coryallen2~~ · 02-19-2009, 06:17 AM

your 15 second rule is pretty nice i think... or you can fight it by you know how on myspace it say are you sure you want to post this? or put random captcha codes

Guybrush · 02-19-2009, 06:24 AM

.. captcha is to prevent nonhuman posters from posting. I don't think that's a problem here.

If you say "are you sure you wanna post this?", then people will click "Yes" and continue spamming.

Maybe you like the 15 posts rule for links, I like it too, but I don't think it's a good enough to be the only countermeasure on a board that at one point had over 4000 users on at the same time.

~~coryallen2~~ · 02-19-2009, 06:25 AM

i know but i don't think someone will go through all that work just to spam a board...or if they do just tell mods to edit posts to make them look liek retards...ahha jk

Guybrush · 02-19-2009, 06:36 AM

^Well, the sad thing about a solution that makes posting more work in general is that while punishing spammers, you're also punishing all active members on the board unless you wanna try to code in yourself exceptions and so on.

Basically, I can see that your solutions require extra coding/plugins/modification of the boards as they work now and although I don't think that should stop you from making suggestions, I think it's a definite drawback when there are better, less labour intensive ways of dealing with this problem.

~~coryallen2~~ · 02-19-2009, 06:39 AM

im not sayign to make everyone have to do them im saying if there is alot of activity in one thread (5 or 10) more posts in a short tiem the codes should pop up for a 5 to 10 minute time period?

EDIT:that is 5 or 10 posts from the same user

Guybrush · 02-19-2009, 06:44 AM

Well, by that time, the user has still managed to spam a lot and you still probably have to write the code to make something like that happen. Furthermore, the system wouldn't actually prevent spam, just make it more tedious to post. So far, I think it sounds like a lot of work for a result with potentially little significance.

~~coryallen2~~ · 02-19-2009, 06:45 AM

nothing is easy? desprate times call for desprate measures!!!! make me a mod and ill fight spam with an iron fist!!!!RAWR...lol

Guybrush · 02-19-2009, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coryallen2

nothing is easy? desprate times call for desprate measures!!!! make me a mod and ill fight spam with an iron fist!!!!RAWR...lol

You could start by deleting some of your own earlier posts then.

02-19-2009, 05:04 AM	#1 (permalink)
Guybrush Juicious Maximus III Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scabb Island Posts: 6,525	Suggestions on how to fight Spam Heya! The last few days, I've seen several suggestions for preventative measures against all the spam that goes on around the boards. I thought it would be better if we could gather all those ideas in one thread. So, I see a lot of spammers coming in during the day, posting ads and littering threads with no-content posts in an attempt to get to the 15 posts link-limit. This takes time and effort for the mod team to deal with, so maybe we can come up with some preventative measures that are actually smart and feasible. I don't know what goes in vbulletin and what doesn't. Maybe you don't either, so instead of worrying about what can or can't be done, just post suggestions and if there are enough, maybe one will be heads and shoulders better than everyone elses and could be a potential solution. Here's one idea : Make it so that there's a post count limit of 1 to post in every forum except introductions. That means that the first post of any user would have to be in the introductions forum - and posts there would add to post count. Now, change the permissions for the introductions forum so that they match those of the journals forum. Instead of posts being immediately submitted, they need to be reviewed and accepted by a moderator. I'm not sure if it would reduce the amount of work for moderators significantly, but it might reduce spam on forums outside introductions. If you enforce rules that introduction threads should be more than just a line or two, then it should also increase the amount of proper introduction threads that say a bit more than "hi, new newb here!" .. What do you think? Have a better idea? __________________ Something Completely Different

02-19-2009, 05:51 AM	#2 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	There are some measures currently being worked upon that would virtually eliminate spam but we don't want to jinx it so watch this space! __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”

02-19-2009, 06:24 AM	#4 (permalink)
Guybrush Juicious Maximus III Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scabb Island Posts: 6,525	.. captcha is to prevent nonhuman posters from posting. I don't think that's a problem here. If you say "are you sure you wanna post this?", then people will click "Yes" and continue spamming. Maybe you like the 15 posts rule for links, I like it too, but I don't think it's a good enough to be the only countermeasure on a board that at one point had over 4000 users on at the same time. __________________ Something Completely Different

02-19-2009, 06:36 AM	#6 (permalink)
Guybrush Juicious Maximus III Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scabb Island Posts: 6,525	^Well, the sad thing about a solution that makes posting more work in general is that while punishing spammers, you're also punishing all active members on the board unless you wanna try to code in yourself exceptions and so on. Basically, I can see that your solutions require extra coding/plugins/modification of the boards as they work now and although I don't think that should stop you from making suggestions, I think it's a definite drawback when there are better, less labour intensive ways of dealing with this problem. __________________ Something Completely Different

02-19-2009, 06:44 AM	#8 (permalink)
Guybrush Juicious Maximus III Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scabb Island Posts: 6,525	Well, by that time, the user has still managed to spam a lot and you still probably have to write the code to make something like that happen. Furthermore, the system wouldn't actually prevent spam, just make it more tedious to post. So far, I think it sounds like a lot of work for a result with potentially little significance. __________________ Something Completely Different

02-19-2009, 06:17 AM	#3 (permalink)
~~coryallen2~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: lorain,ohio Posts: 909	your 15 second rule is pretty nice i think... or you can fight it by you know how on myspace it say are you sure you want to post this? or put random captcha codes

02-19-2009, 06:25 AM	#5 (permalink)
~~coryallen2~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: lorain,ohio Posts: 909	i know but i don't think someone will go through all that work just to spam a board...or if they do just tell mods to edit posts to make them look liek retards...ahha jk

02-19-2009, 06:39 AM	#7 (permalink)
~~coryallen2~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: lorain,ohio Posts: 909	im not sayign to make everyone have to do them im saying if there is alot of activity in one thread (5 or 10) more posts in a short tiem the codes should pop up for a 5 to 10 minute time period? EDIT:that is 5 or 10 posts from the same user

02-19-2009, 06:45 AM	#9 (permalink)
~~coryallen2~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: lorain,ohio Posts: 909	nothing is easy? desprate times call for desprate measures!!!! make me a mod and ill fight spam with an iron fist!!!!RAWR...lol