It's been discussed often before and long after this thread dies. Spam. We hate it. Period.
Is there anything else or anything more we can do together to stop it?
All suggestions are welcome. Spam is not.
Welcome SPAMMERS!
The welcoming e-mail received by new members reads something like this.
Hi !username,
Thank you for registering at !site.
The site is run by people like you, out of our own pockets, and in our spare time. We all only know each other through the site, we sit all over the world, and frankly it is a wonder that the site is on air, it is only because everyone is helping out.
Being a member means that the project also is yours - this is why we say ALL LMR ARE BELONG TO US!
To help you navigate around trouble, it is a good idea to read the FAQ (top menu)
You may now log in to !login_uri using the following username and password:
username: !username
password: !password
You may also log in by clicking on this link or copying and pasting it in your browser:
!login_url
This is a one-time login, so it can be used only once.
After logging in, you will be redirected to !edit_uri so you can change your password.
Welcome, friend
Should we perhaps rephrase this text? Make it more like a stern warning not to abuse our site? I kinda like the text the it is is. It is super friendly and it really demonstrates the kind of community we want to be. And the kind of community that we are. In between spam attacks.
Rik
Spam policy statement
I’ll share what I suggested to rik on the Shout Box.
Given that almost all spammers on this site are new, if there was an interim step during sign up where the spam policy was posted, I think it would help. The idea is to clearly tell people joining the site to spam that they are wasting their time because they will be quickly detected, removed, and their posts deleted.
A policy statement won’t stop all, but given the amount of time/effort spent on spam elimination, if even a fraction of new spammers were deterred, it would be worth it.
Most users are used to seeing some sort of acceptable use policy for their Internet Service Provider or other web services, so I don’t think it would be a big hassle for new users to deal with.
Lastly, you admins are in the trenches, and can best judge if this would be helpful or just a waste of time. I respect and appreciate all you do. Thanks!
Friendly is great.
Friendly is great, and appropriate for a welcome email to new members. I’m thinking a quick web page they see and have to click an “Accept” button that displays a short policy on spam.
Example:
“Thanks for your interest in Let’s Make Robots! To continue the sign up process, please read the acceptable use policy statement below and click “ACCEPT” to continue.
This site is intended to provide a supportive and friendly community for robot hobbyists. The LMR community will actively detect and remove users who’s only purpose is to post unwanted and unrelated links on our forums. All “spam” posts of this nature will quickly be removed. So if you are here to spam, please don’t waste your time or ours. Everyone else, welcome to LMR!”
<ACCEPT> <DECLINE>
I think a easy way to
I think a easy way to eliminate the [human] spammers is by creating a rule to how the system works.
If member x has less then 1 post and his status is unapproved the posts member x makes will not display untill his status is changed to approved by an admin or moderator.
This adds more work to admin/mods, but I believe there are many people on this site which can fulfill such a role. This also depends on the backbone of the website. I know popular blogging engines have such solutions at hand, have no experience with drupal(that is the cms in use, right?) so i would not know.
Which bringes me to my second point. Why isnt the source code of LMR Open Source Software. More people contributing to the maintaince of the code could result in a even more community driven website.
I used to be in a website in
I used to be in a website in which people had to have something like 10 posts before they could post a link.
But do you think that some of the spammers are really human? It seems to me that they are all robots… and for robots, a simple captcha during the inscription (and for example for the first 20 posts) is usually a good start.
A “report abuse” button would help too (but once again, that’d need some work)
I like this idea.Even if it
I like this idea.
Even if it is a software robot, if the whole post is denied if there is any URL linked, it’ll confuse the bots unless the human spammer takes the time to visit the site and see what is going on.
I’ve been assuming most of these spammers were human. If they are bots, you can also do the trick where you have to type in a verification code from a graphic in order to post.
Maybe a hybrid solution, where the first 20 posts require the person to enter a verification code. Then that requirement goes away. Again, that'll really only deter software bots.
The verification code is
The verification code is called a captcha;)
spam moderator?
Dang, if there was any way i could help you guys out by being a spam moderator, I’d love to. I have no knowledge of Drupal or anything, but I could like, I don’t know, maybe have a little post clipboard? I dunno… Still, if I can help, just tell me.
Capt. Cha
Well, we already have a CaptainObvious. Now we need a CaptCha.
Dude! You forgot Captain
Dude! You forgot Captain Tuna!
Maybe you could give a select few
slight admin powers. like the powers to delete posts. to keep the site clean.
also, under each post next to reply would be a report spam button. pressing this button would start a count. after 5 counts by different users, it kills the post, so we are all like mini mods
I like the idea of having
I like the idea of having multiple users ban together to fight spam. Maybe after like 50 or 100 posts, users can have the ability to ‘report spam’ and it deletes to then be checked by an admin, if it’s spam, it’s gone, if not, the admin can make that decision.
That sounds like a lot of coding…have fun Rudolph and whoever else works on that stuff!
I don’t think we’ll need to
I don’t think we’ll need to go THAT far… some simple implements should work. They’re not going to want to set up a new e-mail account everytime they want to post a link. (well, you never know… some are pretty crazy) and use some more simple techniques, like retina scanning, fingerprint scanning, and of course, we need to test your blood against your first borns to make sure they match.
you could have maybe a
you could have maybe a report spam button, which, when clicked would highlight the topic for admins to help weed out the spammers faster. Or with enough "report spam clicks, the post/topic/whatever is deleted.
What about using the spam
What about using the spam module from Drupal? This should be easy implemented. A spam report button, as iCon suggested, would also be helpful.
Spam and the eye of the beholder
Hi Nick,
I agree. Not every commercial message is spam. I deliberately did not specify any definition. I am just trying to mobilize the community to take a stand against the obvious pollution. To make people join the effort.
About the spam-bots: I am a big fan of irony. Not so much in this case. Yet, the opinion among admins and spam-fighters is that “our spam” is mostly generated by so-called “sweat shop spammers”. People who create SEO links and get paid an amount per dozen.
I like the suggestion to give the new member a very simple task that only a human could perform. For that to work beyond the second day, it would have to vary a bit though. It should be “the second link” in one e-mail and “the fifth link” the next. Or maybe “the yellow link”. Del is investigating ready made software solutions for this kind of prevention system. Wish him luck and strength!