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WTF (spam posts)

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Joined 2006-09-24

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rtrooney - 28 July 2012 06:55 PM
jaap - 28 July 2012 05:58 PM

Easy: Any new member who posts their first thread, has to get it approved by an administrator.
After that, it should be no problem anymore.

I would hate to be the administrator that would have to make a value judgement on whether a new member is trustworthy based on the content of his/her first post. It’s not only impractical. I’m not sure it would be legal.

My original question/comment was how did this happen. I am certain that Marek and others are making sure it doesn’t happen again.

Many forums have probationary periods for new members where their first 5 or so posts must be approved by moderators. It’s perfectly legal. The question is if mods want that extra burden.

     
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inm8#2 - 28 July 2012 06:59 PM

Many forums have probationary periods for new members where their first 5 or so posts must be approved by moderators. It’s perfectly legal. The question is if mods want that extra burden.

You may be right. I’m not sure free speech issues apply here. But there are Forum Rules. If a poster adheres to the rules for the first five posts, and then goes berserk, what has the screening accomplished? I just don’t see a practical way to screen for spammers via external controls, eg, message screening. Versus internal controls, ie, spam filtering.

There have been no further postings. So, Im guessing Marek et al have everything under control.

For the time being, at least to me, all’s right in the world. (Of AG) Smile

     

For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.

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rtrooney - 28 July 2012 06:55 PM

My original question/comment was how did this happen. I am certain that Marek and others are making sure it doesn’t happen again.

you mean, again and again.

     
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Joined 2011-02-27

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The problem with “are you a robot?” type questions is that it doesn’t prevent spam accounts from being created manually, which is increasingly how spammers operate. (We do have a hidden robot check in our registration form. It’s a form field that people don’t actually see, so if it gets filled out it’s a robot. Quite effective…)

I have enabled stronger spam filtering (which checks against the TypePad AntiSpam database). I have also enabled links to be rewritten to go through a redirector first - this disincentivizes spamming to increase Google pageranks.

Hopefully this should help.

     

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Thanks a lot for the feedback and explanation, Marek.

     
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Joined 2006-10-06

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I think the spam filter has become that sensitive that it won’t allow me to update the GOG thread Embarassed

EDIT: It seems the site won’t accept my posts if there’s more than one link…

     
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DustyShinigami - 31 July 2012 09:05 AM

EDIT: It seems the site won’t accept my posts if there’s more than one link…

Noticed that too.

But when I started a new thread, I could put two links in the first post.
That system is flawed, imo.


Also: forbidding new users to make a new thread would cripple the Hint Requests & Technical Problems subforum…

I’m in favour of the least intrusive anti-spam methods: requiring a captcha for the first three-to-five posts of a new user, and only allowing users with 5+ posts (or 10+) to place more than one link in a post.
It can filter a lot of bots and spammers out of the new members while also not hindering the regulars in the slightest…

Oh, and I love that hidden bot-check. Thumbs Up

     

The truth can’t hurt you, it’s just like the dark: it scares you witless but in time you see things clear and stark. - Elvis Costello
Maybe this time I can be strong, but since I know who I am, I’m probably wrong. Maybe this time I can go far, but thinking about where I’ve been ain’t helping me start. - Michael Kiwanuka

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At Mystery Manor we screen every new member account and send out an email with some questions that a bot can’t answer.  This also lets us know if the email address is valid.  If we don’t hear back from the person within two weeks, we just delete the account.  It’s probably not a great solution for a big site like AG, but the two of us doing it can easily handle the 10-15 new accounts we get each week.

     

Carpe chocolate.

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Just send them a captha on the email for the verification. Haven’t seen a bot get past that.

     

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