SPAM posts are getting so frequent now

Started by D.A. Bentley (SuddenPlanet), March 05, 2021, 04:09:08 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

D.A. Bentley (SuddenPlanet)

I wish we could Flag SPAM posts on the Forum.  I would volunteer to be a Spam Moderator if there was such a feature.

Derek

Kadri

Do you mean anything different then the "Report to moderator" option on the lower right  side of the posts?

D.A. Bentley (SuddenPlanet)

Oh, wow!  I never saw that link before.  So if we click that does someone actually sift through the Spam and delete them?

Kadri

Yes. I always do this. When i am around here.

WAS

Yep, that all goes to the moderator portal. Uhm, but still. It's so frequent and constant. And some sits around for over 24/hrs, and in some cases indexed and you have to manually request their removal or wait for the pages listing to expire (even if the spider can't reach that message/post/page it will remain in a listing as a 404/500 doesn't necessarily mean it isn't there).

I still think users with X posts should be able to just delete these posts, at least for now. It's a small community and most well known, and those with those high post counts and activity can often see the posts soon after they're posted.

Another simple way is to simply apply a new user group to new members under like 20 posts or something and simply approve their posts. That way they aren't posted, and in the moderator center for approval, and can easily be reviewed for SPAM before being public, and since the spam accounts are always new accounts which post once, or numerous times, should catch them, and often new real members don't post much either so they're either going to be quickly out of this approval group based on post count or not be much worry as they post for help once or twice and disappear.

Dune

Both good ideas. I'm quite often around, and report like hell. The last point you make is a good one I think. Maybe more work than simply removing an account, but less annoying?

KlausK

I am here at least once a day, so I SEE EVERYTHING :o :o :o 8)
CHeers, Klaus
/ ASUS WS Mainboard / Dual XEON E5-2640v3 / 64GB RAM / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 TI / Win7 Ultimate . . . still (||-:-||)

Hannes

Holy cow, this is so annoying! Actually the spammers are answering other spammers' spam! >:(

masonspappy

Quote from: WAS on March 05, 2021, 06:22:18 PMAnother simple way is to simply apply a new user group to new members under like 20 posts or something and simply approve their posts. That way they aren't posted, and in the moderator center for approval, and can easily be reviewed for SPAM before being public, and since the spam accounts are always new accounts which post once, or numerous times, should catch them,
That's a good idea.  Sometimes the spam here does get to be a bit much.

Hannes

Agree. This user group thing would be a good idea.

crisb

Hey guys,

I'm Cris, and I'll be working on trying to iron out things like Spam along with a bunch of other stuff.

These ideas are good. The option for people that have less than 10 posts to be 'held for review', and the option of users with a high amount of posts being able to delete. Obviously implementing some of these things are restricted by the forum software itself.
I'll be looking into it.

I had suggested to try another re-captcha system, but apparently there were issues with that.

However, I've been gradually ramping up on things like this to allow the team to concentrate on coding and y'know - Terragen. :)

cheers, and a happy Friday to all !

crisb.

WAS

I tried all the captcha systems that looked competent at NWDA, and none of the "easy" access ones worked. The only one that actually prevents spam is the physical "I'm not a Robot" checkbox from Google, and that is annoying, as sometimes it'll make me go through lengthy procedures to verify cause I'm usually behind a VPN.

SMF can do user groups and verified posting (for users under a post count; basically just all users under 10 posts are part of the new members or whatever group, and that group has posting approval enabled), but as far as post limits and mod abilities, that would require modifying the code, or maybe a plugin for it, but I doubt it. SMF seems to be dying out. The latest versions have very little plugins beyond the absolutely needed ones.

WAS

PS Nice to meet you, Cris! Welcome to the staff (though I'm not sure if this is recent or not and you've just been lurking around behind the scenes).

Dune

Yes, good to see another (new) member of staff here. Welcome!

Having new 'users' approved before they can hit the site with spam may be a hassle and problematic too, as a spammer can just apply, get approven (why not?), and spam along. A little more work, but still possible. But it might deter a lot of them.
I actually don't know if bots can spam, or would they be real people? Well, people :P

crisb

Quote from: WAS on March 26, 2021, 01:55:32 PMPS Nice to meet you, Cris! Welcome to the staff (though I'm not sure if this is recent or not and you've just been lurking around behind the scenes).
Hi ! :) I've been lurking for a few weeks now whilst we've been ramping up on other things. I'll be move visible moving forward. We are trying to push many things forward at once, the tutorials and new videos are one part. Good things are coming ! It's really wonderful seeing this vibrant community that understands TG so well, and also understands how much work it is to keep pushing forward. Dealing with spam is such a low energy sink hole, so we're up for any suggestions on how to deal with it. 
Thanks all !

crisb.