Spam

[maroual]

Hi,
Because there are more and more spam posts in the wiki jawaka, I was wondering if the following URL could be of any help http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog_spam

[maroual]

A basic filter method is explained on http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Anti-spam_Features

I dunno if this method is compatible with MediaWiki 1.4.2, so I  strongly encourage you to read the full article.

Example $wgSpamRegex setting

Place a line like this somewhere in your LocalSettings.php file.

# If this Regular expression matches the text of an edit, then the edit is disallowed.
$wgSpamRegex = "/shit|fuck|viagra|adult-website.com|overflow:\s*auto;\s*height:\s*[0-4]px;/";

Please just tell me if you are already aware or if you need some more help and want me to dig the question some more.

[Dunk]

Thanks fior the pointers Maroual.

I do not consider it a major problem - it only takes one minute to remove. We have had some over the past week or so but that has been the first we have seen for several months.

I guess we need to await Barry's return and see how he feels about it then.

[maroual]

Could you guys take a look at Smellyourharmonica updates?

It seems they are a bit artistic but have no meaning at all. It might be some more pollution... intentional wrong info could be worse than spam.

[Dunk]

Given the recent sustained spate of spamming...

Given the lack of contributors...

Is it worth closing the wiki to all comers?  Anyone who wanted to contribute could apply here to do so.

[Barry]

Given the recent sustained spate of spamming...
Given the lack of contributors...
Is it worth closing the wiki to all comers?  Anyone who wanted to contribute could apply here to do so.

Thing is with this wiki software, "closing the wiki to all comers" just isn't an option. I can force people to have to register before they are able to modify pages, but that's about it. Also, I don't see how a "lack of contributors" would lead to closing up the wiki (do I smell a red herring?).

[maroual]

Hi Barry,

There should exist a bunch of Mediawiki packages and other tools in order to prevent spam. IMO the best technique would combine:

(1) a picture reading test on the subscription page in order to get rid of robots
(2) a confirmation click on a emailed URL in order to validate the subscriptor's email
These are quite usual on websites such as eBay, what do you think of this solution?

Some also recommend to set up automatic filters and blacklists, but this might become a kind of automatic censorship and may not be so easy to maintain. However this is probably the fastest to implement and could be a temporary workaround.

[maroual]

Is it worth closing the wiki to all comers?  Anyone who wanted to contribute could apply here to do so.

I don't think so.
For instance, if I had to discuss first in a forum before I could write a line in a wiki, I would probably not have made a single contribution.
The advantage of a wiki (I guess) is also to allow very small contributors, in this case the least effort + the fast and easy access are a good source of motivation.

[Barry]

There should exist a bunch of Mediawiki packages and other tools in order to prevent spam. IMO the best technique would combine:

(1) a picture reading test on the subscription page in order to get rid of robots
(2) a confirmation click on a emailed URL in order to validate the subscriptor's email
These are quite usual on websites such as eBay, what do you think of this solution?

Some also recommend to set up automatic filters and blacklists, but this might become a kind of automatic censorship and may not be so easy to maintain. However this is probably the fastest to implement and could be a temporary workaround.

Hi Maroual,

Captcha and validation via email, hmmmm... I haven't come across any add-on's to MediaWiki that enable these things, but then again I may not have looked in the right places. I'll do some research and get back to you on that. To try and produce those scripts myself is beyond my capacities btw -- the MediaWiki source code is an enigma wrapped in a riddle dipped in a conundrum run through a mystery immersed in a -- well you get the idea!

[Barry]

Maroual: you are now a wiki SysOp. This means you can block user accounts if you think they are spamming.

[emdebe]

Maroual: you are now a wiki SysOp. This means you can block user accounts if you think they are spamming.

Before we know it, we will all be Sysyops, weeding out spam...  
But hey, any helping hand is welcome...

Barry, just keep on researching every option available, to short-circuit the bastards...  

[maroual]

"Master, moving stones around is one thing. This is totally different."

Ok. I'll try to secure the perimeter

[Barry]

The Force is strong within Maroual...  

[Barry]

A basic filter method is explained on http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Anti-spam_Features

I dunno if this method is compatible with MediaWiki 1.4.2, so I  strongly encourage you to read the full article.

Example $wgSpamRegex setting

Place a line like this somewhere in your LocalSettings.php file.

# If this Regular expression matches the text of an edit, then the edit is disallowed.
$wgSpamRegex = "/shit|fuck|viagra|adult-website.com|overflow:\s*auto;\s*height:\s*[0-4]px;/";

Please just tell me if you are already aware or if you need some more help and want me to dig the question some more.

Duh! I totally overlooked that post you made, Maroual (to my defense: I was on holiday in Brazil at the time!).

I didn't go with the $wgSpamRegex variable which is cumbersome to maintain. Instead I've installed MediaWiki's SpamBlacklist extension. We'll see if it reduces the amount of spam. Let me know if you notice anything weird when editing pages - this extension is listed as "experimental" after all...

[maroual]

Hi Barry,

Thanks for this installation.

Unfortunately, our current spammer url is not yet listed in the Spam_blacklist in despite of a request to block him (made by Arcy on March 10th 2006).

It seems the module also allows to add urls in the Zappa Wiki Jawaka local blacklist, but I couldn't figure out how...