Spam Blacklist Suggestions
Please post your suggestions for additions to the URL spam blacklist here, together with reasons and the suggested regexp. At least one admin who is getting annoyed by the spamming of the help page is monitoring this page, so there is a good chance of sensible suggestions getting added. Also sign any suggestions so an admin/sysop can easily contact you if required.
volny.cz -- spammed. -- JesseW 21:55, 13 July 2007 (BST) jeeran.com -- spammed. -- JesseW 21:58, 13 July 2007 (BST)
Block 203.162.27/4 (that is, all the IPs that start with 203.162.27 ) as I see multiple spams from that range. JesseW 22:01, 13 July 2007 (BST)
Use a captcha
I suggest trying a Captcha to start. I know it's available with MW, because it's in use on en.wikipedia for non-logged in users adding external links. I'll see if I can dig up more details on it. It's possible our spammers are actual people, rather than bots, but I doubt it. In any case, a captcha is worth a try. JesseW 20:55, 12 July 2007 (BST)
- Here's the page describing the extension you'd need to install. http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ConfirmEdit Let me know if I can be of further help. JesseW 20:59, 12 July 2007 (BST)
- User:Netocrat and I discussed using something of the sort some time back but we were concerned about the effect on real users, so I would like to see how it goes building up a list of blacklisted URLs first. --Flash Gordon 21:23, 12 July 2007 (BST)
- Note that you can set it up so it only asks for a captcha when a external URL is given by a IP user. I think that would severely mitigate any effect on real users. And I doubt if spam blacklist method will be very effective, as (so far) I haven't see any repetition in the sites that are spammed, so blocking them after the fact is not useful... JesseW 21:58, 13 July 2007 (BST)
- OK, I'll have a more serious look at it soon. --Flash Gordon 22:38, 13 July 2007 (BST)
- Have you had any time to look at the CAPTCHA extension? Is there anything else I can do to help? JesseW 07:26, 29 August 2007 (BST)
- OK, I've installed it and I think set it so that it only applies to annonymous users and then only when they add URLs or on creating an account. Not bothered with the graphics stuff yet. --Flash Gordon 08:57, 9 September 2007 (BST)
- Have you had any time to look at the CAPTCHA extension? Is there anything else I can do to help? JesseW 07:26, 29 August 2007 (BST)
- OK, I'll have a more serious look at it soon. --Flash Gordon 22:38, 13 July 2007 (BST)
- Note that you can set it up so it only asks for a captcha when a external URL is given by a IP user. I think that would severely mitigate any effect on real users. And I doubt if spam blacklist method will be very effective, as (so far) I haven't see any repetition in the sites that are spammed, so blocking them after the fact is not useful... JesseW 21:58, 13 July 2007 (BST)
- User:Netocrat and I discussed using something of the sort some time back but we were concerned about the effect on real users, so I would like to see how it goes building up a list of blacklisted URLs first. --Flash Gordon 21:23, 12 July 2007 (BST)
Rename "Help" (and leave a soft redir)
If, as I suspect, most of our spam is left by bots, then simply renaming the anon-editable "place-to-ask-questions" page from "Help" to "Question Page" might solve a lot of our problem... And we could certainly leave a (non-anon-editable) note at Help saying something like: "To ask questions about clc-wiki, please put them on Question Page. Thanks!". Let me know if you want to try this. -- JesseW 06:49, 19 July 2007 (BST)
- I think this might stop spamming the Help page, but the Question page (and all other anon-editable pages) is still open for the spammers. Still, I think it should be done, as most spam currently happens on the Help page.
- When the spam-bots catches up and start attacking a new page, this must be repeated, unless we find a better solution. Ahy1 12:49, 20 July 2007 (BST)
