Stricter registration policies...

[janmb]

What registration regime is currently used here on milo, in terms of captcha etc?

The reason I ask is the apparent influx of spam-bots on the forums lately - lots of obviously computer generated references to pay-sites and ad-sites all over the place.

And if user registration captcha doesn't suffice, we might even have to consider a simple captcha for each post.

Not a huge problem yet by any means, but the trend is quite bad.

[les]

seraph has lots of methods in place including black lists.
which is why spam is quite rare.
For instance nobody has a relative making a fortune working from home, unlike some forums.

Plus it is easy to flag spam.

[janmb]

Les, this question needs to be addressed directly by seraph and pertains details you need experience with phpbb to answer.

No offense, but you miss the topic completely and that's quite ok.

[les]

see these posts by seraph0x



A possible way to reduce spam ?

Re: responding to spam

[janmb]

Both of those threads are so outdated they are virtually completely obsolete.

Someone feel free to close this thread, I'll take it in PMs instead.

[SexualChoc]

I was also thinking that we might seriously want to think about a introduction page that you must click
<I am over 18> this would not help with spam I am afraid but I was just thinking about it as an idea
not sure it is needed just wanted to state my thoughts

[janmb]

Completely different topic, but yes, considering how many other sites which feel they need that as legal cover for keeping underage users out, it might be a good idea. Then again, it's a massive hassle, so as long as legality doesn't dictate an absolute need for it, it's a good thing it's not there.

[les]

Both of those threads are so outdated they are virtually completely obsolete.

Someone feel free to close this thread, I'll take it in PMs instead.

You said it is rude to ask a thread to stop

[janmb]

True enough, but it's a massive difference between wanting to stop a debate you don't like, vs cancelling a technical suggestion such as this one, which derailed before it even got started.

In retrospect I see making technical suggestions/questions here in public is a less than optimal solution because of the poor signal to noise ratio.

But by all means, feel free to post all you like - I've moved my question to PMs anyway.

[supermokkori]

I also voice janmb's concern - it seems there has been a fairly annoying increase of spammers in the past 2 weeks. Might be cyclical (as it's the new year and such) and might die down in the next week or so. Still, fairly annoying.

[janmb]

Yep, another wave yesterday... and while most people spot such crap posts before clicking links, not everyone does.

[les]

Rather than ignore
open and report but do not reply to thread

uing the report post icon
                                  See here for Milo advice

[supermokkori]

Rather than ignore
open and report but do not reply to thread

uing the report post icon
                                  See here for Milo advice

yup, been doing that to all the recent spammers and for the most part, they're posts are getting removed and they're getting banned. They are quite persistent tho as they keep coming back - hopefully they'll grow tired in the next couple of weeks.

[les]

And the admins put a new filter in place.
But in reality this place is one of the least spammed places I know of.

[janmb]

Les, no offense, but what you are doing here is trying to teach elementary school math to someone with a PhD in the same subject. Which, needless to say, is hardly required or remotely helpful.

Let me make it clear:
This topic is NOT about how to reactively handle spam.
This topic is NOT about how to approach this problem as a user.
This topic is NOT about me or any other user needing help or explanations to anything what so ever.

This topic is how to proactive prevent bots from registering and producing spam in the first place. And more precisely about the details of CAPTCHA or similar alternatives to make registrations a bit more cumbersome. Since that is a good price to pay for less spammers.

There has been a trend of more and more standard CAPTCHAs being broken by bots the last few years, but at the same time better and better CAPTCHAs are offered, but unfortunately not included in the standard phpbb3 package. Many newer and better ones can be installed as plugins or be manually added though, given a little php coding competence.

Feel free to contribute, but please tray to grasp and stick to the topic at hand.