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#1 2008-07-20 23:56:38

Mary
Sock Enthusiast
Registered: 2004-06-27
Posts: 6,236

[contrib] Txp.org and Spam: 51 emails in my inbox today, and counting...

Would it be possible to have the Akismet check before the comment is saved? I received emails today telling me about 51 spam comments on a single article of mine there (for one of my plugins).

Edit: I’ve received 6 more since posting this, so I’ve disabled commenting on this particular article until a better spam prevention method is in place.

Last edited by Mary (2008-07-21 00:22:05)

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#2 2008-07-21 14:36:24

thebombsite
Archived Plugin Author
From: Exmouth, England
Registered: 2004-08-24
Posts: 3,251
Website

Re: [contrib] Txp.org and Spam: 51 emails in my inbox today, and counting...

I use Akismet myself but I think the problem is that there is no 100% perfect spam prevention. There is always the possibility that a comment flagged as spam isn’t spam, so it is still saved though not displayed, just in case. I get bouts of spam from time to time and it’s a PITA having to go into admin to check and delete them but at least I know it doesn’t see the light of day. :)


Stuart

In a Time of Universal Deceit
Telling the Truth is Revolutionary.

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#3 2008-07-21 15:29:12

maverick
Member
From: Southeastern Michigan, USA
Registered: 2005-01-14
Posts: 976
Website

Re: [contrib] Txp.org and Spam: 51 emails in my inbox today, and counting...

With recent posts about increased spam, is the comment Preview becoming less effective in spam prevention, or is there just more discussion of it than normal?

Mike

Last edited by maverick (2008-07-21 15:29:25)

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#4 2008-07-21 15:48:11

thebombsite
Archived Plugin Author
From: Exmouth, England
Registered: 2004-08-24
Posts: 3,251
Website

Re: [contrib] Txp.org and Spam: 51 emails in my inbox today, and counting...

I thought the comment preview was only effective against bots. Maybe they are training them better or else someone is prepared to sit there and copy/paste a lot.


Stuart

In a Time of Universal Deceit
Telling the Truth is Revolutionary.

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#5 2008-07-21 17:55:30

jm
Plugin Author
From: Missoula, MT
Registered: 2005-11-27
Posts: 1,746
Website

Re: [contrib] Txp.org and Spam: 51 emails in my inbox today, and counting...

thebombsite wrote:

I use Akismet myself but I think the problem is that there is no 100% perfect spam prevention.

Disabling comments for .org will work :). I’d actually prefer it if comments were disabled for plugins, so all plugin feedback can remain in the forum thread.

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#6 2008-07-21 17:59:16

zero
Member
From: Lancashire
Registered: 2004-04-19
Posts: 1,470
Website

Re: [contrib] Txp.org and Spam: 51 emails in my inbox today, and counting...

The preview is still effective on my sites as I see many attempts to leave spam (showing up as bold in the visitor logs) but they don’t get through. However, as another thread showed, at least one spammer has found a way to get around it now. My opinion is that some people are determined to see TXP die so have written some very clever scripts to try and bring TXP down to the same level as other CMS. But the ‘normal’ spammers thankfully aren’t quite so determined.


BB6 Band My band
Gud One My blog

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#7 2008-07-21 18:41:33

hcgtv
Plugin Author
From: Key Largo, Florida
Registered: 2005-11-29
Posts: 2,722
Website

Re: [contrib] Txp.org and Spam: 51 emails in my inbox today, and counting...

zero wrote:

My opinion is that some people are determined to see TXP die so have written some very clever scripts to try and bring TXP down to the same level as other CMS.

I think it’s about Textpattern being targeted because it’s getting more popular.

Spam is an issue, but I moderate my comments and if an article becomes a target for spam, then I close off comments to it, no big deal.

Honestly, I’ve never liked blog comments, ever seen a site get like 100 comments for a post? The page goes on forever and if you want to follow the conversation it’s a mouse wheel nightmare.

Commenting, take it out of the core and make a pluggable option!

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#8 2008-07-21 19:49:28

zero
Member
From: Lancashire
Registered: 2004-04-19
Posts: 1,470
Website

Re: [contrib] Txp.org and Spam: 51 emails in my inbox today, and counting...

hcgtv wrote:

Commenting, take it out of the core and make a pluggable option!

That’s a bit radical, Bert:-) A CMS is all about communication and comments are a great way to encourage that. Content management or content publishing without comments becomes one-way, which is a big turn-off for the audience unless you’re a film or television company. Even those have blogs now to get more feedback.

Unless you believe it would be easier to combat spam if comments were a plugin than if they were in the core, of course… is that what you were thinking?


BB6 Band My band
Gud One My blog

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#9 2008-07-21 19:53:46

thebombsite
Archived Plugin Author
From: Exmouth, England
Registered: 2004-08-24
Posts: 3,251
Website

Re: [contrib] Txp.org and Spam: 51 emails in my inbox today, and counting...

Yes, I forgot you could just disable comments, but isn’t that more like “comment prevention” than spam prevention, and isn’t it just “giving up the ghost” and letting the spammers win? Not whilst I’m still breathing.

Comments as a plug-in sounds like a good idea Bert, keep the code base minimal, but then those that don’t want it can switch them off anyway in admin so is it worth the effort. :)


Stuart

In a Time of Universal Deceit
Telling the Truth is Revolutionary.

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#10 2008-07-21 20:16:33

ruud
Developer Emeritus
From: a galaxy far far away
Registered: 2006-06-04
Posts: 5,068
Website

Re: [contrib] Txp.org and Spam: 51 emails in my inbox today, and counting...

The flood of spam comments at TXP.org should be much reduced now.
Certain types of spam are currently being sent to RELOAD hell ;)

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#11 2008-07-21 20:26:53

hcgtv
Plugin Author
From: Key Largo, Florida
Registered: 2005-11-29
Posts: 2,722
Website

Re: [contrib] Txp.org and Spam: 51 emails in my inbox today, and counting...

zero wrote:

Unless you believe it would be easier to combat spam if comments were a plugin than if they were in the core, of course… is that what you were thinking?

Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. In my view, a CMS should just deal with content, not it’s discussion.

Make the commenting system pluggable and you open up to other possiblities and developers.

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#12 2008-07-22 23:30:24

tye
Member
From: Pottsville, NSW
Registered: 2005-07-06
Posts: 859
Website

Re: [contrib] Txp.org and Spam: 51 emails in my inbox today, and counting...

I’ve seen an increase also – but only on sites with good Search Rankings… they look like bots to me (but I have never had much comment spam before) and come in blocks on the same IP

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