Secondary spambot control measures

Battou · Sep 13, 2007

It seems to me I had to fill a bot prevention box during registry, But I have found yet another set of spam threads.

Out of curiosity, Have you considered setting the post new thread permissions to a required post count, only allowing new threads to be started by users who have reached the minimum post requirement, or restricting new users to a specified aria?

For example, say a five or ten post minimum before new users are permitted to make new threads, and/or restricting new users to say "Cafe TPF" until they have a few posts under their belts.

I've seen it work rather effectively in the reduction of standard issue spam on a similar sized if not larger forum.

Big Mike · Sep 13, 2007

I'm not sure that would help, because then the SPAMers would just post their replies into existing threads...which makes it harder (more of a PITA) to get rid of.

Also, it seams that most of our new members come here with a specific question in mind, and if they were not allowed to post right away, they might just forget it and move on.

I agree, SPAM is a problem. Usually our Mod team and the 'spam cops' do a good job of getting rid of it...but we can't get all of them right away.

Big Mike · Sep 13, 2007

Also, when you see spam, please just report it, rather than replying to it. When a spammer does manage to make multiple posts, we can easily move all their posts into the trashcan....but if there are any replies to those posts, they become disembodied posts/thread and have to be removed. So when there are replies, it's a little bit of extra work to get rid of them.

Corry · Sep 13, 2007

Yep, I'll echo what Big Mike said.

Also, setting a limit on how many posts you have to have before you can start a new thread sort of defeats the purpose of having an Introductions forum.

Battou · Sep 14, 2007

Big Mike said:
I'm not sure that would help, because then the SPAMers would just post their replies into existing threads...which makes it harder (more of a PITA) to get rid of.

Also, it seams that most of our new members come here with a specific question in mind, and if they were not allowed to post right away, they might just forget it and move on.

I agree, SPAM is a problem. Usually our Mod team and the 'spam cops' do a good job of getting rid of it...but we can't get all of them right away.

Understood, The specific question thing failed to cross my mind when I posted that, despite the fact I did just that when I came here. Never hurts to make the thought known.

Big Mike said:
Also, when you see spam, please just report it, rather than replying to it. When a spammer does manage to make multiple posts, we can easily move all their posts into the trashcan....but if there are any replies to those posts, they become disembodied posts/thread and have to be removed. So when there are replies, it's a little bit of extra work to get rid of them.

Sorry, I'll keep my fun to a minimum, I did not realize vBulletin was that much different from phpBB in that reguard. When we delete a thread it's gone responses and all with two mouse clicks. I should have realized some thing was different when my post count wasn't dropping like I expected.

Corry said:
Also, setting a limit on how many posts you have to have before you can start a new thread sort of defeats the purpose of having an Introductions forum.

Not necessarily, but Big Mike coverd the point well enough so there is no need to worry about it further.