Forum Spamming

Post by **imslp** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 11:02 pm

I have done all I can to try to stop spam bots (or people) automatically (i.e. requiring image recognition and e-mail conformation), but apparently someone is determined to spam the forums.

Hence, I have no choice now but to assign moderators. I would perfer if the moderator is actually a frequent IMSLP forum poster, so I'm setting the bar at 20 posts (as of this writing), which means that there are 7 members which can be moderators... if you are one of them and would like to moderate (i.e. delete spam posts), please reply! And this offer is valid for a limited time only

The first two who reply will get moderator status. I might increase the number in the future, but I'd like to start with two and see how things go (and adding me would mean 3 moderators)

goldberg988 · Post by **goldberg988** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 4:21 am

Well, I barely make the cutoff, but I do visit the forum quite regularly and would be happy to help moderate.

Post by **imslp** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 4:45 am

Done

Now you're a site-wide moderator. Waiting for one more

emeraldimp · Post by **emeraldimp** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 12:35 am

Well, I don't qualify by postcount, but I've been with IMSLP a while (though not on the forums). Since no one else has volunteered yet, I'll volunteer if needed.

Post by **imslp** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:51 am

Since no one else volunteered and you've known IMSLP for a long time, I'll give you moderator status

emeraldimp · Post by **emeraldimp** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 4:56 pm

Cool.

SelfTaughtMusician · Post by **SelfTaughtMusician** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 4:37 am

I suggest searching for a Forum Mod which allows you to block known proxy servers. Alot of these bot spammers use a program which they plug in a file with a huge list of proxies and they are able to sign up bots on the forum somehow. Also if it is human spammers they tend to use proxies to hide their identity.

SelfTaughtMusician · Post by **SelfTaughtMusician** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 6:18 pm

SelfTaughtMusician wrote:I suggest searching for a Forum Mod which allows you to block known proxy servers. Alot of these bot spammers use a program which they plug in a file with a huge list of proxies and they are able to sign up bots on the forum somehow. Also if it is human spammers they tend to use proxies to hide their identity.

Also because of spam this site is considered adult by web nanny type programs.

Post by **imslp** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 7:27 pm

Also because of spam this site is considered adult by web nanny type programs.

For real?

That's incredible... and here I thought the forums gets next to no traffic...

About the proxy server issue, I'm not perfectly sure that it will actually stop the spammers (is there a comprehensive proxy list or something? the amount of proxy servers out there seems incredible and is changing every day... most of the proxy servers don't live long anyway), and it's quite messy... I might check this out if it gets any worse.

What I don't understand is what point there is in vandalizing a forum that isn't well known. From the spammer's profiles it is clearly a human doing this and not bots.

If this keeps up I might switch to the MediaWiki forum (a forum embedded in the wiki).

matthew · Post by **matthew** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 10:56 pm

Personally i think that having a forum embedded in the wiki would probably be better anyway, largely because it's easier to navigate around from one part to the other, and it's all on the same site. I don't know any of the technical implications of doing that though.

Post by **Leonard Vertighel** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 6:37 am

About the proxy server issue, maybe a cooperation with the Wikimedia projects would be possible? I don't know much about the issue, but maybe these are useful entry points:

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WM:OP
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meta:Wik ... /Blacklist
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category ... g_projects

Post by **imslp** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 7:02 pm

Hmm... that might be a good idea. Though I'll need to contact Wikimedia first I suppose... we'll see how it goes

Post by **Yagan Kiely** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 12:33 pm

I'll be happy to do it if required.

I've had lots of experience the forums (Over 4 years) and I co-ran a popular one for a little while.

So yeh... if yah want me, I'm here.

Post by **imslp** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 3:14 am

Thanks ArcticWind7! Since you were one of the people who actually got more than 20 posts, I'll add you to the moderator list

Also, I believe three people are enough for now, so I guess moderator recruiting is temporarily closed

Post by **Yagan Kiely** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 4:44 am

Thankyou.

On a side note I told my composition lecturer about this site, and now she is telling everyone else about it and using it.