Spam how can we stop it

[hammers_spanners]

It seems we have been found by the spammers, buga. I joined the forum at Kalmaker recently, they have all new members vetted by the admin. You have to write a small "letter" so show your are not a "bot".

I know this will mean more work for Shane and slow down the new members getting access to the site but.. any other ideas?

[booga]

maybe (if this is possible?)

can the new member joining write to one of the existing members that is frequently logged in.
 not just shane...

just to save him some time...

may take more work to set up tho.

Ben

[ShaneJ]

One of the options we have is to setup the community builder plugin. This gives us extra fields that need to be filled out on signup(Location etc). It also allows you have the little image there that you have to read the letters/numbers from and fill them in the box.
The problem with this method is that its a big job to install it and get it working smoothly. If I get time I'll play with it over the holidays.

Another option is to required all new members to be approved by a mod when they sign up. This allows us to check the IP and domain to see if they are recognised bots or spammers.

[ShaneJ]

Another option for now is a few more section moderators to simply delete any spam posts. And then I'll delete the logins associated with them.

[able]

i don't know all the ins and outs on this forums engine but on other forums to get around this you have to wait for the admin to validate your membership....

this is done by email.... i think these bots just search for forums that you can just join and post immediately.

on some forums you cant post links on your first post.... this stops the once off advertisers as the bots cant post because it goes to a error page with a "sorry you cant post links on first posts"... only a human would make a quick post to get around them so that stuffs up the bots.

[ShaneJ]

I thought that when you sign up here you had to activate your own account by clicking on a link in an email?

[able]

ok. can you have a redistrict thread for new members to introduce them selves? once they write a post that actually has something to do with bedfords you can allow access to the main forum?

a simple explanation that you have had trouble with bots should be good enough to a person that is genuinely interested in sharing and receiving information about bedfords....

these people usually only target you for a few days or weeks tops so i would suggest the deletion of the accounts for the moment and see if the situation clears up on its own.

no point doing anymore work then you have to unless you want to stop it once and for all...



 

 

[BlackBedford]

G'day
I used to find that it sort ebbed and flowed. Mostly not much spam and occasionally several a day.
Having to decipher a graphic stops them on other sites.

[ShaneJ]

Having to decipher a graphic stops them on other sites.

This is what I would like to do.

[Bullstik]

the site my brother an i run , we have a decipher and a question. The problem with the decipher words is that can still break through but the question "what colour is orange" bots dont know so they cant join up