I’ve been getting loads of link spam recently. Unfortunately, I get it from many angles:
- Blog Comments – I installed the “WP-Hashcash” plugin and so far it has prevented all link spam, but I’m a bit fed up of deleting the moderated spam. It is a great plugin though!
- Article Comments – I don’t have any anti-spam protection on these, so I guess I need to do a bit of programming.
- Forum Posts – I use phpBB, so I guess I need to hunt for some plugins to help me out.
- Forum Users – I get loads of users signing up who don’t post, but have dodgy homepage URLs. I guess they are all trying to use my forum as a link farm. I have a visual confirmation check on signup, so either they are signing up manually, or they have a way round this security feature.
I usually get rid of these spam posts pretty quickly, but it does get a bit depressing having to clean up on a daily basis. Drastic measure may be taken soon 🙂
On a lighter note, I got kicked in the solar plexus last night at Karate. It was a perfectly timed heel bang on target and it doubled me over straight away. After a few seconds of not breathing I dropped to my hands and knees and waited for a few more seconds before my lungs started to work again. It was a rather odd because I remember feeling like I wanted to breath, puke and laugh all at the same time. Not the most normal combinaton. The funniest thing was, even though I couldn’t breath I managed to croak out the words, “That was a good kick!”. You gotta laugh 🙂
Cheers
Tim…
Update: I’ve used the “WP-Hashcash” plugin approach on my article comments, so now they must be posted from my page, and the comment must be posted within 15 minutes of the initial request for the page. Let’s see how that works 🙂
Just out of interest, why Hashcash and not (say) Spam Karma 2?
I’m sure you would have evaluated several (at least), so was wondering what swung it one way or the other.
Hi.
I wanted something simple that had no external references. I was originally planning on using a visual cofirmation plugin, but the plugin I picked was desupported because the writer started to use Hashcash. I took a look at it and it sounded neat. When a page is generated a unique key is placed in a hidden form element and in a table on the database. When the comments are submitted, if the key is present in the database and is not older than x minutes the comment is accepted. If not it is rejected. As a result, I only reject spambot posts, not manual posts.
I read every comment so I don’t have a problem if someone manually posts garbage, I’ll just delete it, but I don’t want loads of automated posts.
There are loads of plugins, but this was the first that met my requirements before I got bored of looking 🙂
Cheers
Tim…
I empathise with you — my 6 year old son just got awarded his peewee yellow belt and I’ve spent the whole weekend warding off unexpected assaults, like Inspector Clouseau and Cato. I doubt that “That was a good kick” will be a phrase I’ll be employing if one connects.
Kids that do martial arts are really scary. They are just at the right height to hit you where you really don’t want to get hit 🙂
Cheers
Tim…
… and when you fold up like a pen-knife, gasping for air, you’re bringing the rest of you into range. At that point it’s all over.