Spam filtering

[Ancalagon44]

Mods, you can save yourself a lot of work if you increase the requirements for new threads, for new users.

I suggest the following:
If a user has never created a thread before, their first created thread must be approved by a moderator before being posted. Until approval is given, they cannot create any additional threads.

I do report the spam - I'm sure you have seen my spam reports. But it doesn't really help, it isn't a permanent solution to the problem. And, because I'm on a different timezone, it usually takes a few hours for a moderator to wake up and delete the spam threads. The solution is not a moderator per timezone, the solution is just to require approval before your first thread (or even first comment) are posted.

That way, a new user can still ask for advice and can still post a link to an item on Newegg, if he needs to. But, a spammer cannot create threads in every single subforum.

New members might have to wait a bit before their thread is posted. And there is a small overhead for mods for new members - thats it.

 

[Ancalagon44]

Lots more spam being posted now. Moderators, any response to my suggestion?

 

[Titillating]

If a user has never created a thread before, their first created thread must be approved by a moderator before being posted. Until approval is given, they cannot create any additional threads.

This is not something that can be done. Implementing moderation measures like that would have a blanket effect, requiring all posts from all users to be approved before being published.

 

[Chaotic42]

Aside from just banning IP blocks, maybe blocking unicode from thread titles would help? They all seem to be Chinese, Korean, or Indian.

 

[Spacehead]

Maybe not allowing a URL as a thread title. No legit poster is going to to have their thread title start with "http://www."

 

[John Connor]

This is not something that can be done. Implementing moderation measures like that would have a blanket effect, requiring all posts from all users to be approved before being published.

That doesn't sound right. I run the phpBB forum software and I can set new members into the newly registered group where their first post has to be approved. After approval they are free to post. Is XenForo not like this? It would go a long way at combating spam.

Also, I know this site used the stop forum spam database. Do you still use this? I do, and it virtually eliminates 99% of all spam.

 

[Red Squirrel]

This is how I have it setup on one of my forums, initial threads/posts require approval, after having to complete the typical email validation for the account. On the post itself there's buttons to approve or disapprove the post that mods have access to. Disapproving also deletes the account and any other posts.

When they post, they see their own post as if it was there, but only the poster and mods see it. That way they won't try to get around the validation as they won't know it exists.

 

[bigboxes]

Yeah, there has to be a way to not allow new members the ability to post links. I'm a site admin on another board and I created different user accounts. When I trust a member I escalate their privileges. It's a lot better than playing whack-a-mole.