Stop Forum Spam

Post your feedback and suggestions for the forum, website, wiki, Twitter-account, Facebook page and tracker (not the Domoticz project itself) here.

Moderator: leecollings

User avatar
EdwinK
Posts: 1820
Joined: Sunday 22 January 2017 21:46
Target OS: Raspberry Pi / ODroid
Domoticz version: BETA
Location: Rhoon
Contact:

Stop Forum Spam

Post by EdwinK »

seeing that there is some spammer active maybe this could be an option to use on this forum to stop a great, of not all, forum-spammers.

http://www.stopforumspam.com/

Have been using them to control my forum, when I still had one and it was really helping me a lot. And best of it, it's free :)
Running latest BETA on a Pi-3 | Toon® Thermostat (rooted) | Hue | Tuya | IKEA tradfri | Dashticz V3 on Lenovo Huawei Tablet | Conbee
Nautilus
Posts: 722
Joined: Friday 02 October 2015 12:12
Target OS: Raspberry Pi / ODroid
Domoticz version: beta
Location: Finland
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by Nautilus »

+ 1

I don't know how often on average new users register here, but one option would also be to screen a few first posts (an admin would approve publishing few first posts from each new users). I've seen this on several forums and it seems to work pretty well. Though don't know how easy it would be to implement and how much work it would add to the admins (in comparison to blocking/deleting the spammers)...
Toulon7559
Posts: 848
Joined: Sunday 23 February 2014 17:56
Target OS: Raspberry Pi / ODroid
Domoticz version: mixed
Location: Hengelo(Ov)/NL
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by Toulon7559 »

+1
Combination is best:
1) a check by a moderator of very first messages in a forum is a good idea to have a check on minimal standards for 'basic layout & content'
2) for 'first-timers' (and ;-) also 'old hands') it may also be handy to get 'improvement' by a moderator (like StackOverflow is doing)
3) clearly visible spam is a nuisance, but easy to deal with .....
Set1 = RPI-Zero+RFXCom433+S0PCM+Shield for BMP180/DS18B20/RS485+DDS238-1ZNs
Set2 = RPI-3A++RFLinkGTW+ESP8266s+PWS_WS7000
Common = KAKUs+3*PVLogger+PWS_TFA_Nexus
plus series of 'satellites' for dedicated interfacing, monitoring & control.
User avatar
Egregius
Posts: 2589
Joined: Thursday 09 April 2015 12:19
Target OS: Linux
Domoticz version: v2024.7
Location: Beitem, BE
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by Egregius »

@Moderators: how come all the spam bots keep getting in the forum. The unread view is once again filled with spam making the real posts unfindable.
Can't be that hard to implement anti spam measures.
Nautilus
Posts: 722
Joined: Friday 02 October 2015 12:12
Target OS: Raspberry Pi / ODroid
Domoticz version: beta
Location: Finland
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by Nautilus »

Agreeing with the above, please do something...:)
User avatar
Egregius
Posts: 2589
Joined: Thursday 09 April 2015 12:19
Target OS: Linux
Domoticz version: v2024.7
Location: Beitem, BE
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by Egregius »

Isn't there a way to hide posts that are already reported until they are handled by a moderator? Often I find my self reporting a post but resulting in a "This post has already been reported."
User avatar
EdwinK
Posts: 1820
Joined: Sunday 22 January 2017 21:46
Target OS: Raspberry Pi / ODroid
Domoticz version: BETA
Location: Rhoon
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by EdwinK »

Or at least give it a special status, so we can see it has already been reported. I believe phpbb has some mods for this.
Running latest BETA on a Pi-3 | Toon® Thermostat (rooted) | Hue | Tuya | IKEA tradfri | Dashticz V3 on Lenovo Huawei Tablet | Conbee
User avatar
leecollings
Posts: 167
Joined: Tuesday 30 June 2015 18:09
Target OS: Raspberry Pi / ODroid
Domoticz version:
Location: United Kingdom
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by leecollings »

I am trying to undertake the spam issue, and somehow get a hold of how these posts are able to be posted in the first place, without having to resort to third party extensions on the forum.

There should be tighter restrictions on when posts are able to be made, along with a posters first post being aproved before they are allowed to just post again on the forum.

There should be no reason why a new user can be created, and a post created by that new user without moderation first. That's what I'd like to nail down and try and get this place running a lot smoother with a much nicer experience for all.

I'm having some issues being able to delete other people's posts at the moment though (for some reason)
User avatar
Egregius
Posts: 2589
Joined: Thursday 09 April 2015 12:19
Target OS: Linux
Domoticz version: v2024.7
Location: Beitem, BE
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by Egregius »

I think a extension is the easiest way to get it done properly.
Something like https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/exte ... _cleantalk should do a good job.

Also this could be a good option: https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/extension/akismet, at least on Wordpress Akismet does a great job.
User avatar
leecollings
Posts: 167
Joined: Tuesday 30 June 2015 18:09
Target OS: Raspberry Pi / ODroid
Domoticz version:
Location: United Kingdom
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by leecollings »

Egregius wrote: Tuesday 18 June 2019 6:30 Isn't there a way to hide posts that are already reported until they are handled by a moderator? Often I find my self reporting a post but resulting in a "This post has already been reported."
This is a great idea, I'll try and look into this.

Ideally there are other steps that should be accounted for first such as:

A users first post must be moderated before it is posted.
After this, they can post themselves without needing moderation.
If a user has a post reported, the next post must be moderated before it is posted.
User avatar
Egregius
Posts: 2589
Joined: Thursday 09 April 2015 12:19
Target OS: Linux
Domoticz version: v2024.7
Location: Beitem, BE
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by Egregius »

leecollings wrote: Thursday 20 June 2019 10:27 A users first post must be moderated before it is posted.
If a user has a post reported, the next post must be moderated before it is posted.
Agree, good options.
Egregius wrote: Tuesday 18 June 2019 6:30 Isn't there a way to hide posts that are already reported until they are handled by a moderator?
I've been thinking about this a litle more and this is actually not a good idea. If a simple report hides a post one could hide all posts easily.
A prepend to the topic title would be better, something like "*** REPORTED ***" and then the rest of the topic title.
With that added most users won't view the topic anymore and won't hit the report button.

Besides that, I still think that a good plugin is the best option. Why try to invent something that exists?
User avatar
leecollings
Posts: 167
Joined: Tuesday 30 June 2015 18:09
Target OS: Raspberry Pi / ODroid
Domoticz version:
Location: United Kingdom
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by leecollings »

Because if you can do something without the use of a plugin, then do that.

Plugins are written by other people, and you can't always trust other people's coding skills. It makes your site a bit more vulnerable to some kind of hack or attack. THe more plugins you have, the less secure you are, and your performance suffers.

Keeping the site to it's original, unmodified and native state is always better than overloading it with plugins that just don't need to be there.
User avatar
HenkSynology
Posts: 21
Joined: Tuesday 12 March 2019 17:33
Target OS: Windows
Domoticz version: 1.13191
Location: Stadskanaal, NL
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by HenkSynology »

I have the same forum PHPBB Image

New members i activate manual
For registration you can ad a question, for instance "Domoticz type the other way around"
or "how many eyes does a dice have?"
it is standard in the forum
A adminstrator can activate this

this is how you refuse spam robots, its work great
User avatar
leecollings
Posts: 167
Joined: Tuesday 30 June 2015 18:09
Target OS: Raspberry Pi / ODroid
Domoticz version:
Location: United Kingdom
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by leecollings »

HenkSynology wrote: Saturday 22 June 2019 10:33 I have the same forum PHPBB Image

New members i activate manual
For registration you can ad a question, for instance "Domoticz type the other way around"
or "how many eyes does a dice have?"
it is standard in the forum
A adminstrator can activate this

this is how you refuse spam robots, its work great
I agree with this, it's incredibly simple to just moderate a user's first post. This first hurdle will often solve most spam (caused by bots).

If this is a native feature of phpBB, can someone implement this as soon as possible?
User avatar
FireWizard
Posts: 1766
Joined: Tuesday 25 December 2018 12:11
Target OS: Raspberry Pi / ODroid
Domoticz version: Beta
Location: Voorthuizen (NL)
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by FireWizard »

Hi,

Currently the forum is flooded with a lot of spam from a user/bot BradFulp21.
In spite of all the discussions above, solutions are not (properly) implemeted.

In 2021 it should not be a problem to kick-out these "users".

Do something!!!

Regards
User avatar
waltervl
Posts: 5386
Joined: Monday 28 January 2019 18:48
Target OS: Linux
Domoticz version: 2024.7
Location: NL
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by waltervl »

I have been forum moderator before and it is no joy to hold back spammers. More likely this BradFulp21 is a person so no possibility to stop him/her from registering.
Only possibility furthermore is to set some time limit between posts but also that is very frustrating for real users that answer some posts quickly after each other. So only possibility would be to have this rule set to new users. But I do not know this is possible on phpBB forums.
Domoticz running on Udoo X86 (on Ubuntu)
Devices/plugins: ZigbeeforDomoticz (with Xiaomi, Ikea, Tuya devices), Nefit Easy, Midea Airco, Omnik Solar, Goodwe Solar
User avatar
EdwinK
Posts: 1820
Joined: Sunday 22 January 2017 21:46
Target OS: Raspberry Pi / ODroid
Domoticz version: BETA
Location: Rhoon
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by EdwinK »

I still believe that the solution I posted about will work have been administrator for some website and after i installed that code the spam dropped. It will block based on IP and country and some other stuff i can't remember. I have to agree with Firewizard on this. Have been reporting a few spam today as well.

I'm not sure that BradFulp is a person, but a bot. At the moment you can buy a piece of software that will target any given forum with any name you want to use.
Running latest BETA on a Pi-3 | Toon® Thermostat (rooted) | Hue | Tuya | IKEA tradfri | Dashticz V3 on Lenovo Huawei Tablet | Conbee
eddieb
Posts: 279
Joined: Wednesday 04 July 2018 7:48
Target OS: Raspberry Pi / ODroid
Domoticz version: Beta
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by eddieb »

I also admin an other phpbb forum. By implementing the extra question as mentioned before in this threat, spam stopped completely.
I am surprised this is not implemented here, nearly every day there are a bunch of useless spam messages and that is anoying.
RPI4 Beta / Tasmota / ZigBee2MQTT / P1meter / Haier AC with Node-Red and MQTT / SolarEdge SE3500H modbus_tcp / Opentherm gateway / Plugwise Anna/Smile / ObserverIP weatherstation thru WuDirect
Feeding ADSB https://adsb.im/home
User avatar
waltervl
Posts: 5386
Joined: Monday 28 January 2019 18:48
Target OS: Linux
Domoticz version: 2024.7
Location: NL
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by waltervl »

There is already an anti-bot question in the forum registration where you have to drag and drop fields in 2 columns to get the correct answer.
Domoticz running on Udoo X86 (on Ubuntu)
Devices/plugins: ZigbeeforDomoticz (with Xiaomi, Ikea, Tuya devices), Nefit Easy, Midea Airco, Omnik Solar, Goodwe Solar
User avatar
FireWizard
Posts: 1766
Joined: Tuesday 25 December 2018 12:11
Target OS: Raspberry Pi / ODroid
Domoticz version: Beta
Location: Voorthuizen (NL)
Contact:

Re: Stop Forum Spam

Post by FireWizard »

Hi,

Today again a new user Theromented (registered yesterday) has been able to spam several topics.
Isn't it really possible to stop this type of spammers? This is a phpBB board and if you use google, several solutions exist.

Other suggestion.

A new user can only start 1 new topic or can only respond to 1 topic after registration. If his or her post is reported as spam block the user.
If no spam reports has been received within a couple of days, he can have full access.

The anti-bot question will not help us always, as this is maybe not a spam-bot, but a human spammer or a bot behaving as a human.

I'm a member of several other forums and, I can tell you, Domoticz forum is the worst, regarding spammers.
Protect this forum, so that users are not moving away from this forum (and maybe even from Domoticz itself), because of the spam.

Please do something!

Regards
Last edited by FireWizard on Friday 22 April 2022 16:24, edited 1 time in total.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests