Anti Spammer / Trouble Maker Features

a list features to ward off evil doers

[chadmg]

What are some features of forum management that help to fight spammers, general trouble makers, or just mistakes? How would you like these features to be executed? What are the pros and cons of these features? Help me make a concise list and discuss whether these features are needed. Here are a few to get us started...

1. Warning and Banning system
Allows mods to warn bad posters out of site privileges, like posting. Then banning the worst offenders. Perhaps also a system that decreases warning level over time to reallow privileges.
PROS: Allows bad posters to mend their ways, instead of just banning them.
CONS: An extra system to train mods with. Warning is open to mod interpretation.

2. Post frequency limit
Put a limit of let's say a minute between postings.
PROS: Decreases post spam
CONS: Someone could potentially post 2 valid posts within set time frame

3. Remove or edit posted URLs
Either not allow URL posting or edit the URLs to only be a 302 redirect from your site.
PROS: Decreases URL spamming
CONS: There is often value in posting URLS so you might not want to just not allow them. It's also difficult to stop someone from just saying "the website WebmasterWorld."

4. Allow members to block other members
If a member finds someone particularly rude or offensive they can block their posts.
PROS: Might help solve some disputes.
CONS: Might leave posts off-topic if they can't view a blocked members post. You probably shouldn't need this if you have good mods.

5. Block repeat posts
Create a unique timestamp+id for each post, so if someone tries to resubmit a posting, it can check to see if that post was already added.

6. Validate email before allowing log in
After registration, send out email first to make sure it's valid. Email has a validation link which activates account.
PROS: Decreases multiple accounts and return of banned members. Provides a valid means of communicating with your members if needed.
CONS: Some may be turned off by having to leave a real email address and just walk away. It's an extra step that might prevent someone from using your site, i.e. they sign up but forget to ever activate they're account.

7. Dynamic image codes
Create an image with random chars and different backgrounds so that bots can't create new members and/or post.
PROS: Is this really a problem? I haven't experienced this yet.
CONS: Pain in the neck to type in that code.

[Brett_Tabke]

Well, we aren't here for forum programmers to do market research.

On the other hand, that is a nice list.

[chadmg]

I apologize Brett. Although, if you're building a forum community it's necessary to know how to maintain decorum in your forum. I just approached it from a prgoramming standpoint because I need to custom build mine. Don't worry, I won't be competing against BestBBS. ;)

I'm assuming that since you left the post, that we are still able to dicuss this? I believe it has a lot of value for a forum admin/mod to know how to best keep their forum healthy.

[rogerd]

That's a great list, chadmg, that is equally applicable to forum owners who are shopping for software and need a list of must-have features. Let me comment on one of them.

#7 - Image verification - For low-volume or custom forum software, this probably isn't a big deal. You won't have bots randomly testing sites to look for standard software, and there are less likely to be premade scripts to target you. Of course, if a spammer decided to target your forum in particular, this could still be useful to prevent automated form completion. For popular forum software, I like this feature a lot more. Note that it may create accessibility issues for sight-impaired visitors.

[edited by: rogerd at 4:50 pm (utc) on June 22, 2004]

[Sanenet]

2. Post frequency limit

Instead of blocking a second post within the time frame, set a counter. So you allow the person to post twice within a minute, but the third time gets a message.

Auto block - if rules are badly infringed (somebody posts the same message twice, triggers the post frequency limit more than three times a day, etc) automatically suspend their account from posting.

[rogerd]

#2 is often called "flood control" - I've seen spammers crank out dozens of copy & paste messages in short order. In a few cases, some seemed to use multiple open windows to allow rapid-fire posting before a mod could ban them. Hence, limits on frequency (and perhaps total number in a given time period for new members) are good ways to limit the spam potential of any single member.

[TheDave]

One of the few "features" of my forum is that it does have spam control. In theory, my forums are still in alpha stage, in that there's bugger all features (like, imagine not being able to edit your posts ;)). But the first thing I did was write a simple script to keep a check on spam. I can't remember the exact figures, but they can only post so many messages in a certain time frame. Also, I don't allow any HTML. It's just easier that way, words are enough. I really should add that edit post function and get it up to beta ;P

[rogerd]

TheDave, the "edit post" feature is handy, but can also be abused by spammers and troublemakers. It's good to have a fairly short window when posts can be changed. Otherwise, posters can add URLs later (without appearing as a "new post"), change what they say if a subsequent poster pointed out an error, etc. On forums with unlimited edit privileges, a problem member can delete or remove the content from all of his posts, ruining many threads in your archive. (I've seen it happen.)

[AAnnAArchy]

On my forums, we have a 20 minute edit timeline, except for Mods & Admins. I'll edit a post of mine that's a year old if I find I've left out a word or made a spelling error. It drives me nuts. Like my intro in the supporter's forum has a typo...and I hate it, even though it isn't overly noticeable.