Board index PBase Questions and Answers !!!PLEASE READ: combating spam!!!

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!!!PLEASE READ: combating spam!!!

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arjunrc
 
Posts: 1003

!!!PLEASE READ: combating spam!!!

Post Sun Jun 26, 2005 7:30 pm


Folks, there have been a lot of posts here about spam and what PBase is doing to combat it. As users, we need to understand that spam is something that can only be _avoided_ if both the admins and the users do their own part.

Some common questions and answers

Why only PBase ? Other sites don't have them

Spam will hit sites that are very popular. The more popular, the higher the chance that SPAMmers will target you. PBase is a very highly indexed site (by google and others).


It seems all these Spam come from ".ru" or ".tv" domain - can't one just block these domains ?

This will only be a very short term solution - it is very simple for SPAMmers to change domains - they typically operate with hundreds of forged/captured domains and can keep changing the moment they analyze some are blocked


What can we as users do ?

Good question. You can do a lot. PBase already has the required functionality for us to combat Spam.

a) You can completely disable comments - not a good idea if you like people to leave a comment

b) You can only allow PBase subscribers to leave comments - again, not a good idea if your friends who are not PBase members like to browse your galleries

c) You can show PBase subscribers comments immediately while guests comments will only show if you decide to (PBase has this option)

I use option C) its the best option for me to allow everyone's comments while at the same time defeat the purpose of spammers

d) Please do _not_ post the entire spam comment here in the forums. It does not really help anyone and you are just increasing chances of spammers acheiving what they want - more indexing and visibility


How does one defeat spammers ?

Think about why spammers target high visiblity sites with lots of URLs. They want visibility - their bet is, that search engines will index these popular sites, in return indexing the URLs they post , and in return the sites pointed to by the URLs will get popular. The way to defeat is to not show those URLs to search indexers.

What can PBase do ? Can they really do nothing ?

Well, they already have allowed us the option of moderated comments. That is a great option. They _can_ do more by improving their spam gateways, but I would not wait for that to happen.

In addition, they have ensured that HTML code cannot be pasted by people in guestbooks - that avoids huge fonts being posted.

Beyond this, they can introduce options like forcing a guest to enter special generated letters each time a person posts a comment - I don't like any such option that will keep a person away from commenting.

So in short, spam can only be stopped/avoided if we as users know what to do.

How do I enable such options in PBase ?

1) Make sure you are logged in
2) Go to http://www.pbase.com/account
3) Who can post comments - select "guests can post" (if you want)
4) Who can post non hidden comments - select "only comments from PBase subscribers display immediately"
5) Click on Update button

Now what will happen is that when guests leave comments, including SPAMers, the comments will be accepted, but no one, except you will be able to see it. When you go to comment management, you will see that you have a new comment. If its valid, click on "show", If its spam , click on delete.

What have you now done ? You have stopped spam comments from being displayed, therefore stopped it from being picked up by search engines. You have effectively stopped the spammer from acheiving their objective as well as ensured that bad comments don't litter the public view of your guestbook.

I am sure all of us can log in once in a few days and just delete the spam comments, if we have any, as long as outsiders never get to see them, eh ?

regds
arjun
Last edited by arjunrc on Sun Mar 18, 2018 6:04 pm, edited 5 times in total.

andrys
 
Posts: 2701

Re: !!!PLEASE READ: combatting SPAM!!!

Post Sun Jun 26, 2005 7:42 pm


Good stuff, Arjun !

<b>Maybe srijith could make this topic sticky, to remain on top?</b>

How do I enable such options in PBase ?

1) Make sure you are logged in
2) Go to http://www.pbase.com/account
3) Who can post comments - select guests can post (if you want)


I first read #3 as "select guests can post" -- meaning special guests
selected by us can post.

Might be better to say
- select option "guests can post" (if you want)

At any rate, thanks for this note to all.

sunshinehina
 
Posts: 109


Post Sun Jun 26, 2005 8:48 pm


Thanks Arjun

srijith
Moderator
 
Posts: 2321
Location: Amsterdam

Re: !!!PLEASE READ: combatting SPAM!!!

Post Sun Jun 26, 2005 11:20 pm


andrys wrote:Good stuff, Arjun !

Maybe srijith could make this topic sticky, to remain on top?

Good stuff and definitely worth a sticky. Will post a link from the Unofficial FAQ to this thread on this issue too.

andrys
 
Posts: 2701

Re: !!!PLEASE READ: combatting SPAM!!!

Post Mon Jun 27, 2005 12:12 am


srijith wrote:
andrys wrote:Good stuff, Arjun !

Maybe srijith could make this topic sticky, to remain on top?

Good stuff and definitely worth a sticky. Will post a link from the Unofficial FAQ to this thread on this issue too.


HUGE THANKS to both of you guys!

soulfulimpressions
 
Posts: 284


Post Mon Jun 27, 2005 9:06 am


my guestbook got nailed this week

halesr
 
Posts: 664


Post Wed Jun 29, 2005 8:42 am


arjun, thanks for sharing this information. I set up my comments per the instructions you provided.--Rene

gillettecraig
 
Posts: 479


Post Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:27 am


In the past I would have suggested ignoring the flamers, but these spanners, if their goal is index counts, not annoyance, then the best bet would be to delete them. The flamers? I'll probably still ignore and eventually get around to clearing them as well.

antjes
 
Posts: 78


Post Sat Jul 02, 2005 12:44 pm


I must be blind - I cannot find this entry:

4) Who can post non hidden comments - select "only comments from PBase subscribers display immediately"

I do see the "Guests can post" stuff, but not the "Who can post non hidden comments". Do I have to enable something I'm not aware of? Could you maybe post a screenshot? Thanks a lot!

Antje

srijith
Moderator
 
Posts: 2321
Location: Amsterdam


Post Sat Jul 02, 2005 1:32 pm



antjes
 
Posts: 78


Post Sat Jul 02, 2005 1:36 pm


Aaah, now I get it. Thanks a lot! :D

Antje

shadepuppy
 
Posts: 60


Post Mon Jul 04, 2005 1:44 pm


This is very useful information -- BUT I haven't been able to make use of it yet. When I try to update my account (I'm already logged in), I get an error message that the "Account update failed" and that there is "already an account registered" to my email address.

Perhaps I'm doing something wrong, or not doing something right, but I can't see what it is. I've tried inputting my password again, but that didn't help either.

Anyone have a similar problem, or a solution?

Thanks

arjunrc
 
Posts: 1003


Post Mon Jul 04, 2005 5:12 pm


CJ,
have you tried clearing your cookies and trying again ? If that does not work, try another browser (switch between IE and Firefox). If that does not work, send an email to help@pbase.com and hope someone responds :-)

regds
arjun


shadepuppy wrote:This is very useful information -- BUT I haven't been able to make use of it yet. When I try to update my account (I'm already logged in), I get an error message that the "Account update failed" and that there is "already an account registered" to my email address.

Perhaps I'm doing something wrong, or not doing something right, but I can't see what it is. I've tried inputting my password again, but that didn't help either.

Anyone have a similar problem, or a solution?

Thanks

shadepuppy
 
Posts: 60


Post Tue Jul 05, 2005 12:27 am


Arjun, thanks -- I deleted my cookies and tried Firefox, but didn't work. I've sent an email to Help -- I'll see what happens.

Thanks for your help! :)

UPDATE: Slug fixed my account problem, and now I've been able to make the recommended change. At least the spam will be hidden until I can delete it.

thewoodsman
 
Posts: 7


Post Tue Nov 29, 2005 2:16 pm


Thanks, I've just made those changes to help avoid spamming. Recently I'm seeing another problem which I think is somewhat related to spamming? My apologies if I'm off subject. Please advise. Anyway, the other problem, cookies and pop-ups on certain PBase sites. I don't mind cookies from know parties, like PBase, but I don't like getting them from strangers, and especially when they contain pop-ups. IE is set to block pop-ups, but it doesn't seem to catch them on PBase? As an example go to Alex Uchoa, "Landscapes from Brazil". It's a nice gallery, but as soon as you click on it you'll get a cookie and a pop-up. Then, when you return to his 'all galleries' you'll get two more cookies and two more pop-ups, one with sound. Is there anyway to prevent this? Or should I just mark such sites as ones to avoid?

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