Wiki Spam

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INW
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Wiki Spam

Post by INW »

I've noticed the spam on the wiki lately and it looks like dlh is banning a bunch of dumb accounts.

Is there a way to fix that or is deleting the pages and banning the accounts the only way?
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dlh
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Re: Wiki Spam

Post by dlh »

Yes, there are many more ways to combat spam.

I think the ConfirmEdit extension should be installed. With the default settings, a captcha is only required when adding a URL to a page, creating an account, or if your login fails. We could additionally introduce a new group, in which trusted users would be exempt from these captcha triggers ($wgGroupPermissions['trustedplayers']['skipcaptcha'] = true;)

Requiring email registration may also help.

When Lucifer hosted the wiki there was a custom bot filter page. I don't remember exactly how it was implemented, but it helped filter out some spam.
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Tank Program
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Re: Wiki Spam

Post by Tank Program »

I've looked into ConfirmEdit, but it appears there's some sort of incompatibility with ReCaptcha going on that I just don't have time to solve right now.
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dlh
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Re: Wiki Spam

Post by dlh »

Some more people need to step forward, and help remove spam. I can assign user rights if you'd like to help out.
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INW
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Re: Wiki Spam

Post by INW »

I asked to grab some permissions a little while ago but was rejected. :(

I can help because it is really annoying me.
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dlh
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Re: Wiki Spam

Post by dlh »

You can delete pages and block users now. If there's an issue outside of removing spam and blocking spammers, try to consult first with another admin.
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dlh
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Re: Wiki Spam

Post by dlh »

Also: if you're deleting a spam page, replace the default change summary message (content was: …) with “spam”. Sometimes links are included in that message.
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INW
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Re: Wiki Spam

Post by INW »

Ya. I just figured that out after I deleted the page and noticed both you and Jonathan just put "spam".

I'll do it next time.
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INW
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Re: Wiki Spam

Post by INW »

There was a good bunch of spam on the wiki last night.

I know by clicking on "hide" patrolled edits, all the junk that we delete and block doesn't show on the wiki.
Is it possible to make that the default value?

On the recent edits page, blocking users and deleting pages spams the recent edits page itself.
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dlh
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Re: Wiki Spam

Post by dlh »

That's an option in your preferences: Recent Changes → Hide patrolled edits in recent changes.

To change the default value for everyone, which I think is a good idea, this needs to be added to the local config:

Code: Select all

$wgDefaultUserOptions = array('hidepatrolled' => true);
This would only have effect on new user accounts, unless you followed the manual to update all user accounts.
Last edited by dlh on Fri Jul 15, 2011 5:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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INW
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Re: Wiki Spam

Post by INW »

What I also noticed is if I revert an edit back to what it used to be like a rollback, hiding patrolled edits will hide that edit and the normal user will not see the updated version of that page.

Would the value only hide blocks and deleted pages? That would work best I think.
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Jonathan
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Re: Wiki Spam

Post by Jonathan »

You do realize that patrolled edits are much broader? If I go and actually patrol a bunch of edits, they would disappear from the default view, just because I marked them as non-spam. Admin edits, whether related to admin ability or not, wouldn't appear at all.
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dlh
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Re: Wiki Spam

Post by dlh »

Jonathan wrote:You do realize that patrolled edits are much broader? […]
I didn't realize that. Not a good default, then.

The “Use enhanced recent changes (requires JavaScript)” option is better at hiding the spam/delete/block changes. Edit: Nevermind… it makes the recent changes page difficult to understand, because the events aren't sequential, and instead grouped by type.
Last edited by dlh on Fri Jul 15, 2011 6:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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INW
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Re: Wiki Spam

Post by INW »

So many accounts have been made recently (near 15 in 1 day) and I am sure all of them are spam. But I'm not going to block them unless they throw spam.
It is pretty obvious though. :/
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dlh
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Re: Wiki Spam

Post by dlh »

The wiki is being spammed in a much higher volume now. Some more preventative measures would be nice to have…
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