StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Today has been another massive spambot invasion of the wiki. Sheesh.

Why do we get spambots on the wiki anyway? Butthurt Darkstar fans?

But really....why do we get them? Why is the SDN wiki an interesting target for spam?

Or is it just spam by idiots?

That, I believe is something that should be considered. Although it is probably just spam...

Thank you for doing a good job, Ted.

I'm just wondering if there's something that we can put into place to slow them down. An image recognition test for sign on? Approval of new contributors? Damned nuisances.

You can use an authentication extension to validate against e.g. forum logins. Trouble is the phpbb version was insanely borked when I last checked it, but that was a year or two ago.

Is there not just a setting to require admin approval of new accounts? I check every day, so the turnaround on requests wouldn't be long.

Another weekend... another six spambot accounts.

Easiest way to do that would be to deny new users create/edit permissions, then make an 'Approved' group that has create/edit permissions, then just assign those manually. Make people apply over the forum by noting their wiki handles in a sticky or something.

Xeriar wrote:Easiest way to do that would be to deny new users create/edit permissions, then make an 'Approved' group that has create/edit permissions, then just assign those manually. Make people apply over the forum by noting their wiki handles in a sticky or something.

Only the Admin account has permission to do that, though.

You're not going to find a software based solution that does not at the very least require you to edit LocalSettings.php and possibly shove in an extension. If you need to make the case with the admin, that's what you need to do. But nothing beats manual approvals, honestly.

Mike has gone all "web admin" on the wiki, changing configuration settings and upgrading the software. The spambot horde has been defeated, for now.