BattleTechWiki:SPAM
Summary
This page attempts to detail all of the current anti-SPAM measures the BattleTechWiki has in place, their effectiveness, and so on. BTW SPAM has increased over time, and new anti-SPAM techniques are needed periodically to keep SPAM on the wiki under control.
Current Measures
Measure | Status | Implemented | Configuration | Effectiveness | Log | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$wgEnableSorbs
|
Enabled | ~2008 | $wgEnableSorbs = true
|
Unknown | Unavailable | No way to track effectiveness.
Officially deprecated in favor of |
$wgEnableDnsBlacklist
|
Enabled | 10/18/2012 | $wgEnableDnsBlacklist = true
|
Unknown | Unavailable | No way to track effectiveness.
Replaces Might block legitimate users who use proxies |
SimpleAntiSpam | Enabled | 12/2011 | n/a | < 1/day | Available to Admins | |
SpamBlacklist | Enabled | 12/2011 | $wgSpamBlacklistFiles = array(...) :
|
~1/day | Available to Admins | |
CommentSpammer | Enabled | 02/2012 | n/a | < 1/day | Log | |
ConfirmEdit / AreYouAHumanCaptch | Enabled | 05/2013 | Enabled for edits and new users | 10/day | Available to Admins | |
BadBehavior | Enabled | 10/18/2012 | n/a | ~2500 actions/day | Available to Admins | |
Block China IP Addresses | Enabled | 10/22/2012 | n/a | ~3000 IPs/day | Available to Admins |
Other Measures
Other possible options, not currently enabled:
- AbuseFilter
- TitleBlacklist
$wgEmailConfirmToEdit
- AkismetKlik
- ConfirmAccount
Tools
- User Merge and Delete can be used to clean up (i.e. remove) SPAM accounts. Simply put the SPAM account's name in the Old user field, and leave the New user field blank. The SPAM account will be merged into the Anonymous user, including all of their pages and edits.
Log
- 2008:
$wgEnableSorbs
enabled - 2008: ConfirmEdit enabled
- 2009/10/07: ReCaptcha used for ConfirmEdit
- 2011/12/19: SimpleAntiSpam enabled
- 2011/12/19: SpamBlacklist enabled
- 2012/02/11: QuestyCaptcha used for ConfirmEdit
- 2012/02/11: CommentSpammer enabled
- 2012/08/10: Additional QuestyCaptcha questions added
- 2012/10/18:
$wgEnableDnsBlacklist
enabled - 2012/10/18: BadBehavior enabled
- 2012/10/18: This page created
- 2012/10/22: Blocked all Chinese IP addresses
- 2013/05/01: Changed ConfirmEdit from QuestyCaptcha to AreYouAHuman
Resources
MediaWiki articles on SPAM control:
- Combating SPAM
- Proxy blocking
- Anti-Spam Features
- Comparison of DNS Blacklists
- MediaWiki Spam Management Extensions
Other articles on MediaWiki SPAM control: