[pmwiki-users] How To Help Fight Spam on PmWiki.org

Pico pmwiki at ben-amotz.com
Fri Sep 29 09:21:24 CDT 2006


As you may have noticed, spam attacks on PmWiki.org are one the rise.  People
have been great about stepping in and fixing pages.  If you notice a spammed
page, you should feel free to fix it.  Here are my suggestons for what you
should do.  If you disagree, please reply.

(1) History: When you notice a spammed page, view the history.

(2) IP Address: Note the spammer's IP address.  If the spammer did not use an
author name, the ip address will appear in its place.  If an author name was
used, hold the mouse cursor over the name and the IP address will appear as a
tooltip. 

(3) Restore if possible: If the history page shows spam added to, or
overwriting, some regular (non-spam) content, then click the corresponding
restore link and when the edit screen appears, just add your name and a comment
(e.g. Sam, Restored from Spam) and save.  If the history page just shows spam,
with no prior non-spam content, then I would just delete the page: edit, select
all, type "delete", and save with a name and comment (e.g., Sam, Deleted, just
spam).

(4) Blocklist: This is *the most important step*.  If you fix a spammed page,
particularly where PmWiki content was totally overwritten by spam, then you can,
and *should* add the spammer's IP address to the block list at Site.Blocklist.  
The password is "quick"  Follow the pattern of other entries and enter the first
three sets of ip numbers, with an asterisk for the 4th set, and no leading
zeros, and place it at the appropriate (sorted) location.

(5) Tips: When despamming, I'll open a second tab window for Site.Blocklist so
that I can switch between the history IP view (step 2) and the blocklist (step
4).  When editing the blocklist, I just scroll to the apprioriate point, do a
copy and paste, and then edit the paste to conform to the new IP address.

Final thoughts.  Don't be afraid of this awesome power to block spammers.  The
worst you can do is do what I once did: add Pm to the blocklist of his own site!
 Pm took it in stride and with a smiley.  On the other hand, keep in mind that
this is all about spammers, not sandboxers.  Many people will innocently create
new pages with comments like "I can make a page" and it is nice to cleanup those
pages when you find them, but please don't blocklist them.  Blocklisting is for
spammers who overwite PmWiki content or plaster pages with links to
wwww.saggymanboobs.beerdrinkers.com, and www.enlargeyourbeltsize.com, or
whatever the spam of the moment happens to be ;-)


Pico





More information about the pmwiki-users mailing list