Very helpful. Thanks.
>________________________________ > From: Stip <[email protected]> >To: MediaWiki announcements and site admin list ><[email protected]> >Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2013 9:13 AM >Subject: Re: [MediaWiki-l] Wiki spam. Stronger fightback. > > >Our wiki has been spam-free for over a year now, despite anonymous >editing being allowed, while keeping the inconvenience for legitimate >editors to a bare minimum. Here is what we're doing: > >First, we use ConfirmEdit with QuestyCaptcha, but only for >"createaccount" and "badlogin". We ask community-specific questions, and >the answer is not a word in the question; seems to work perfectly, we >didnt have a bot-account for over a year now (also, we dont allow >numbers in account-names, which probably helps too). >If we would require editors to be logged-in, we probably wouldnt need >any other spam-protection. Since we do want to allow anonymous editing, >we also use the Abuse-Filter-Extension with Filters that only trigger >for users that are not autoconfirmed (autoconfirmed-status is given in >our wiki once the first edit was successful). >One of the filters (probably the most important) requires users to do >something specific if they want to create a new page (most spammers try >to create new pages); if they dont, their edit is blocked. This specific >action could be anything, from adding a certain word to using specific >wiki-markup or using a certain edit-summary. Ideally, every wiki using >this concept should require a different action, just like >QuestyCaptcha-Questions will differ for every wiki. That way, spammers >cant adjust their bots to it. >And what about spammers that edit existing pages? Luckily, they almost >always add links, and they almost always delete existing text, so one >can construct filters to stop that. > >In summary: Interested editors have to answer a simple question if they >want to create a new account. After that, they can do whatever they >want, without being watched by the filter. Anonymous editors have to do >something specific if they want to create a new page or add new links - >or they could just create a new account. And spammers are blocked >completely. > >So, in my opinion, the following should be done to help new wikis combat >spam: > >1. Bundle ConfirmEdit and AbuseFilter with each MediaWiki-Download. >2. Make QuestyCaptcha the default for ConfirmEdit. It is easy to use and >more effective than recaptcha, cause it cant be solved by paid workers >from the other side of the planet while allowing interested, legitimate >editors to pass (if your questions are good enough). >3. AbuseFilter should have a pre-installed filter (or at least a link to >a help page with examples). >4. The section about AbuseFilter on Manual:Combating_spam should contain >examples or a link to a page with examples. > >examples: > >!("autoconfirmed" in user_groups) >& (action == "edit") >& (article_articleid == 0) >& !("your phrase or wiki markup" in new_wikitext) > >alternativly: > >!("autoconfirmed" in user_groups) >& (action == "edit") >& (article_articleid == 0) >& !("your phrase" in summary) > >another alternative: > >!("autoconfirmed" in user_groups) >& (action == "edit") >& ((article_articleid == 0)|(length(added_links) >= 1)) >& !("your phrase" in summary) > >Obviously, the message telling the editor that his edit was blocked >should mention what he has to do if he wants his edit to be saved, so >the notes of the pre-installed filter should contain a link to >MediaWiki:abusefilter-disallowed. > >The really important thing here is that spammers cant adjust to these >measures if every wiki asks different question and demands different >actions for edits from anonymous users. > > >Also, we have been using the already mentioned bot-trap from >danielwebb.us/software/bot-trap for some time now. Since legitimate >users can unblock themselves, it really doesnt hurt to use it. > >Greetings >Stip > >_______________________________________________ >MediaWiki-l mailing list >[email protected] >https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l > > > _______________________________________________ MediaWiki-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l
