First, let me say that we have finally put a huge dent in what spammers can do with the release of phpLD 3.1. I won't get into the specifics, so as not to provide info that might help the spammers, but there are a number of users (including me on businessplexus.com) that are seeing the spam abated. As yet another "layer" of protection, we are also releasing the "ban words" mod for 3.1. At this point it is only availalble in the supporters forums on the phpld site, but we will also be integrating it into the new version. Here are some screenshots Admin: Submit Page: I have installed this and tested it, and it worked great the first time. There are also two other users who have installed it and reported success (to date). I hope this helps in the fight against spam.
Looks like a great mod - definately a more in the right direction. I take it we can also ban specific characters as well? ie < > : ;
i've just rescently purchase the 3.1 will this be available as i don't have this feature in the admin. Looks like a nice addition. I really don't want to join the supporters forums at this point. Thanks!
Hi, if you will PM me an email address, I will send it to you. The main limitation will be that I won't be able to provide one-on-one support.
Because all the fields are sanitized before the submission, I'm not certain this would be necessary. I made a test with <>#$ as the phrase. The submission failed, but it did not display the error message. Instead it just reloaded the submit page, which I think is a result of the built in security that sanitizes the data.
Ahh right, so would this mod not combate spam submissions that apparently seem to be automated but still some how make their way through the submit page?
Any idea that lowers the risk of spamming is great but the idea you are promoting here won't eliminate this, all it will do is to eliminate people using certain words. The idea was probably taken from this forum script as it stops you typing words like ******** and ****. In my many years of directory management I found that semantic manipulation is one of the hardest things to overcome in making a directory. Spammers will simply make up other words to get into the directory, besides, regardless of what words are put in the submission the site would still have to be reviewed so to me if I'm being honest it won't stop spam for one second, it will just alter the content that people write. Taje for example a very popular music group called the 'Bare Naked ladies' would you ban that, as it sounds like a porn request? What about 'Cock', are we going to ban male birds? I could go on and on but the point is made.
Prescriptions pills, UK Loans?....never heard of the bands I see it as a temporary fix and better than not having anything at the moment. Some of us had been hit by robots in the past week or two, would been nice to have this word banning mode at that time. I'm sure the team will come up with something better in the near future.
Nice Mod david. Its really helpfull to owner of phpld directories. Is it possible to add this mod in v.3.06
The system allows you to make open ended questions (they do not have to be multiple choice). I have this system implemented on a phpbb forum that I run. I haven't had a single spam registration since I added this text captcha mod. It works. Congrats on the new feature David.
Hmmm, what's happened here then? I defend my script with captcha and my demonstrations and posts get deleted, but dduvals' graphic stays there? Isn't that a bit unfair? I have great respect for DP but show a bit of fair play please. If people who bring out scripts and demonstrate they have better features then it surely they should be allowed to post on highly respectable forums like this otherwise its this forum thats brought into question, and thats not fair. Was this a genuine error and my post accidently deleted, or is there more to it than this? Stand corrected, see post below.
The title of this thread is Ban Words Mod for phpLD 3.1. Please lookup the definition of "thread hijacking". What you have is good and worthwhile, but you should start your own thread.
Every little helps, and this is a step in the right direction. In my experience a word filter does cut down on a certain amount of spam. The trouble with something like this is, no matter how big your banned list is, you can't think of everything. So it takes several layers of spam protection to cut down on it significantly.
Thanks for the lesson, and yes what I have is very good. I was making a valid point on Spamming, as I don't believe word banning is of much use in avoiding Spamming due to semantic manipulation, but I do appreciate that my over-zealousness to promote my Captcha system may have inadvertently stolen your thunder so apologies for that.
No worries, and remember, it is by working together that we all become stronger. I'm happy that you are developing a new script, and I'm sure you will bring some innovations to what we know as the directory. Anyways... Back to the mod. I've been watching my directory that has it installed and it is working great after some testing. But really, after I upgraded to phpLD 3.1 I was not getting spammed anyway, so the Ban Word mod is more a protection against humans, not robots.
Can someone PM me a download link for this MOD? the download link at the phpld supporters forum doesn't work anymore. Thank you