Spam - Revision history

Wiki-Harry Wood: /* Normal wiki users can help */tweak link. just list redirects

2016-08-04T16:12:14Z

Normal wiki users can help: tweak link. just list redirects

Wiki-Harry Wood: /* Shields up again */ Rewrite. Describe a more up-to-date situation

2016-08-03T22:41:39Z

Shields up again: Rewrite. Describe a more up-to-date situation

Wiki-Harry Wood: Rewrite better explaining how people can help (and that it is appreciated)

2016-08-03T21:50:40Z

Rewrite better explaining how people can help (and that it is appreciated)

Wiki-Leo: /* Shields up again */

2013-08-06T10:56:51Z

Shields up again

Warmerdam: /* A few places to watch for spam */

2012-10-18T18:44:36Z

A few places to watch for spam

Warmerdam: /* A few places to watch for spam */

2012-10-18T18:43:40Z

A few places to watch for spam

Warmerdam: /* A few places to watch for spam */

2012-10-18T18:39:07Z

A few places to watch for spam

Warmerdam: add places to watch for spam.

2012-10-18T18:30:38Z

add places to watch for spam.

Wiki-Leo at 09:57, 10 June 2012

2012-06-10T09:57:12Z

Neteler: +Shields up again

2012-05-31T07:33:44Z

+Shields up again

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 == Normal wiki users can help ==
 Other wiki members cannot fully delete spam, however you can help by spotting the spam and tackling it. Spam on pre-existing pages should be reverted. Much spam involves creation of a new page, often with a spammy title. Deal with these by replacing the page with: <tt><nowiki>#REDIRECT [[Spam]]</nowiki></tt>.<br>
-These can be [[Special:WhatLinksHere/Spam|found]] and deleted by administrators. By redirecting we help avoid search engines indexing spam page titles (Spam getting indexed will attract more spam).
+These can be [https://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php?title=Special:WhatLinksHere/Spam&hidelinks=1 found] and deleted by administrators. By redirecting we help avoid search engines indexing spam page titles (Spam getting indexed will attract more spam).
 All such efforts are appreciated. But we are also working on measures to reduce the need for this human effort.

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 All such efforts are appreciated. But we are also working on measures to reduce the need for this human effort.
-== Shields up again ==
+== Shields up - Spam blocking measures ==
-I have added some new captchas and the spam burden seems the be heavily reduced. Let's monitor... Cheers Markus [[User:Neteler|Neteler]] 00:33, 31 May 2012 (PDT)
+The wiki uses various spam blocking measures. Often these involve a level of inconvenience for real users which is a shame, and a difficult balance to strike. Server admins can  experiment with reducing the inconvenient roadblocks if the wiki editing community is effective at zapping spam quickly... or vice versa. Measures include the following:
-[http://cwillmes.de/blog/2016/08/02/the-daily-kindergardening-of-osgeo-wiki-spammers/ Adminstrator CWillmes blogged about 'The daily kindergardening of OSGeo wiki spammers'] - August 02, 2016
+:'''Approved registrations''' - We require users to register before they can begin editing this wiki. But we currently also manually approve registrations using [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ConfirmAccount Extension:ConfirmAccount]. We require users to describe themselves. Any descriptions which appears spammy is rejected. This is inconvenient for new real users, quite labour intensive for those reviewing registrations, and is proving to be increasingly ineffective at keeping out spammers. [http://cwillmes.de/blog/2016/08/02/the-daily-kindergardening-of-osgeo-wiki-spammers/ Adminstrator CWillmes blogged about 'The daily kindergardening of OSGeo wiki spammers'] which mostly focussed on this problem
 == A few places to watch for spam ==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Nonsense text and promotional links are an ever-present problem on this wiki.  Those who add the pages don't seem to understand that these wiki links don't add anything to their pagerank and are just a waste of their and our time.
+Nonsense text and promotional links are an ever-present problem on this wiki.  Those who add the pages don't seem to understand that these wiki links don't add anything to their pagerank and are just a waste of their and our time. Nevertheless, spam remains a problem.
-Nevertheless, spam remains a problem and it seems that only one or two members on this wiki are allowed to delete pages and/or block users.  Other wiki members spot the spam but can't do anything about it.  They can blank the page, but then as soon as the page gets deleted, so does any record that the page was blanked.  So in effect it's worthless for normal users to spend any effort fighting the spam, because their efforts will be deleted too.
+== Wiki administrators ==
-== Helping ==
+== Normal wiki users can help ==
-If you are interested in helping to block spamming accounts and revert edits please apply for administrator access on the SAC list (or contact [[User:Arnulf_Christl|Arnulf Christl]] directly). Thanks.
+Other wiki members cannot fully delete spam, however you can help by spotting the spam and tackling it. Spam on pre-existing pages should be reverted. Much spam involves creation of a new page, often with a spammy title. Deal with these by replacing the page with: <tt><nowiki>#REDIRECT [[Spam]]</nowiki></tt>.<br>
 == Shields up again ==
@@ Line 10: / Line 14: @@
 I have added some new captchas and the spam burden seems the be heavily reduced. Let's monitor... Cheers Markus [[User:Neteler|Neteler]] 00:33, 31 May 2012 (PDT)
 : Is there any chance of making the captchas a ''little bit'' more tricky?  At the moment it seems that the png is always "+1", which is making the automatic registration perhaps just a little bit too easy. [[User:Leo|Leo]] 03:56, 6 August 2013 (PDT)
 == A few places to watch for spam ==
-* [[Special:RecentChanges]]: Main OSGeo wiki
+* [[Special:RecentChanges]]: This main OSGeo wiki
 * [http://trac.osgeo.org/geotiff/timeline?daysback=180&wiki=on&update=Update GeoTIFF] -frequently abused.
 * [http://trac.osgeo.org/geos/timeline?daysback=180&wiki=on&update=Update GEOS] -frequently abused.

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 I have added some new captchas and the spam burden seems the be heavily reduced. Let's monitor... Cheers Markus [[User:Neteler|Neteler]] 00:33, 31 May 2012 (PDT)
-:Huge improvement, thank you!  Could you also please nuke the user [[Special:Contributions/Ovbbkbb|Ovbbkbb]] and revert the pdf file uploaded? [[User:Leo|Leo]] 02:57, 10 June 2012 (PDT)
+: Is there any chance of making the captchas a ''little bit'' more tricky?  At the moment it seems that the png is always "+1", which is making the automatic registration perhaps just a little bit too easy. [[User:Leo|Leo]] 03:56, 6 August 2013 (PDT)
 == A few places to watch for spam ==

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 * [http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/timeline?daysback=180&wiki=on&update=Update PROJ.4]
 * [http://trac.osgeo.org/gdal/timeline?daysback=45&wiki=on&update=Update GDAL]
 * [http://trac.osgeo.org/metacrs/timeline?daysback=180&wiki=on&update=Update MetaCRS]

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:39, 18 October 2012
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	* [http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/timeline?daysback=180&wiki=on&update=Update PROJ.4]		* [http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/timeline?daysback=180&wiki=on&update=Update PROJ.4]
	* [http://trac.osgeo.org/geotiff/timeline?daysback=180&wiki=on&update=Update GeoTIFF]		* [http://trac.osgeo.org/geotiff/timeline?daysback=180&wiki=on&update=Update GeoTIFF]
		+	* [http://trac.osgeo.org/gdal/timeline?daysback=45&wiki=on&update=Update GDAL]

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:30, 18 October 2012
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	I have added some new captchas and the spam burden seems the be heavily reduced. Let's monitor... Cheers Markus [[User:Neteler\|Neteler]] 00:33, 31 May 2012 (PDT)		I have added some new captchas and the spam burden seems the be heavily reduced. Let's monitor... Cheers Markus [[User:Neteler\|Neteler]] 00:33, 31 May 2012 (PDT)
	:Huge improvement, thank you! Could you also please nuke the user [[Special:Contributions/Ovbbkbb\|Ovbbkbb]] and revert the pdf file uploaded? [[User:Leo\|Leo]] 02:57, 10 June 2012 (PDT)		:Huge improvement, thank you! Could you also please nuke the user [[Special:Contributions/Ovbbkbb\|Ovbbkbb]] and revert the pdf file uploaded? [[User:Leo\|Leo]] 02:57, 10 June 2012 (PDT)
		+
		+	== A few places to watch for spam ==
		+
		+	* [[Special:RecentChanges]]: Main OSGeo wiki
		+	* [http://trac.osgeo.org/proj/timeline?daysback=180&wiki=on&update=Update PROJ.4]
		+	* [http://trac.osgeo.org/geotiff/timeline?daysback=180&wiki=on&update=Update GeoTIFF]

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:33, 31 May 2012
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	....plus many more. If you are interested in helping to block spamming accounts and revert edits please apply for administrator access on the SAC list (or contact [[User:Arnulf_Christl\|Arnulf Christl]] directly). Thanks.		....plus many more. If you are interested in helping to block spamming accounts and revert edits please apply for administrator access on the SAC list (or contact [[User:Arnulf_Christl\|Arnulf Christl]] directly). Thanks.
		+
		+	== Shields up again ==
		+
		+	I have added some new captchas and the spam burden seems the be heavily reduced. Let's monitor... Cheers Markus [[User:Neteler\|Neteler]] 00:33, 31 May 2012 (PDT)