No links allowed, until get spam under control

[manuel_moe_g]

Unfortunately, there has been a rise in spam on the board. Will deal with this shortly, but in the meantime, will disallow URL links.

Sorry. But this is strictly temporary.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you want to post a link, just type in the URL with extra spaces, I can edit your post after-the-fact and put a proper link; no problem.

[manuel_moe_g]

i kinda wanted to see what the spammers had up their sleeves, now that I have blocked their links and blocked the use of their favorite words

but no spam overnight and no spam today (so far)

(((i am a tiny bit bummed, just a tiny bit)))

[oak]

We appreciate all you do, Manuel Moe.

I also wondered if the PHP and/or plug-ins needed updating.

(Assuming this bb is a Wordpress situation.)

[snoringdog]

But now I can't reply with links to my funny spam advertisements anymore....

But thanks Manny, it was kinda weird and pointless,,,

Motorcycle parts
Glass wall blocks
Links to other empty BBS boards
???

But I did learn some things about SPAM along the way e.g.- If you work at Hormel, the term is forbidden.
You must always refer to it as "Unwanted email messages"

[manuel_moe_g]

Another night with zero spam. Disallowing links may turn out to be the cheapest anti-spam, might have saved myself $100 a year from buying professional anti-spam extension. If you guys need a link in a post, just post away with extra spaces in the link, and I can edit it later with a proper URL link

[oak]

Very good, Manuel Moe.

And I'd be more than glad to chip in if it comes to the $100 a year.

[troebia]

might have saved myself $100 a year from buying professional anti-spam extension

Hi again Manuel, I believe the Akismet phpBB extension is free for this type of forum, here's what they say:

The Akismet extension allows to run phpBB post, registrations and forms through the Akismet anti-spam service. Akismet extension requires an Akismet API key which may be obtained at akismet.com. Some boards are eligible for free (personal) plan. Just set plan price to 0.

Your board is not eligible for free plan if:
it is tied to a business/company or
it has any any revenue-generating content (a store, advertising, affiliate links, etc.) - VigLink extension is an exception
For example, if it's a fan forum for Nintendo and you don't sell any merchandise or run ads, you're totally eligible to register a free key to use with Akismet. Whereas if it's a forum for Nintendo the company, then you are required a paid key.

Features:
Checks new registrations and categorizes spambots into dedicated groups after registration.
Checks posts before publishing and prevents bots from posting spam posts.
Checks Contact Us form and prevents bots from submitting the form.
Also acts preventively when legitimate user was hacked and now is posting spam posts - such posts will be sent to validation queue.
Ability to disable checks for users with more than N posts.
Doesn't check admin and moderator posts.

I think it would be worth trying the extension if you see another surge in spam. There's probably a setting that allows you to modulate the blocking, from very lenient to aggressive, and as admin you can always see what's been blocked in the spam queue/folder.