SpamBuster: Identify, log and remove spam posts on your forum
 

This is the v3.6 version of SpamBuster that I wrote for vBulletin v3.5.x This version is mainly bug fixes.

What does it do?
It spots posts that could potentially be spam then (depending on option settings) creates a thread alerting site admin/moderators about the post and/or hides the post from view.

How does it identify the spam?
All off the posts for users with a post count of less than 10 (configurable) have their posts checked against a number of rules. Each rule has a different "score". If the total score for the post exceeds a specified limit then the post is deemed to be spam.

Can I add my own rules?
The installer file has a default rule set with it, you may wish to customise the rules in the options section of the AdminCP. The rules system is fairly simple to add to, in simple terms each rule is a perl regular expression and a score.

How do I install it?
Import the product via the Product Manager in the AdminCP. The options group and plugins will be added to your system. Now would be a good time to click the install link on here to record the fact that you've installed it.

How do I configure it?
Head to the "SpamBuster" option group in the "vBulletin Options" section of your AdminCP. Fill in the relevant fields. Further documentation will follow but it should be obvious what each setting does for the moment.

How do I upgrade?
Just run a regular install. It's worth backing up your settings particluarly the rules before performing the upgrade. If you have any problems I recommend removing the product then installing it from scratch.

How can I test it?
Try posting a new thread/post with some trigger values in it. The string cialis should do the trick.

Help it's broken my forum!
Erm, that's not an intended feature. Disable all six of the plugins that are part of the product "SpamBuster" and post an error report to this thread. The forum will work fine.

Why doesn't it do x,y or z?
Because I've either not thought about it yet or I've not written it yet. Please drop a post into this thread with any (sensible!) suggestions.

Can I use it commercially?
You're free to use it for whatever purpose comercially/privately as long as you don't resell the code. It's released under the LGPL, see the link below for futher info. If you find this plugin useful and you'd like to make a donation please use the "donate" button below.

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click to donate

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This software is licenced under the CC-GNU LGPL.


Changelog

• 8th November 2007 - v1.1.2 - New thread redirect bug fixed
• 14th August 2007 - v1.1.1 - Multiple post bug fix
• 13th August 2007 - v1.1.0 - Important bug fixes, updated rules file
• 15th June 2006 - v1.0.1 - Updated list of rules uploaded as a text file
• 6th April 2006 - v1.0.0 - Stable release: code remains the same but the rules file has changed.

thanks for this... while i have been lucky to not have the spam problem... it never hurts to have this gatekeeper in place... installed...

Thanks for the release :D

Thanks for this update jimbo! Ill give some forward later

edit:

so far no bugs, working as supposed to work

I was wonderig if the other version would for on the newer vb. thaks for the update. Will have to try this on my new site.

it's awesome. Ill have to give this a crack. had some spam bots just hit me up

It does but with some critical bugs in it that:
- don't allow you to use the "moderation" section of the admincp
- doesn't update thread/post counters
- doesn't allow report threads to be created if you have post flood detection enabled
- doesn't have a rules file that's as good as this one

This version is looking very nice. Thanks for the update.

The v1.1.0 release introduced a new bug which means that if you have thread reporting turned on you'll get a load of reported threads instead of just one.

I've fixed the problem in v1.1.1 which has just been (hastily!) released.

omg ! such a great mod . installed and works like charm in vb 3.6.8 :up:

awesome . strongly recommended to all . thanks for release it UK Jimbo :)

LOL, Ooops! :) .. I'm pruning 1510 threads right now. I installed it last night! No problem though; Thanks for the quick fix!

Oops! Sorry about that.

Can you add an option in the settings to ignore a list of forumids?

I have a couple "private" forums where we allow contributors to post pretty much anything and while most of these members have more then "10" posts I really don't want the rest of the staff to get an eyeful if they happen to catch the "SPAMBUSTER" post in the staff forums.

If you want advise, I would just add a new setting for "Ignored Forums" and have users list the forum IDs with a space between them. Then, have the pluggin verify if the post is in one of the ignored forums and if it is do not moderate.

I can help you code this addition if you would like and if you don't add it I will modify the code for my own site as I really need this.

Thanks!

Nice! Any chance of this automatically moving the suspected spam to a 'trash' forum?

Same here, but I have 3 report forums and one archive for all of them. Would be great if someone can point me where can I extend the forumids to be ignored appart from the default report forumid in vb settings.

I am gettin spambuster reports from my vb default report forum aswell.

3.5 version running on my 3.6 worked as a charm, please take a look into my problem when you have some spare time. Thanks

Will v.1.1.1 work with 3.5.7? It seems to be better and have more options than v1.0.0.0

Thanx

I installed it but nothing happens. I am running vb 3.6.8 and all six plugins are active. Tested it with a new user with 0 posts with a few things (including nokia, a URL etc) but the post was not hidden and no notification was created.

Any ideas?

Yup - it should work fine though I've not tested it.


What settings do you have setup in the options section? screenshot?

I'll sort this out guys.


Possibly :)

but if i set this to yes..would this alert and remove all sites i have listed with.com? or even myspace?

I have no idea what you're talking about! :)

me either..let me test this..lol i mean..should i see both of the sections set at 10? because they stated if it equal or greater..it would be considered spam based on post right? because I want people with 5 or less post...that post links should be considered as spam.lol

nope. Still no idea.

nice ......

I've noticed that some of the URL based rules (.jp, .no, etc) need a bit of refining as they'll incorrectly match stuff like myimage.jpeg

It'll be a pretty easy regexp fix, I'll take a look when I get a chance.

Please integrate PM Spam too.
There are serios problems with people spaming URL via the PM System to other Users.

It also should be configurable for Usergroups and Forums.

regards

PM spam is something I've luckily not seen to much of on the forum I work with. It's an interesting feature but begs some privacy issues if the moderators are able to read the users' "private" messages. I'd be interested to hear peoples' thoughts on this one. One idea I had was that if SpamBuster thought a PM was spam then it either put some text at the beginning of the PM making it easy for the user to report it or it kept a count of spam PMs per user and then flagged it up when they reached a threshold.

Worth nothing that if PM spam is a problem you could disable PM functionality until a user has reached a given number of posts on the forum.

I've seen the "configurable by forum" request which is something I'll build into a future release. Can you explain how or why you'd want it configurable by usergroup?

Hi ,
I think there is problem that u should fix it somehow . for example A*al is not allowed so if a user use Analog ! their post will be report ! is there anyway that we can set the Exact words or ... ???

thanks

I installed the plugin, but when you try to make a new post that triggers the spam filter you get this message:

Invalid Thread specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

If you reply to an existing post then it just goes back to that thread and does nto show the post as it has been hidden. Is there a way to perhaps have the message say that their post has triggered a spam filter and will be reviewed by an administrator before it is posted?

Cheers,
Jeff

Installed. Thank you.

installed worked like a charm great mod ;) it would be awesome if it autoban the users who reached a specific point like auto ban if the post score more than 10 or 20 something like that o.o
cuz after i installed the mod i add some spam words and woah a lot of spam replay got catch by this mod and I'd like to auto ban those spam users and have an option to auto delete the spam posts :)

Thank you installed.

We also want them to change Usergroup to 4 when Spam got found.

Tryed it with this in SpamBuster Libraries Plugin:
if ($GLOBALS['vbulletin']->userinfo['userid'] > 1) { $userdata->set('usergroupid', 4); }

but it doesnt work.

EDIT: This is really a very good dynamic spam protection.

What also could be added is:

• Check PM's. If Found Spam, Just send PM to Admin that the User X has send a PM blocked by the Spamfilter.
• Message that a Thread/Post will be moderatated when Spam is found.
• Option to exclude Forums from Spam Protection
• Option to exclude Usergroups from Spam Protection
• Improve the Script: For what I see the regexp is executed everytime, regardless if the User is in the required Posting-Amount range or not.

Which version of this mod would be best with vB 3.6.4?

Thanks

Hi

Can I use this hack to send an email as alert instead of posting a new thread.

Thanks

This version :) v1.1.1

Not in its current form. It just posts new threads.

How about this UK Jimbo: Message that a Thread/Post will be moderatated when Spam is found.
Actually the Users just see nothing and they keep trying to post which results in many unmoderated Posts + angry Users.

We need that badly.
regards

I'm considering changing the following:to this:the same \b word boundary could be applied to the analogue problem etc.

Do you foresee any problem with using \b in some of the rules?

*Clicks Install* :up:

That would be a nice addition.

This has been fantastic for my forums!!! I have noticed occasionally when people post a thread that is suspected of being spam, it gives this weird error:

Any ideas on how to fix this?