Moderators Functions - Akismet - spam detection

Akismet is an spam detection engine that is mostly used by blogs to check the comments for spam. But it can also be used for forum posts. It is not a definite protection against spam.

This plugin for vBulletin 3.6 will check every thread and reply if it is considered as spam. If it is spam it will put the offending thread or reply in the moderator queue.

In order to use Akismet you need to get a API key. You can get one by signing up on WordPress. The Akismet service is free for personal use. Check the Akismet website for more information.

This vBulletin plugin is available under the terms of the GNU Lesser Public License.

Installation instructions are available in the ZIP archive.

Features

• Scan for spam in new threads and post
• Scan content edits
• Automatically put identified spam in the moderation queue
• Report posts as spam or ham (individual post or through inline moderation)
• Limit spam detection to post count and user groups
• Extendable through hooks

Changelog
v1.3

• Added an akismet activity log in the admincp

v1.2

• Fixed an invalid URL issue when using cURL

v1.1

• Option to send parsed post data
• Option to send additional webserver request data for the initial spam check
• Removed product version query
• Added extra information when reporting a post
• Only check API key when entered in the vBulletin options, not for every Akismet request

v1.0

• Various bug fixes: report post submitted wrong data; few missing phrases
• More code documentation
• This plugin now exposes some hooks that others can use to extend the feature set. Like give users infractions when posts are considered spam.

v0.3

• Added options to exclude posts from checking based on user's postcount and usergroups
• Added mass reporting of ham/spam through the inline moderation system.
• Improvements of the internal code

v0.2

• Check spam status on edits
• Add report as ham/spam functionality (requires template edit)

[BadgerDog]

Update....

I had another spammer come back and post the same ad as I reported to Akismet using this mod, as I indicated in the above post.

Unfortunately, the exact same ad (even though reported) still was posted twice in two different forums and was not caught and moderated.

So, the conclusion is that something isn't working right, either with the mod itself, or with the interaction using Akismet for checking posts before they actually end up live in a forum.

I have again marked the posts as SPAM and the routine of this mod says it has reported them to Akismet, as well as the mod moved them to become moderated.

Not sure what I should do at this point for testing?

Regards,
Badger

[El_Muerte]

if you want to test if things are working create a user with the name: viagra-test-123
every post made by that users should be qualified as spam.

just to be sure I just check if everything is send correctly to the akismet server, and it is.
they are not very clear on how they detect spam and so far I haven't had a confirmed spam message (or even spam at all).
but if they use a learning system the detection should improve every time you mark content as spam.

but I'm sure the detection will become better as the user base increases, or at least I assume there are major differences between the content of blog spam and forum spam.

anyway, I'll get in contact with the akismet people and try to figure out some more stuff

[BadgerDog]

Originally Posted by El_Muerte

anyway, I'll get in contact with the akismet people and try to figure out some more stuff

Thanks for your support ...

I'd be interested hearing what they have to say, particularly why an ad with exactly the same content is reported using their format, yet when posted again it doesn't get recognized by their software routines.

That's a good idea about creating a test user called viagra-test-123... :up:

In fact, I have a private forum that I can use to create ads with various obvious spam phrases, so I'll try to create a bunch of new posts using that name as well as put content in them that should be picked up.

I'll let you know the results....

Regards,
Badger

[BadgerDog]

Ok, I created that usename viagra-test-123 and tried a post.....

When I hit submit for the post, the screen cleared and there was a statement that went by so quick I could hardly read it. Something to the effect of my post was being submitted for moderation. They really should halt that "screen" with a button for OK to continue so people can see what it says.

Anyway, apparently it didn't like the post from username viagra-test-123 and did immediately put it into moderation que ... :up:

Here's the screen that I saw when I went to the que and checked it.

Posted By viagra-test-123
Forum - Library Post Preparation and Testing Area
Title - Message Testing spam........

Message

Testing new SPAM thingy...

Notes - Akismet reported this as spam

Action - Validate Delete Ignore

So, I guess the word viagara in the username was the catch phrase here, since nothing else in the subject or body of the post (except the word spam) was threatening enough to trigger a moderation event.

I'm going to do some more testing using a username that's not obvious and try to put some various phrases into the body of the posts that are obvious. ie: viagara.

I suspect that will work, but the real issue should be that once I've reported something as spam from my user site (web address), I would have thought that Akismet recognizes it going forward as spam, at least when associated with my site alone.

That's what I think it's NOT doing, because HUGE ads for cameras and cell phones being reported doesn't seem to be enough to get the same ads on their list.

Thanks again for your work.

Regards,
Badger

[BadgerDog]

Update again .....

Ok, using the username Tester this time, I posted message with the phrase viagara in the BODY of the post and also created a second post with the phrase viagara in the SUBJECT header.

Neither one was picked up by Akismet.....

So, I guess it picks up viagara when part of the username, but nowhere else?

Hope this helps....

Regards,
Badger

Edit: Out of curiosity, I set the option "Send extra request information" to ON and tried the above tests in this post again, however, it made no difference and Akismet failed to spot it.

[El_Muerte]

The username 'viagra-test-123' is a testing feature, akismet will consider everything from viagra-test-123 as spam. It's just for testing purposes to check if the system is still properly communicating with the servers.

Anyway, just uploaded 1.3 which adds an activity log for akismet actions.

[BadgerDog]

V1.3 installed and functioning..... :up:

I can see new log function at bottom of "Statistics and Logs" area of AdminCp....

Will advise results....

Thanks...

Regards,
Badger

[BadgerDog]

Ok, serious issue.....

Just tried to post simple test message under username Tester and when I hit submit, got a white Vbulletin screen saying DATABASE ERROR with no other information other then the standard "Go Back" kind of thing.

When I back up, the message never got posted anywhere (even moderation) and I suspct it has something to do with trying to write to the database log?

Since I'm on a LIVE system, I've had to disable v1.3 version of mod in the AdminCP until you get a chance to look at it. I re-tested posting after I disabled the mod and the user Tester was able to post the exact same message with no error, so I assume by leaving the mod disabled the system will continue to operate without problems (although no Akismet checking).

Regards,
Badger

Edit: By the way, there were NO ENTRIES in the log at any time during this testing process, if that helps....

[El_Muerte]

oh crap, forgot to include the table prefix in the install query to create the table. get 1.3.1

[BadgerDog]

Originally Posted by El_Muerte

oh crap, forgot to include the table prefix in the install query to create the table. get 1.3.1

Installed v1.3.1 (Overwrite) .... :up:

Re-enabled mod...

Ran same simple post test with username tester as described above...

Got the exact same vBulletin database error.... nothing recorded in log...

Disabled mod and retested..... no error....

Hope this helps track down the databse error problem that began with adding the "logging" function...

Regards,
Badger