Spam Decimator Version 1.0.5

First of all, credit for the idea goes to zsdave, with his Spam Killer 3000 hack (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=76503)

That being said, this is a slightly more powerful 3.5 version of that rewritten from scratch.

Features Include:

-Ban a spammer with two clicks.

-Delete all threads by a user (soft or permanent, ACP configurable)

-Delete all posts by a user (again, soft or permanent, choice is yours)

-Permit or deny mod/super mod access through ACP

-Email the spammer saying pretty much haha, caught you sucker (default email can be configured using ACP)

-Email the webmaster informing him/her of the attack

-Option to move all soft deleted threads to a specified forum (for safe keeping in case IP addresses or whatnot are later needed for legal proceedings or whatever)

Most everything here works with vB native functions (i.e. delete_thread, etc.), so forum, thread, and post counters are automatically updated.

Install

Installing is quite simple. Simply upload the included files (three of them, decimator.php, includes/functions_decimator.php, and images/misc/spambutton.gif) preserving hierarchy, do precisely ONE template edit (a copy and paste job if there ever was one ), and import the product file, and voila! you're done and ready to take on any spammer who comes your way.

Other Stuff

**UPDATED!!!

Spam Decimator 2.0.0 is slated for a late June 2008 release, with a features list to follow.\

Spam Decimator 1.5.1 for 3.7.x is posted as a vB 3.7 add on.

Thanks to everyone here at vB.org for being a fine community to be a part of. Thanks to Marco for helping me out in one of the changed variables for 3.5 threads, really helped a lot . Thanks to my staff over at Pigskin Heaven for putting up with me while I was working on this.

That's basically it. Enjoy, and as always, click install

Changes:
1.0.1 - Fixed problems with xml product file, validated for use with vB 3.5 Gold release.

1.0.2 - Fixed mod/super mod access bug as well as fixed templates for non-vB default styles.

1.0.3 - Fixed all known remaining bugs, rewrote email system to properly parse emails using native vB functions.

1.0.4 - Attempted to fix bug I can't find...updated main template.

1.0.5 - Fixed no mod access bug.

-RD

[RaidenDAWG2]

Originally Posted by Smitty

Any ETA on the update?

In this next week I hope.

Originally Posted by AFemaleProdigy

The one thing I find annoying about this, is that I wish it automatically added the decimated user's ip address to the current banned ip list. Unless I am missing this option somewhere, you have to manually add the ip addresses to the ip ban list to prevent that user from just creating a new account. So I have the decimated threads/posts sent to a spam container thread, then I have to go in and get the ip from each user.

I can do the current post's IP address with very little problem. Consider it added in the next update.

[Smitty]

Originally Posted by AFemaleProdigy

The one thing I find annoying about this, is that I wish it automatically added the decimated user's ip address to the current banned ip list.

I hope that it will be an option. Many spammers use anonymizers and/or come in from IP pools so banning the spammer's IP is not always a 'good' thing. I definitely do not want an IP to be 'automagically' put in vB ban list when I 'decimate' them.

[RaidenDAWG2]

As with most things in this, it will be optional.

[AFemaleProdigy]

I personally will love the option to ban by ip. You are right about it being a bad idea in some cases, but how else would you deal with a spammer that just keeps creating new user accounts after you ban by user name or email?

[Smitty]

Well, I really don't have too much of a spam problem these days. I have moderators pretty much from around the world, and someone is usually on the site, even on weekends, so spam by cell phone sellers, etc. is usually caught quickly. Essentially we ban the email address. and don't have many repeat offenders (or so it appears).

I guess it depends on your site and how everything is set up, etc., what type of spam you're getting - That sort of thing.

I shy away from banning IPs unless we see a pattern. An individual IP isn't a big issue but when you start getting blocks where the last or second to last set of numbers is the only difference I look closely. A few years ago I was getting a lot of spam from an IP block and I did a partial IP ban and knocked out one of Israels largest telecom blocks. A moderator who lives in Israel emailed me - He could get on with his home ISP (if I remember correctly) but his office computer was blocked. I took out the IP block and the problem was gone. ***NOTE: Do a traceroute on the IP before even considering an IP ban (BUT it should be noted that a lot of spammers use anonymous proxies so even a traceroute is a guess). Since then I've been very wary of blocking IP addresses.

There are several moderators on my site that pay close attention to IPs and look for IP correlations for spammers, which this mod makes easy. The only IP I currently have banned is: 212.247.71.34

I will say this mod is one of the best I have - I say that because the moderators just really love it. I stave off spammers with some setup stuff like a couple of key word blocks, email registration activation, and another mod which allows me to not allow links or email addresses in posts by posters with less than x posts (x for me is 8).

Luckily I can say that we don't get many spammers these days so I can't say it's a problem on my board. None the less, the moderators and I love this mod for quick, easy 'disposal' of the spammer and the post(s).

EDIT ADD: If you're getting repeat spammers (spammers from the same IP) and you get rid of spam posts within 3 to 6 hours, they're probably not the same person. If they know you're deleting their spam promptly it doesn't make too much sense for them to keep wasting their time posting. My board has a lot of moderators and most spam on my board is gone within minutes rather than hours because at least one moderator is almost always online.

[Airon]

I can't wait for the new version for 3.6.8.

Any idea of when will be released?

Thanks in advance.

[Spinball]

Originally Posted by AFemaleProdigy

The one thing I find annoying about this, is that I wish it automatically added the decimated user's ip address to the current banned ip list. Unless I am missing this option somewhere, you have to manually add the ip addresses to the ip ban list to prevent that user from just creating a new account. So I have the decimated threads/posts sent to a spam container thread, then I have to go in and get the ip from each user.

You don't always/automatically want to ban a spammer's IP. They may be using an AOL IP address, for example, which is dynamically assigned and used by several people.

Generally if there are 2 or 3 spammers who have exclusively used an IP address, then we ban it.

Edit: Is there any chance you could delete a spammer's blog entries as well? The other day someone registered and spammed the blog. No other posts. Had to manually kill him off.

[PoetJA-1975]

hmmm - subscribing...

Jacquii.

[Airon]

I think RaidenDAWG2 died

[RaidenDAWG2]

Originally Posted by Airon

I think RaidenDAWG2 died

Almost...full time job, full time classload...damn near killed me.

But...I'm about halfway through rewriting bits and pieces of the 1.0.5 code to get a 1.5.x series out there...next day or two, should happen...funny what happens when people start spamming my site again.

1.5 will have a couple of minor feature tweaks, but it's all backend stuff. None of the front end features will be tweaked, this is more to fix a couple of glitches with the way it deletes posts, as well as give you guys the ability to have more than three usergroups use it.

-RD