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)

[El_Muerte]

I welcome any feature suggestions and code additions. Feel free to help me improve this mod.

[Zia]

nice to see...hope we'll find it very much usefull

[BadgerDog]

Installed.....

Thanks for your efforts.... :up:

I'm so sick of banning and deleting spammers who register and login, starting threads about prescription drug sales or pornographic sites.

I hope this works as I've never handled moderated threads before. I'm not even sure how that function works in vBulletin.

Regards,
Badger

Edit: Question: NM, got it figured out and now have "Quick Moderation" page appearing on Home Page. Thanks.

[El_Muerte]

Ok, version 0.2 has ham and spam reporting.

When you encounter a spam message that was not detected simply press the red flag to submit that message as spam. This will increase the chance that the message will be detected as spam the next time. In the same way you should report a message as ham (green flag) when it was detected as spam. A successful report will automatically mark the post and put it in or remove it from the moderation queue. Of course only forum moderators will be able to report posts as ham or spam.

The red exclamation icon tells you the message has been identified as spam.

[BadgerDog]

In the process of updating to 0.2....

It says we need to modify the template postbit.....

Should we not also modify the template postbit_legacy as well, if boards use it?

Thanks

Regards,
Badger

[BadgerDog]

Originally Posted by El_Muerte

Of course only forum moderators will be able to report posts as ham or spam.

Since there is no place in this mod that I can find to identify who is a forum moderator or not, can I assume you've defaulted to UserGroup numbers 5,6,7 (Senior Moderator, Admin, Moderator) as the basis for this?

Thanks

Regards,
Badger

ps: Can I make a suggestion? Instead of the phrase "ham", why not call it "Not Spam" to avoid confusion?

[El_Muerte]

Originally Posted by BadgerDog

It says we need to modify the template postbit.....

Should we not also modify the template postbit_legacy as well, if boards use it

Er.. yes, if your board uses it you should also update it.

Originally Posted by BadgerDog

Since there is no place in this mod that I can find to identify who is a forum moderator or not, can I assume you've defaulted to UserGroup numbers 5,6,7 (Senior Moderator, Admin, Moderator) as the basis for this?

no usergroup check, it simply relies on vBulletin's API. if the user has privileges to moderate posts in a forum.

Originally Posted by BadgerDog

ps: Can I make a suggestion? Instead of the phrase "ham", why not call it "Not Spam" to avoid confusion?

"ham" is the going name for "not spam", you could simply change the phrases that use "ham".

[BadgerDog]

Originally Posted by El_Muerte

Er.. yes, if your board uses it you should also update it.

Done...

Originally Posted by El_Muerte

no usergroup check, it simply relies on vBulletin's API. if the user has privileges to moderate posts in a forum.

Yup, tested it various ways logging in as just a normal user and it works fine... thanks..

Originally Posted by El_Muerte

"ham" is the going name for "not spam", you could simply change the phrases that use "ham".

I didn't know that... must be getting old... I think 'll change the phrases locally... :up:

Nice mod... now I'm just waiting for a spammer to show up so I can see what happens.

I assume this doesn't put a performance (or bandwidth consumption) drain on the system when it's checking externally against their database?

Thanks again...

Regards,
Badger

[sensimilla]

I used to have it installed, its a great modification, thanks for the update.