Merged How to protect my forum from spam

I agree with CheechDogg. Not only block IP ranges but you could also deny access from specific browser agents, too. However, this is where things really start to get quite involved and they're beyond the scope of this forum to deal with the vexed question of how to eradicate spam. Kunena is not the real target; the real target is your site, your forum is merely one way that spammers use to promote their "message", and Kunena is just one of many forum products that can be used as a vehicle for spam. Kunena is no worse or more vulnerable than other products (although there's room for improvement in this area) but there's still a lot that you can do to make things more difficult for spam merchants .

Yes sozzled, getting into deny access to specific browser agents is a more complicated method especially for someone who is just learning about spam and how to block it.

With proper research on the internet and with some good reading patience this can be done.

MonkeyDragon I understand this can be quite confusing and pretty darn frustrating especially after being ripped off "The last option then opens up a whole can or wroms though as I am trying to keep expenditure to a minimum having been ripped off to the tune of a few thousand pounds by a rather scrupilous company who I commissoned to originally build the site" this alone would of really got me heated.

But if you want I can help you out with this. Let me know if you would like me to help you out and I will give you more information as to how we can make this happen.

CheechDogg wrote: But if you want I can help you out with this. Let me know if you would like me to help you out and I will give you more information as to how we can make this happen.

Thanks for the offer, I shall take you up on that.....it'll be like 'Cheech and Chong Do Spammers'!

Unfortunately, I'm away for a few days on business so unable to do anything at the moment. I do have Cpanel access to my server, although quite what to do once there I don't know. My intial consultation with Mr Google about htaccess merely served to leave me a tad confused.

I may switch to a newer version of Kunena too, having seen CheechDogs site I was mightily impressed.

Thanks for your help all.......I'm sure you;ll hear much more from me!

No problem MonkeyDragon, just let me know when you get back and I can help you then.

Hi Guys

I have the same problem with spammers and have some other small issues. One of my categories are open to the public (non registered users). I have enabled the build in Kunena Captcha (and tested it, seems to be working fine). Unfortunately I'm still getting 4-5 spams per day from multiple IP addresses.

The Category: General Discussions ( www.orthokinstitute.com/forum/4-general-discussions ) is set up in the back end to be moderated and approved before showing the posts, which is working fine. However before I can approve/delete the spam posts it is already showing 'live' in JomSocial activity stream and in the recent topics module. (All these components are running the latest release versions).

It would also be nice if the super administrator can have an option to do multiple topic deletes instead of having to access each topic individually deleting it and then having to re-access it again to permanently delete the topic. It is a bit time consuming if you have to do 10 spams a day.

Having open-to-the-public categories (where people do not have to register) is like a red rag to a bull; it's like saying to spammers "Come on in and see what you can do".

We understand the need that some people have for these open categories. It's a pity that spam merchants abuse this kind of generosity. Having said that, if you don't restrict your forums (by requiring people to register and login before they post) you're facing an uphill battle trying to keep out spam.

You can delete multiple topics from the Index view. Check the topics (the checkbox on the right) then choose delete from the drop-down near the bottom of the page.

Hello all,

In simpleboard I used this php code to block guests to post "href" It worked
very well to prevent guest to spam links.

Could this code be added to kunena post.php?

Please help me out,

Groenteman

I appreciate the fact that open to the public categories are dangerous, but until we migrate to J2.5 to have different user access levels it will have to stay.

I do have the following concerns
1. Up to K 1.7.1 I never had these spammers. Upgrading to K1.7.2 and higher using Kunena's build in Recaptcha the spamming started. I confirmed this by upgrading my sites 1 month apart. Every time I Upgraded to 1.7.2 the spamming started.
2. An unapproved post still appears in JomSocial activity stream and in the Kunena Latest topic module. To me this is a bug.

Charl Laas: Have I correctly understood that you're saying that, without the reCAPTCHA anti-spam feature you had no spam attacks and after you implemented the reCAPTCHA anti-spam feature you were then attacked by spam? Is that what you are asking us to accept? :dry:

Please don't complicate this topic by reporting what you see as a JomSocial/Kunena Latest software defect in this topic. That issue belongs in a separate topic and, yes, it may be a bug.

sozzled wrote: Having open-to-the-public categories (where people do not have to register) is like a red rag to a bull; it's like saying to spammers "Come on in and see what you can do".

I couldn't agree more, but you do have to register prior to posting. However, people are registering, spamming, posting lionks etc and then going. One in particular tends to register about 20 at a go using different emails for each one - I'm guessing it's automated somewhere.

I desperately need to get a handle on this situation prior to relaunching as I can't afford to have it hijacked by some unscupilous individual.

Very interesting forum this. Very useful indeed - top marks all round.