On Sat, 4 Dec 2004 07:55:51 -0500, Christopher D. Russell wrote
I just found the start page of the Wiki completely replaced with xanax drug spam. I removed the offending content and left a note in its place. Sorry - I'm not sure where the original content is archived or I would go fix it myself right now.
If you look at the bottom of each page you will see a link "View Other Revisions". If you follow this link you can diff the pages and very easily see the last good version. Then you can view that version, edit and save that version over the spammed version. Once you've learned the process it only takes seconds to do.
Perhaps we need a password mechanism on the Wiki? This seems to work well over at http://www.program-transformation.org/ where you need to register and login to edit.
Well, we have been having a Wiki spam issue for at least the last 5 months. The spam is usually quickly reverted and then I ban the IP / id of the spammer from the wiki. Some whole internet domains are now banned. This has been reasonably effective in cutting off the repeat offenders. I don't think a registration system would be more effective for the 'first-timers' and would cut down on the openess of the Wiki. BTW, I'll take this opportunity to say thanks to all the Boosters that help revert the spam quickly -- I personally try to check about once a day and most of the time when there has been a spammer it has already been wiped out by someone else so all that's left is to ban the spammer... Jeff