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New topics marked as spam

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Dieter W

27 Nov, 2013 10:54 AM

Hello,

Several users of our forum report that their new topic simply doesn't show up.

I just created a test account and topic. After submitting the topic a message shows up that the topic is under moderation. Unfortunately I don't get any notice on my administration account, but the topic is marked as spam.

Link to my test topic: http://forum.fork-cms.com/discussions/3xx/1918-forum-test

Could someone look into some options to prevent topics don't show up?

Best regards,
Dieter W.

1. Support Staff 1 Posted by Courtenay on 27 Nov, 2013 11:58 AM

   

   Hey Dieter, you need to go in and clear your spam box periodically. Our spam system checks (a) on users who have never posted before and (b) learns when you specifically mark something as "not spam" (using n-grams, if you care). The recent messages I see you posted indicate that you haven't done much training by restoring things.

   If you would like to restore any comments in the last few pages of your spam list we can clear out the rest to make it more obvious and manageable.

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2. 2 Posted by Dieter W on 27 Nov, 2013 12:23 PM

   

   Hi Courtenay,

   Why does the user get an "in moderation" notification while the message is set as spam? Shouldn't the user get warning that their message will not be published or not sent to an administrator?

   Dieter

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3. Support Staff 3 Posted by Courtenay on 27 Nov, 2013 07:15 PM

   

   Well, "moderation" is a nicer way of saying that it's been sent to the spam bin. If you regularly check it and clear it, it's the same thing.

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4. 4 Posted by Julien on 27 Nov, 2013 08:24 PM

   

   Hey Dieter,

   We use "moderation" to avoid giving too much information to actual spammers about what happens to their post. Otherwise they use that information to their advantage to learn about the system and become better at posting spam (you don't want that).

   Regarding your spam and your site, I see that you have 20000 messages in your spam folder. To get back on track, here is what I suggest:

   • I reset the spam database for your site (the learning part)
   • I delete everything older than X days (7, 15 or 30 days might be good)
   • You go through everything that's left, restore false positives, and delete the rest

   Once that is done, the right way to keep spam at bay and detection good is to go through your spam folder regularly, preferably every day, and restore false positives while deleting the rest. This way, your spam folder is always almost empty, and it's easy to spot false positives. It also makes it easier to notice when the spam engine is really wrong, in which case you need to contact us so we can see what's going on.

   Does that sound good to you?

   Just let me know how much you want to delete, and I'll take care of the rest.

   Cheers!

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5. 5 Posted by Dieter W on 28 Nov, 2013 08:49 AM

   

   Hi Julien,

   The spam folder can get emptied entirely, I went through a few pages so everything should be fine.

   Thx, Dieter

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6. 6 Posted by Julien on 28 Nov, 2013 04:57 PM

   

   Hi Dieter,

   I launched a job to clear spam on your site. You should see the count slowly decrease.

   Cheers!

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7. brandi closed this discussion on 02 Dec, 2013 06:28 PM.

8. Julien re-opened this discussion on 02 Dec, 2013 08:13 PM

9. 7 Posted by Dieter W on 05 Dec, 2013 01:47 PM

   

   Thanks Julien! I clear the spam folder now regularly.

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10. Dieter W closed this discussion on 05 Dec, 2013 01:47 PM.