cam.misc FAQ Wiki user registration disabled

[Paul Oldham]

Folks

I have temporarily disabled user self-registration on the FAQ Wiki at
http://cam.misc.org.uk because I'm seeing a growing number of people who
appear to be would be spammers signing up as users. They don't seem to
be spamming once they're signed on so whether this is a semi-broken 'bot
at work or something else with potential for evil. I'm not sure but
anyway it's becoming irritating.

So if you do want to update the Wiki, and you're not already signed up
as a user, then email me with the username you would like and I'll sign
you up manually.

--
Paul Oldham ----------> http://the-hug.org/paul
Milton villager ------> http://www.milton.org.uk/
and FAQ wiki owner ---> http://cam.misc.org.uk
"Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again"

[Paul Oldham]

On 28/03/13 12:37, I wrote:

> Folks
>
> I have temporarily disabled user self-registration on the FAQ Wiki at
> http://cam.misc.org.uk because I'm seeing a growing number of people who
> appear to be would be spammers signing up as users. They don't seem to
> be spamming once they're signed on so whether this is a semi-broken 'bot
> at work or something else with potential for evil. I'm not sure but
> anyway it's becoming irritating.
>
> So if you do want to update the Wiki, and you're not already signed up
> as a user, then email me with the username you would like and I'll sign
> you up manually.

I experimentally turned self-registration back on today and was amazed
and appalled by the volume of registrations I got (close to one per
minute!). However I've now added two plugins to the wiki, one of which
takes new registrants through clicking a link in an email before
bothering to create them as a user and that, alongside some filtering on
IP addresses via StopForumSpam <http://www.stopforumspam.com/> and
Project Honey Pot <http://www.projecthoneypot.org>, seems to have got it
all under control.

So normal service is resumed and you can register without my help,
although there is now an extra hoop to jump through.

--
Paul Oldham ----------> http://the-hug.org/paul
Milton villager ------> http://www.milton.org.uk/
and FAQ wiki owner ---> http://cam.misc.org.uk

"You can't have everything ... where would you put it?"