I’ve set up a couple of forums recently, and one had ‘someone’ register, the website given (sounding like a university) turned out to be some online casino. I rejected it, then enabled Akismet, and also the Human plugin which asks for the answer to a simple math question. I’ve also trawled these forums for posts about spam, but am not sure I’m best protected yet.

My question: What are the best methods to us with bbPress without overloading it or the server?

In case of replies like “read the forums”, I have, and there are plenty of posts on this. What I’d like to know is what tools those ‘in the know’ have found to work effectively. (There doesn’t seem to be a definitive answer anywhere). Thanks.

[@chrishajer Participant 15 years, 7 months ago]

For 2+ years I have been using the Human Test plugin and nothing else. I have akismet turned off and also turned off bozo functionality. I get very little spam, like none in the past year. Preventing the spammer registrations seems to be key to keeping automated spam out of the forums.

Human Test puts zero additional load on the server.

[@johnhiler Member 15 years, 7 months ago]

I also use the Human Test plugin, and find it invaluable for preventing spammer from joining.

I also use Akismet though. It comes in handy, because my forum has human users who like to promote their websites (it’s a wedding website, and there are lots of wedding vendors). So the Human Test plugin wouldn’t catch those guys.

Basically – if you have human spammers, then a system which can “learn” who is spamming (either through Akismet or through a Bozo system) is critical. If your spammers are just bots, than Human Test is more than enough!

Re: the Bozo thing though… I had too many problems with that, and ended up disabling it. It may work better now… I gave up on it a year or so ago.

Good luck!

[@dawormie Member 15 years, 7 months ago]

I know nothing about the Bozo thing so don’t have that activated. i did however activate Akismet!

I think I might just use the human test and if that isn’t enough turn on bozo…

[@michael3185 Member 15 years, 7 months ago]

Thanks for your input. The Akismet site mentions Spam Karma and Bad Behaviour. Does anyone use these, and if so, are they worthwhile?

[@ipstenu Moderator 15 years, 7 months ago]

I use Bad-Behavior and I feel it’s worthwhile. Mind, I routed all registration through my WP side, where I have BB and hooked up StopForumSpam.com.

Check https://bbpress.org/forums/topic/using-badbehavior-and-bbpress for info on BB and bb

[@jstevenson Member 15 years, 7 months ago]

I also use Human Test and also moderate all posts with links in them.