[Axiom-developer] Zwiki update, anti-spam thoughts

[Simon Michael]

Page, Bill wrote:
> Maybe there are some new anti-spam options that Simon has
> invented for ZWiki that could help, but merging our modified
> ZWiki/LatexWiki code with the new ZWiki code is also likely
> to be a serious amount of work. So far I have only done that
> on a piecemeal basis.

It has to be done sooner or later though, if you continue to use Zwiki, 
otherwise you fork more and more and you don't get the benefit of the 
latest enhancements. I know you know this. I think the best approach is for 
you and I to work on this together on IRC. I know Zwiki and you know the 
latexwiki/mathaction changes and together we could probably get over this 
hump in an hour or three.

Regarding the anti-spam features - these are documented best at 
http://zwiki.org/LinkSpam . I'm not sure which of them are available in 
your version at this point. Personally I don't bother with banned_links at 
all, updating it is too labour-intensive. max_anonymous_links and 
max_identified_links are quite effective although not perfect.

Each of these tends to raise the annoyance level for legitimate users even 
while it protects them. For your site, I have the feeling it may be best to 
bite the bullet and require a login for all or most kinds of edit. Signing 
up is annoying, but once you've done that, there should be no further 
hindrance to editing. And registering for a login (approved by human, if 
necessary) still seems to be a sufficient barrier to keep out spammers.

As for how to implement this: there are zope products which allow 
self-registration without the need for CMF or Plone (exUserFolder is an old 
one, there must be something better by now). Or, you could put the wiki 
inside Plone to take advantage of its polished membership system, but still 
have it use the fast zwiki skin (easy; see how-tos at zwiki.org or ask me).

Best,
-Simon