Alex's Support Forums Tag: spam

Alex's Support Forums Tag: spam http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ Alex's Support Forums Tag: spam en Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:27:53 +0000 Alex on "IP address capture?" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/ip-address-capture#post-64 Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:45:04 +0000 Alex 64@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ Here is a workaround to add IP address logging to your contact form's mailing list opt-in. Disclaimer * I consider this a hack (as <a href="http://codex.wordpress.org/Hacking_WordPress">WordPress defines one</a>) and I do not support it * I wrote this because it is a minor modification. I cannot develop new features based on individual request * I do not guarantee that I will add IP logging functionality to a future release * If I do add IP logging, I do not guarantee that it will be implemented in this manner * I do not guarantee that future updates won't break this * You are urged to back up your files and database before attempting a modification of this sort ____________________________________ 1) Database modification Add a new field called ip to the end of your list_member table. In this case searchability isn't important so for simplicity I used a varchar field. Like any development choice, the pros and cons are <a href="http://arjen-lentz.livejournal.com/44290.html">debatable</a>. Such is life. If your host has the <a href="http://www.phpmyadmin.net">phpMyAdmin</a> control panel this would be the easiest way. If you're familiar with SQL, you could use <a href="http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/gui-tools">MySQL Query Browser</a>. 2) contact.php Enter this line of code at the very top after <code><?php</code> : <code>$user_ip = $_SERVER["REMOTE_ADDR"];</code> 3) sc_admin/include/contact.php Change line 251 to say: <code>$query = "INSERT INTO $table_list_member (name_full,email,ip) VALUES ('$name_full','$email','$user_ip')";</code> 4) sc_admin/list.php Change line 94 to say: <code>$query = "SELECT m.email,m.ip FROM $table_list_member m, $table_list_subscribe s WHERE m.id=s.member_id AND s.confirmkey='' ORDER BY m.email";</code> Change line 100 to say: <code>printf("<li><a href=\"mailto:%s\" title=\"Send an email to '%s'\">%s (%s)</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"list.php?remove=%s\" class=\"remove\" title=\"Remove '%s' from the mailing list\">Remove</a></li>\n",$list["email"],$list["email"],$list["email"],$list["ip"],$list["email"],$list["email"]);</code> ____________________________________ That should log a user's IP address when a user opts in to your mailing list through your contact form. The user's IP address will be displayed on the mailing list page in sc_admin, next to their email address. bkmacdaddy on "IP address capture?" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/ip-address-capture#post-63 Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:20:50 +0000 bkmacdaddy 63@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ Alex, Thanks for the quick reply. The reasons for my request are for a specific need my client has, who I am using SimpleContactPro for. They are trying to follow best practices (and maybe even legal practices) for data capture by collecting first & last name, email, zip code, double opt-in, and IP address. I am not schooled on the requirements or legalities, I just know this is what my client requires. Unfortunately, if we cannot figure out a way to integrate IP address capture, then I will have to use something else (like PHPlist, which we used on a similar site.) I would much prefer to use your script - it looks FAR more professional and clean, has easy back-end user management and all the other great features. If I can get it to work with IP address capture then I am certain I will use it on multiple sites (consider that a bribe) :) Thanks again! Alex on "IP address capture?" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/ip-address-capture#post-62 Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:01:10 +0000 Alex 62@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ Thanks Brian :) The IP address of a user isn't currently captured. I am aware that some scripts record IPs as an anti-spam measure (to ban IPs). The problem with this is that there is a risk of banning other people as well who may happen to be using the same network or ISP. Any self-respecting spammer also knows how to change or fake their IP address. This blog post may be useful: <a href="http://kalsey.com/2004/02/why_ip_banning_is_useless" rel="nofollow">http://kalsey.com/2004/02/why_ip_banning_is_useless</a> If I see significant demand for this feature I may add it, but I think you'll find the app very resistant to spam anyway. I also have several ideas to tighten it further in future. By "the first opt-in checkbox" do you mean the mailing list opt-in checkbox on the contact form? I made the decision in development that form owners should not able to: a) Pre-check the opt-in checkbox (making it opt-out) b) Require that people join the mailing list. These methods are discouraged by email marketers. Systems like Campaign Monitor will refuse a such a list. <a href="http://www.campaignmonitor.com/anti-spam" rel="nofollow">http://www.campaignmonitor.com/anti-spam</a> Perhaps what you're after is to capture people's names as well as their email addresses when they use the list subscribe form? I plan to add that ability in a future version. bkmacdaddy on "IP address capture?" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/ip-address-capture#post-61 Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:57:13 +0000 bkmacdaddy 61@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ Alex, First off, MORE kudos for the Pro version! It's amazingly simple to set up and use! Great work!!! Especially for us designers who only know how to make stuff look pretty but not so much how to make it function... I need 2 things that I can't figure out how to do (if at all possible): 1. capture the IP address when the form is submitted 2. make the first opt-in checkbox required Thanks in advance for any help. Brian Alex on "Email forwarder" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/email-forwarder#post-43 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:11:34 +0000 Alex 43@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ There isn't currently a forwarding feature in simpleContact, but it's an interesting idea. I will give it consideration for a future release. I have written a blog post outlining the security and anti-spam measures currently in place: <a href="http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/2008/01/24/how-does-simplecontact-deal-with-spam/">How does simpleContact handle spam?</a> mjudd on "Email forwarder" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/email-forwarder#post-42 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 05:59:47 +0000 mjudd 42@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ Hi there I want to able to forward emails from the Inbox to another email address - as you would find on a regular pop3 mailbox. Is there anyway of doing this? Also what protection is there against this form being spammed by spambots? Alex on "Captcha support" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/kaptcha-support#post-24 Sat, 03 May 2008 18:26:56 +0000 Alex 24@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ To be perfectly honest, I'd rather not add captchas for two reasons: 1) In general, I don't find captchas are popular with users. They are ugly and sometimes illegible so that even a human being can fail to pass one. 2) Implemention creates a dependency on graphics libraries which may not be available. I will look instead into adding a "spam challenge" question field (as seen in <a href="http://buildingfindablewebsites.com">buildingfindablewebsites.com</a>) into a future version. nortongulch on "Captcha support" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/kaptcha-support#post-22 Sat, 03 May 2008 03:47:41 +0000 nortongulch 22@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ Please add captcha (human recognition) ability to contact form. I'm not sure how much 'need' there is for this, but when used, client is very happy and thinks its a good thing. Its a nice bell/whistle. thanks. Alex on "How does simpleContact handle spam?" http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/topic/how-does-simplecontact-handle-spam#post-2 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:33:06 +0000 Alex 2@http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/forums/ simpleContact has several measures in place for your security and to prevent spam. See my blog post on the subject - <a href="http://www.alex-hardy.co.uk/2008/01/24/how-does-simplecontact-deal-with-spam/">How does simpleContact handle spam?</a> - for a fuller explanation.