Spam and banning

[Flux]

Some troll is creating a lot of accounts and putting up ad spam pages in the wiki like mad the last few days.
http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Special:RecentChanges

I've been deleting pages and blocking the users (decent tools for that in the wiki, making it FAR faster for me to delete and block than for someone to spam) quickly. But since the trolls are creating multiple accounts in a row, and then using them to spam, I'm preemptively blocking all the new accounts created right in a row.

This may well catch up some actual person along with the spammers, so if that's you, sorry. Post here or send me a PM and I'll unblock you.

As for spam, we have a zero tolerance policy for that in the wiki. If you see any that we miss, flag it for deletion and please post a note on my wiki user page, or post in this forum with a link to the page. Hopefully the spammers will realize it's a lot more work for them to spam here than for us to delete it, and they'll go die in a fire.

[Dragonfriend]

Thanks for the post, Flux; I did notice that both wikis seem to be suffering from a spam attack. As you requested, I did just flag the Cake Decorating Jobs page for deletion. Spam attacks are certainly annoying.

Also, since you mentioned blocking whole groups of new accounts, I wanted to mention that I will be creating a new account this very evening. The 'Dragonfriend' name was created basically on a whim, before I realized how much I would enjoy contributing to the D3 wiki. With that said, I've settled on a permanent handle, and that will be 'MrFrye'. With apologies to the dragons I've befriended over the years, the new name is shorter, pithier, and, well, better. The point being... I'm going to go create a new account with the name 'MrFrye', so please don't block me. Also, you get a gold star if you recognize the reference.

[Dragonfriend]

Well, this is embarrassing. It seems changing my username or creating a new account is more difficult than I thought. Sorry, Flux, but I gotta ask: How do I get a new username?

[Flux]

I don't think there's anyway to change a wiki account once it's created. There aren't really admin controls for users that do that in the wiki (unlike in the forum, where changing names is easy). I just asked Rush and he didn't know any way to do it, and he set up the whole wiki.

So you'll either have to remain dragonfriend, or else register the new one. Top right of the wiki page you should see a "log out" option, and once you're logged out you should see a "create account" option.

Note that the d1/d2 and d3 wikis run on separate databases, so you need to register an account on each if you want to edit in both. You can use the same name/pw for both, for convenience.

[MrFrye]

Done, and done! "Dragonfriend' has officially retired. I'm planning on keeping this name for a long time, both on the wiki and the forums. In case I, you know, become famous. Anyway, thanks for the help.

P.S. When I tried creating a new account on the wiki yesterday, it wouldn't let me. Worked today, though. I must have been doing it wrong.

[abdulturner]

Why would they spam stuff like that on a Diablo3 wiki?!

[Flux]

I'll quote me from the last wiki watch.

Finally, I’d like to thank the spammers who have spent the past few weeks creating literally hundreds of accounts in the D3 and D1/D2 wikis, all to post nonsensical “Jobs in Hell” articles. These would never have been read by anyone (even if we hadn’t deleted them), but existed for the same reason that our comment spam does; it’s all part of an ongoing (and increasingly successful) effort to change Google from a valuable Internet tool into an evil device that exists primarily to funnel clueless Internet users to scam sites.

[Risingred]

I got this one after posting edits to a bunch of spam wikis today:

You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reason:
Your IP address has been automatically blocked because it was used by another user, who was blocked by Elly. The reason given is this:
Autoblocked because your IP address has been recently used by "Risingred".
The reason given for Risingred's block is: ""
Start of block: 20:40, 18 February 2011
Expiry of block: 20:40, 19 February 2011
Intended blockee: XXX.XXX.XXX.XX

[Flux]

http://diablowiki.net/Special:RecentChanges

(Block log); 20:51 . . Elly (Talk | contribs | block) unblocked Risingred (Talk | contribs) (Oops. Trigger happy, sorry )

It takes a bit for an unblock to process, apparently. You should be back to normal soon, if not already.

It's your name; the spam accounts are all 6-9 chars long. So you fit right into the kill zone. Alas.

[Risingred]

Eh, it's fine. Just making sure.