{"id":4871,"date":"2012-04-17T23:37:06","date_gmt":"2012-04-17T23:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/help-o.ning.com\/?page_id=4871"},"modified":"2019-08-27T12:16:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-27T12:16:00","slug":"putting-the-brakes-on-spam","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ning.com\/help\/center\/troubleshooting\/putting-the-brakes-on-spam\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting the Brakes on Spam"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img class=\"alignnone\" title=\"spam meter\" src=\"https:\/\/storage.ning.com\/topology\/rest\/1.0\/file\/get\/50535399?profile=original\" alt=\"spam meter\" width=\"550\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Beating spam is a challenge we embrace wholeheartedly on the Ning platform. We&#8217;ve created a number of tools and settings you can easily turn on to put the brakes on spam. Are you using all of these spam tools at your disposal? If not, turn them on and give spam a serious smack-down!<\/p>\n<h3>Member Moderation<\/h3>\n<p><img class=\"alignright\" title=\"moderation\" src=\"https:\/\/storage.ning.com\/topology\/rest\/1.0\/file\/get\/50535502?profile=original\" alt=\"Putting the Brakes on Spam 1\" width=\"250\" \/>This is the best practice of all: Review and approve everyone who joins your network, either by yourself or by enlisting the help of Admins. While this is the most time-intensive of your many choices, it virtually guarantees you won\u2019t have a spam problem. Many long-time Network Creators swear by this method.\u00a0It works very well!<\/p>\n<div class=\"divider_thin\"><\/div>\n<h3>Content Moderation<\/h3>\n<p>This is one many Network Creators insist on. You have fine-grain controls over this and can choose to moderate some or all created content. You\u2019ll find those choices under Content in the Controls section of your Dashboard. Of course, you don\u2019t have to go it alone. Appoint some members or Admins to help moderate different types of content.<\/p>\n<div class=\"divider_thin\"><\/div>\n<h3>Spam Watchlist<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone\" title=\"watchlist\" src=\"https:\/\/storage.ning.com\/topology\/rest\/1.0\/file\/get\/50535345?profile=original\" alt=\"Putting the Brakes on Spam 2\" width=\"492\" height=\"98\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Spam Watchlist can help you pinpoint members who may be acting suspicious. You can access this list from the <strong>Members<\/strong> section of the <strong>Moderation<\/strong> area on your Dashboard:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Members won\u2019t ever know if they end up on this list.<\/li>\n<li>No action will be taken on members in the Spam Watchlist.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s up to you or your Admins to decide who is or isn\u2019t a spammer.<\/li>\n<li>The Spam Watchlist algorithm learns as you use it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Using it is optional, but when you do you help this spam-fighting tool learn about what you consider to be spam on your network. Likewise, if you find a trusted member on your Spam Watchlist, marking them as &#8220;Not spammer&#8221; will ensure they won\u2019t end up on the list ever again. This tool gets smarter over time, and it can go a long way toward helping you spot \u2014 and destroy \u2014 spam.<\/p>\n<div class=\"divider_thin\"><\/div>\n<h3>Sign-up Quiz<\/h3>\n<p><img class=\"alignright\" title=\"moderation\" src=\"https:\/\/storage.ning.com\/topology\/rest\/1.0\/file\/get\/50535506?profile=original\" alt=\"Putting the Brakes on Spam 3\" width=\"200\" \/>A Sign-up Quiz is similar to a CAPTCHA \u2014 they\u2019re both tests that are designed to be solved by humans. What\u2019s different about a Sign-Up Quiz is that you decide how difficult it will be to solve.<\/p>\n<h4>A general quiz<\/h4>\n<p>Not sure how to create a Sign-up Quiz? Try variations on these proven winners, which are very general in nature and should be super easy for new members \u2014 but very hard for an automated spambot:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What planet do we all live on?<\/li>\n<li>What\u2019s the opposite of up?<\/li>\n<li>Which is more: none or a little or a lot?<\/li>\n<li>2 + 4 = ?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>No matter how simple you make your Sign-up Quiz, some people may have trouble with it. &#8220;What planet do we all live on?&#8221; seems like a straightforward question, but even the answers to this extremely general question can vary slightly, particularly if you have a multilingual community. Give your members a few to choose from: earth, terra, tierra, la tierra, etc.<\/p>\n<h4>A specific quiz<\/h4>\n<p>A Sign-up Quiz is absolutely ideal for niche communities whose members will all know a fact that a spambot never will. For example, if your network is all about Harry Potter, any prospective member will surely know who killed Dumbledore. If not, they\u2019ll have to Google it. Spambots aren\u2019t quite that smart. And they probably have horrible taste in movies!<\/p>\n<div class=\"divider_thin\"><\/div>\n<h3>Email Verification<\/h3>\n<p>Want to make sure that person who is signing up is actually a person? With a real email address? Turning on email verification will ensure that all prospective members have to visit their inbox and click on a link to verify their email address. This won\u2019t stop all spammers, but it\u2019s a smart tool to use. This setting is off by default, but you can easily turn on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ning.com\/help\/email-verification-help\/\">Email Verification<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"divider_thin\"><\/div>\n<h3>CAPTCHA<\/h3>\n<p><img class=\"alignleft\" title=\"captcha image\" src=\"https:\/\/storage.ning.com\/topology\/rest\/1.0\/file\/get\/50535349?profile=original\" alt=\"Putting the Brakes on Spam 4\" width=\"200\" \/>Bots can\u2019t read. At least, not very well. That\u2019s the premise behind a CAPTCHA. You\u2019ve undoubtedly seen one somewhere on the Internet. It\u2019s a test that requires a potential member to enter letters and\/or numbers before joining. As the Network Creator, you have the option of including or not including a CAPTCHA. It\u2019s a proven tool that can help stop spambots dead in their tracks. There&#8217;s even an audio version for those who may have trouble with these twisted word puzzles. Read about how to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ning.com\/help\/captcha-no-bots-spammy-content\/\">turn on your CAPTCHA<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"divider_thin\"><\/div>\n<h3>Profile Spam Notification Block<\/h3>\n<p><img class=\"alignright\" title=\"notifications\" src=\"https:\/\/storage.ning.com\/topology\/rest\/1.0\/file\/get\/50535515?profile=original\" alt=\"Putting the Brakes on Spam 5\" width=\"200\" \/>A spammer may join a network and post the same comment again and again on your members\u2019 profile pages. The Ning platform identifies spammers who add a huge number of posts in a rapid-fire manner, but what if hundreds of email notifications have already gone out to the victims? To counteract that, we may block the email notifications spammers seek to trigger when they post profile-comment spam. Their spammy content will still be published, but members won\u2019t receive an email notification about it. When this type of spam happens, the spammer will appear in your Spam Watchlist, and you can then decide to either suspend the member or release them from suspicion. Don&#8217;t care for profile comments at all? You can choose to turn off My Page Comment email notifications completely if you prefer from Settings in the Email section of your Dashboard.<\/p>\n<div class=\"divider_thin\"><\/div>\n<h3>Limit sign up options<\/h3>\n<p>Most spammers create accounts on networks via the native signup option. By disabling this option, you can force members to join using <a href=\"\/help\/allow-your-members-to-sign-up-and-sign-in-with-facebook-google-yahoo-and-twitter\/\">social sign in<\/a> services such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. You can disable native sign up from the Sign Up\/Sign link under the Members area of your Dashboard.<\/p>\n<h3>Spambot Suspension<\/h3>\n<p>Ning has back-end spam tools that identify the most sizable spammers \u2014 spambots. These spambots rely on automated scripts that can be very successful when attacking networks that have little or no active moderation; in other words, where no one is minding the store. Our spambot suspenders are able to spot accounts that post an amount of content in a very short period of time that doesn\u2019t seem humanly possible (e.g., in one minute\u2019s time). These back-end tools have made a big difference and are still in place, working behind the scenes to combat spambots.<\/p>\n<div class=\"divider_thin\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"box box_pink note_box\">\nIf you\u2019re worried someone might not be able to answer a Sign-up Quiz or maybe isn\u2019t familiar with a CAPTCHA (or might simply have difficulty signing up for whatever reason), be sure to &#8220;Allow members to report login problems.&#8221; This will help both members and prospective members send you a message if they\u2019re having trouble signing up or signing in. You can easily turn this on from your Dashboard if you haven&#8217;t already. Look for the\u00a0Controls section under the\u00a0Members section of your Dashboard.\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Beating spam is a challenge we embrace wholeheartedly on the Ning platform. We&#8217;ve created a number of tools and settings you can easily turn on to put the brakes on spam. Are you using all of these spam tools at your disposal? If not, turn them on and give spam a serious smack-down!<br \/>\nMember Moderation<br \/>\nThis is the best practice of all: Review and approve everyone who joins your network, either by yourself or by enlisting the help of Admins. While this is the most time-intensive of your many choices, it virtually guarantees you won\u2019t have a spam problem. Many long-time Network Creators swear by this method.\u00a0It works very well!<br \/>\nContent Moderation<br \/>\nThis is one many Network Creators insist on. You have fine-grain controls over this and can choose to moderate some or all created content. You\u2019ll find those choices under Content in the Controls section of your Dashboard. Of course, you don\u2019t have to go it alone. Appoint some members or Admins to help moderate different types of content.<br \/>\nSpam Watchlist<\/p>\n<p>The Spam Watchlist can help you pinpoint members who may be acting suspicious. You can access this list from the Members section of the Moderation area on your Dashboard:<\/p>\n<p>Members won\u2019t ever know if they &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":1198,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Putting the Brakes on Spam | Ning Help Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Putting the Brakes on Spam | Ning Help Center\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ning.com\/help\/center\/troubleshooting\/putting-the-brakes-on-spam\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Putting the Brakes on Spam | Ning 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