Talk:User list

Removing spammers

To remove regitered spammers do we simply edit this list? How does that affect blocked usernames? NT 10:20, 20 April 2009 (BST)

No, the list is just an easy way to identify accounts created for spamming, since historically they were created and then not used for a while. Alas they are being created and used in one action at the moment it seems.

The idea is to go to special pages, and get a user list - click the 500 link to get them all on a page. I then lop the line numbers off[1] in a separate editor and past into the list. If you then look at the history and compare with the previous version the new names stand out like sore thumb. At which point many could be banned at that point without waiting for a first offence.

We might need to see if we can impose a time delay between creating an account and being able to post from it.

The other thing to try, is if we see an article being repeatedly defaced by registered users, set its protection to sysop only edits and see if that interrupts the process.

[1] Not sure the lopping off of line numbers is really that important - the diff is clever enough not only highlight the actual changes - so that may mean the numbers get highlighted, even if the names are mostly the same.

--John Rumm 12:37, 20 April 2009 (BST)