November 14, 2005

Strange blog-spam problem

Christian Crumlish

Movable Type is doing something bizarre here. I’ve got this entry, Blogging a yoga conference @ Radio Free Blogistan and it shows 19 spam comments in the counter and on the individual archive page. The spam comments are also showing up in my list of recent comments in the sidebar of RFB.

Ironically, they’ve all got “nofollow” attributes on the links, so they ain’t buying any Googlejuice for the spammers, but they’re still ugly and they clutter up my recent list.

So, just junk them and rebuild, right? Sounds easy. Here’s the problem:

I’ve already junked those comments and repeatedly rebuilt the index page and the archive pages. The back-end information for the entry shows 0 comments. They are phantoms. I have no idea how they can be displayed on the page despite the rebuilds. I have no idea where they’re stored and where they’re coming from.

How can the backend and the frontend of an MT blog be out of synch like that?

I suppose I could poke around the database but I’d first like to have some idea of what’s going on.

Posted by xian at November 14, 2005 6:28 AM
Comments

Interesting and odd. I thought I'd also killed a bunch of comment spam by the same yoga outfit, too. I will say that the volume comment spam I'd been getting has dwindled dramatically of late, which seems a small miracle (bet it picks up again now that I've said this, ugh).

Posted by: Rayne at November 14, 2005 9:21 AM

A lot of my blogs have been infested by a lot of spams. I changed to Wordpress, but the problem is still there. I have used some applications to limit spam and used moderation to control the entry of comments. I am just wondering how come other spams are able to penetrate my security.

Posted by: Wong PoKér Hu Online at November 14, 2005 3:43 PM

I have been having the same problem, until I decided to junk the comments, delete them, and then rebuild the index after each spam-delete.
Junk folder == zombie comments.
This also works with the trackbacks.

Posted by: Camilo at November 23, 2005 6:42 AM

Trackbacks

Trackback for this post:
http://mediajunkie.com/jack/pinger.cgi/6977 Further comment
Other incoming links (via Technorati)
Post a comment









Remember personal info?






Hosted by Mediajunkie.

Sponsors
On this day in 2003
BLAM!: Spam fighting for everyone: Doesn't it just give you visions of the world's spamfighters dressed all in masks and capes knocking out the spamming lowlifes? BLAM!! This is great news. We've been getting hit quite a bit by comment spam here at rfb the last few days.... (People Power)
Trackbacks before there were trackbacks: I have always clicked through each link I post. This serves to both verify I didn't insert any error in the link code as well as a courtesy to the recipient. I never understood why users new to linking sometimes send emails asking for permission. It's a lot of trouble. But... (People Power)
Spam?: This 1st comment looks like spam?... (Editorial)
Dating online: Have you ever found a date through your blog? Dating sites like Match.com, Spring Street Networks, Love@AOL, etc never allow folks who post personal ads to link to other sites in their ad. Obviously the reason why this is so is because the vendors want to restrict you to their web... ()
Last was Sex and now Death: Living will? Don't know. Last will and testament? Who needs it? But i've gotta have my mylastemail.com. Is this the latest in web services? Still, as the New York saying goes, "Hey! you never know..."... (Miscellany)
On this day in 2002
Raven Salondotted: Aha! Salon has stealthily linked to a Salon blogger (besides, or in addition to, Scott Rosenberg) directly on its home page, citing the Raven's awesome XTREME blogging post. Nice to see a leetle evolution in Salon's approach to its weird stepchildren.... (Salon Bloggers)
A Brief Break from all the Heavy News Stuff: Kriselda Jarnsaxa writes: The latest "thing" here at the Salon blogs seems to be interesting Google searches that led to your site.  My favourite for today?  "pay scales for CIA".  It does make me wondering - in most industries, you can look at how employees in comperable positions in competing companies... (Salon Bloggers)
Thanks for the babies!: Tom the Dancing Bug nails the relentless search for the center. [Bite Media]... (Salon Bloggers)
The Berkeley Bowl. coffee baguette: The Berkeley Bowl. coffee baguette blueberry scones white wine red wine roasted chicken reggiano pecorino gruyere dozen eggs qt half 'n' half qt nonfat milk pavel's plain lo-fat yogurtses nonfat brown cow toilet paper (9 packs/fat) sardines w/o oil 3 lbs. of country style pork rib (for mex. dish) chicken stock... (Miscellany)
Simon McGarr on blog categories, identity, and community: When streams become full blogs, whose blogs are they? So here's a question for you. As I mentioned previously, I am hoping to turn a channel of this blog into an editorial page for tuppenceworth.ie. If I get the time and teccy know-how together, I'll make that channel look like the... (Salon Bloggers)
Raven says Salon blogs comprise an ezine that's 'ahead of the curve': Touching on Matt Drudge, Metafilter, Safire's privacy alarum, the Orwellian "Illuminati Are Watching You" logo of DARPA, Kriselda, Andrew Bayer, Jan Haugland, Raven writes [W]e're all digging deeper than the standard headlines and ferreting out Things of Exceptional Interest that Might Be Overlooked.... The perspectives expressed here are consistently far... (Salon Bloggers)