Wikipedia:Administrators' guide/Dealing with spam

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Relevant guideline at Wikipedia:Spam

On the world's largest encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and where its content has a powerful search engine presence, spam is an inevitable and ongoing problem.

Link spam
in particular can easily go under the radar. Most search engines such as Google base their results not only on the search terms but also by how many other sites link back to a certain site, and how many other sites link to those sites, etc. Wikipedia is one of the top 10 websites in the world, so obviously it is a prime target for link spamming. Fortunately admins have numerous tools to fight any form of spam.

Blocking or protecting

The first attempts to prevent the spam follows how you would deal with any abuse. In ascending order of the things you should try:

XLinkBot

Documentation at User:XLinkBot

A nifty bot that patrols recent changes and reverts edits containing certain external links. The configuration for this bot can get quite complex, but in its simplest form you can add the link to the

WP:AN if you are unsure. Alternatively you can request link additions at User talk:XLinkBot/RevertList
.

Spam blacklist

Relevant guideline at Wikipedia:Spam blacklist

For long-term repeated addition of spam links, there is the MediaWiki-provided SpackBlackList extension.

Before adding links here:

  • Ensure the other aforementioned routes are not effective
  • Ensure all links have been removed before blacklisting
  • Do not attempt to make additions unless you are familiar with regular expressions. A simple typo can cause substantial disruption.

If you are sure the spam blacklist is the appropriate route:

If you need help at any time you can request additions to the blacklist at

WP:AN
.

Edit filters

Relevant guideline at Wikipedia:Edit filter

The

regular expressions and how the abuse filter extension works. Like the spam blacklist, the edit filter affects every single edit that comes through, so a small typo can cause massive disruption. If you have never worked with filters, give the guideline
a thorough read. Simply put, do not attempt to modify or create filters unless you are certain of what you are doing, and always test them in log-only mode first.

There are several filters that regularly pick up spam-related abuse. You can monitor their logs to identify recent cases of spam:

Any inquiries on whether an edit filter is appropriate or feasible can be brought to the edit filter noticeboard.

Tools

  • WP:SUPG
    ) – Allows you to delete a userspace page, block the user, and issue them with a block notice, all in one click, with options for types of blocks, deletion rationale, etc.
  • spamublock – Delete a userpage, block the user, and issue {{uw-spamublock}} with one click
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