I’ve done all I can at the moment to minimize spam.
– All “linkdumpable” files have been changed to random names. Meaning, if a bot was looking for something specific like blah-comments.post.php (since it knows the format of the file) to be able to spam it, it won’t be able to find it anymore.
– Commenting is closed on all posts over a month old. Actually, it isn’t really closed but the comment is piped to my e-mail and doesn’t show up immediately on the site. If it is legit, it will eventually come up. If not, you’re a spammer and will be added to my list of people to be mean to.
– All comments are browsed through for flag words viagra, casino, etc. and if something seems fishy, it is held up for moderation before showing up on the site. So remember, if you’re making a small penis joke, and viagra is essential to the punchline, don’t worry if the comment doesn’t show up as soon as you type it. There is no need to repost. This is also done for fishy IP pools and referers.
If things still get out of hand, I will need to resort to “make-sure-you’re-human” checks before letting you comment. A pain, yes.
– Ask a simple riddle and expect a sane answer before allowing a coment.
– Show you a picture and make sure you can parse it.
– Forcing you to register and sign up each time. EEEEEK!
the simplest strategies like random file names work best most of the time :)
Yes, security through obscurity. Delineate’s built from ground to be as different from the base publishing tool and as inconspicuous (in a “hey look, I am not a web log” way) as possible. I currently don’t monitor abuse on it because I don’t see it as a possible problem. Unless, of course, someone writes the next generation of spam bots that can “sense” site publishing tools, know their weaknesses and exploit them.
Actuality on the other hand was dreamed up when the internet was a safer place. So unless I do some major overhauling, make shift things like file name changes and black lists are the best I can do.