Guest book software
Discussion
Yes, I realise it's not 2004.
I manage a small site for an ex-service association, most of whom will be at least 70+ and not very web savvy. The site has been going since 2007 or so, with occasional bits of tinkering from me.
It's mainly static with a gallery and forum (both asked for in the original brief). They also had a guest book running, but this got absolutely filled with spam and porn links so it was removed.
At their recent annual conference and reunion they have asked for it to be reinstated. What's the most secure solutions going at the moment. I've suggested going onto a Facebook group etc, but they like the site and don't really want to change.
Host has php and MySQL. I've looked on the cPanel for preinstalled options - not much has been updated in the last 5-10 years.
SD.
I manage a small site for an ex-service association, most of whom will be at least 70+ and not very web savvy. The site has been going since 2007 or so, with occasional bits of tinkering from me.
It's mainly static with a gallery and forum (both asked for in the original brief). They also had a guest book running, but this got absolutely filled with spam and porn links so it was removed.
At their recent annual conference and reunion they have asked for it to be reinstated. What's the most secure solutions going at the moment. I've suggested going onto a Facebook group etc, but they like the site and don't really want to change.
Host has php and MySQL. I've looked on the cPanel for preinstalled options - not much has been updated in the last 5-10 years.
SD.
I'm not quite sure what an online 'guest book' is. Kind of like a forum post, but doesn't allow replies?
Having a dig around, there are things like this https://www.jemjabella.co.uk/scripts/bellabook/ But it seems very basic.
It seems like you could achieve similar functionality with a single Forum thread called 'Guest Book' and everyone just posts to that thread. You could link to the thread directly from the website.
With regards to securing the form (or guestbook) I think you are going to face this problem:
I would definitely want a 'set and forget' solution. A hosted forum solution I think would be best, otherwise you will be constantly having to log in to update forum software and will fight a losing battle with spammers.
Having a dig around, there are things like this https://www.jemjabella.co.uk/scripts/bellabook/ But it seems very basic.
It seems like you could achieve similar functionality with a single Forum thread called 'Guest Book' and everyone just posts to that thread. You could link to the thread directly from the website.
With regards to securing the form (or guestbook) I think you are going to face this problem:
Slashdot story said:
Back in the 1980s, Yosemite National Park was having a serious problem with bears: They would wander into campgrounds and break into the garbage bins. This put both bears and people at risk. So the Park Service started installing armored garbage cans that were tricky to open -- you had to swing a latch, align two bits of handle, that sort of thing. But it turns out it's actually quite tricky to get the design of these cans just right. Make it too complex and people can't get them open to put away their garbage in the first place. Said one park ranger, "There is considerable overlap between the intelligence of the smartest bears and the dumbest tourists."
Except I think the bears in this case will be the spammers.I would definitely want a 'set and forget' solution. A hosted forum solution I think would be best, otherwise you will be constantly having to log in to update forum software and will fight a losing battle with spammers.
As you have found, any web site that allows public posts without any form of authentication will quickly fill up with spam.
Even fairly well protected sites with captcha etc. are often easily bypassed - and I have in fact encountered a situation where it was believed that people were being paid (probably an utter pittance) to sign up and post spam links etc. on a very popular site we once hosted.
You could use Wordpress with some of it's anti spam plugins (Askimet etc.) and there are guestbook plugins for Wordpress - but of course this would mean recreating your site in Wordpress.
Ultimately, the web is a very unfriendly place - and allowing web posts without any form of sanity checking is simply not an option.
Link to Wordpress anti spam plugings -> https://www.wpexplorer.com/antispam-plugins-wordpr...
Even fairly well protected sites with captcha etc. are often easily bypassed - and I have in fact encountered a situation where it was believed that people were being paid (probably an utter pittance) to sign up and post spam links etc. on a very popular site we once hosted.
You could use Wordpress with some of it's anti spam plugins (Askimet etc.) and there are guestbook plugins for Wordpress - but of course this would mean recreating your site in Wordpress.
Ultimately, the web is a very unfriendly place - and allowing web posts without any form of sanity checking is simply not an option.
Link to Wordpress anti spam plugings -> https://www.wpexplorer.com/antispam-plugins-wordpr...
thebraketester said:
Blocking all traffic from outside the UK an option?
I had thought about this, sadly the ship had a very varied career working with the Royal Navy, being transferred to the US Navy in the Pacific and then transferring Australian war brides back to the UK after the war. I'm loathe to redo in WordPress unless essential as the users are reluctant to change the layout etc.
SD.
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