7 Components: the Function Pages - Developers

Blacklist plugin
Banlist
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Tip: One possibility with which to send all users (whether registered
or not) general information are so-called broadcasts. These are messages
that can be seen on every TWiki page via the toolbar. You can
define its content in TWikiPreferences by making an entry to the
variable BROADCASTMESSAGE. In the following lines, you will see
two examples that you can simply copy and adapt accordingly. The
second method is only possible when the Pattern skin is used.
Broadcasts are especially useful if you wish to inform users about
large-scale maintenance work or changes to the TWiki.
15.6
Spam in TWiki
The general problem of spam in wikis has already been described in
Chapter 8.4. In TWiki, as in MediaWiki, there are two means of
counteracting the spam threat: the nofollow attribute in Links and a
blacklist for IP addresses. Both can be achieved with the Blacklist
plugin. 2 Once this extension has been installed, you can perform all
relevant settings on the page TWiki/BlackListPlugin. There, you will
find the entry BLACKLIST. It contains a list of IP addresses, separated
by commas, which are prohibited from performing actions in
TWiki. It is even possible to indicate entire address realms by simply
leaving off the last number of the IP address. If an IP is blocked, inquiries
coming from it will be delayed for one minute, and then an
error message is issued. The message is defined in the variable
BLACKLISTMESSAGE.
In contrast to the blacklist, the BANLIST is dynamic and reacts
automatically. Principally, it is based on a point system. Per action in
TWiki, an IP address receives a certain number of points. If, within a
stipulated amount of time, a certain number of points is collected,
one can assume that the respective computer is manipulating data. In
such a case, the IP address is automatically blocked. Incorrect classifications
in machine-controlled blocks can occur. Thus, you can find
a form via the BANLIST with which IP addresses can be removed
from the list again.
Note: Due to a programming error, the BANLIST does not work until
you have manually added an IP address and then deleted it again.
The parameters for automatic blocking can be found in the variable
BANLISTCONFIG. The numbers indicate in order how many points
are allocated for registration, the save/upload procedure, displaying a
2 See Chapter 8.4 regarding the installation of plugins.
15 Administering TWiki