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AntiSpam module is a Drupal module that provides interface with external anti-spam services such as Akismet, TypePad AntiSpam, Defensio. This module is developed based on the Akismet module.
Features of the AntiSpam Module
- Akismet module was not completedly ported for Drupal 6.x. There were many bugs remain for the 6.x version. AntiSpam module has fixed all the compatibility problems with Drupal 6.x.
- You have more selections for the external antispam services. You can select one of the following external antispam services.
- Akismet http://akismet.com
- TypePad AntiSpam http://antispam.typepad.com
- Defensio http://defensio.com
- Akismet http://akismet.com
- If the Defensio service is selected, it takes advantage of Defensio's "Spaminess" feature. You can see the spaminess
The above image is the screenshot of the AntiSpam moderation queue. You can see the spamineses level by the nice graphics meter. You can sort the list by the spaminess.
- AntiSpam modules keep tracks of the record of antispam activities. You can see the number of spams, hams, false negatives and false positives with nice graphic charts at the statistics page. (see the image below).
You can adjust the size of the chart from the configuration settings page.
Using AntiSpam module
Please download the latest stable release from http://drupal.org/project/antispamThen copy the archive to the module directory and extract it there just like other Drupal modules.
Basic usage of the AntiSpam module is same as the Akismet module, so please see this page for how to use Akismet module.
http://www.pixture.com/drupal/node/77
Select an external antispam service
Biggest feature of the AntiSpam is that you can select an external antispam services from either one of the Akismet, TypePad AntiSpam and Defensio servies.Akismet was the oldest antispam service and it's a standard antispam service at WordPress.com, and it has good reputations. However, when it comes to the usage at the commercial sites, there are some limitations and you may have to pay some fee to use for commercial sites.
On the other hand, TypePad AntiSpam service provids total free antispam service even for the commercial sites. This is the reason I have started developping this module.
Below is the simple comparison of the popular antispam services.
| Akismet | TypePad AntiSpam | Defensio | Mollom (*1) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsored by | Automattic | Six Apart | WebSense | Mollom |
| Primary software platform | WordPress | TypePad | N/A | Drupal |
| For individual, non-commercial sites | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| For commercial sites | Some fees | Free | Some fees | Some fees |
| Supplemental CAPTCHA | No | No | No | Yes |
| Spaminess indicator | No | No | Yes | No |
| Learning feature | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spam filtering rule by individual | No | No | Yes | No |
| Statistics page | No | No | Yes | Yes(for commercial) |
| Published API for external program | Yes | Yes(100% compatible with Akismet API)(*2) | Yes | Yes |
(*1) "Mollom" is founded by Dries Buytaert, the founder of the Drupal. Thefore the compatibility with Drupal is high and reliable. Mollom module, a module for Drupal is available.
(*2) TypePad AntiSpam publishes their spam detection engine as open source. (However, the rule they are using with the engine is hidden).
It is not easy to determine which service to choose. However, if you run commercial sites and you do not want to pay the service fee, TypePad AntiSpam is the only choice you have right now. If it's for non-commercial personal site, then you can use any one of them free of charges. I would recommend that you try some of them for a while and then decide which one worked best for your site.
Like the Akismet service, you are required to register and obtain API key for TypePad AntiSpam and Defensio services too. I do not explain the detail about this here. Please see more details at service provider's web site. Below is the screenshot of TypePad AntiSpam and Defensio API-key.
API for other modules
AntiSpam module 1.0 has introduced an API function for other modules to check any text data they have using external antispam service configured by AntiSpam module.- function antispam_api_cmd_spam_check($body, $name=NULL, $mail=NULL, $homepage=NULL);
- Parameter:
- $body - text data to be checked
- $name - (optional) author name
- $mail - (optional) author email
- $homepage - (optional) author homepage
- Return:
- -1: Error
- 0: The text is HAM (not spam)
- 1: The text is SPAM
Links
AntiSpam project page at Drupal.orghttp://drupal.org/project/antispam
AntiSpam open issues and bug reports
http://drupal.org/project/issues/antispam