pict-drupal-module.pngAntiSpam 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

  1. 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.

  2. You have more selections for the external antispam services. You can select one of the following external antispam services.
  3. If the Defensio service is selected, it takes advantage of Defensio's "Spaminess" feature. You can see the spaminess
    ss-antispam-1.png
    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.

  4. 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).

    ss-antispam-2.png
    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/antispam
Then 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
As of 2009.5.18

(*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.

ss-defensio-1.png

ss-typepad-1.png

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.
  1. function antispam_api_cmd_spam_check($body, $name=NULL, $mail=NULL, $homepage=NULL);
  2.  
  3. Parameter:
  4.  $body - text data to be checked
  5.  $name - (optional) author name
  6.  $mail - (optional) author email
  7.  $homepage - (optional) author homepage
  8.  
  9. Return:
  10.  -1: Error
  11.  0: The text is HAM (not spam)
  12.  1: The text is SPAM
This API function make it possible any modules to check any text data entered by users using AntiSpam module, and determine what to do based on the check result.


Links

AntiSpam project page at Drupal.org
http://drupal.org/project/antispam

AntiSpam open issues and bug reports
http://drupal.org/project/issues/antispam

 

Your rating: None Average: 2.5 (6 votes)

How does it handle differences between services? Like Mollom for example, which doesn't have a moderation queue (something I don't like about Mollom), and how easy is it to add additional backends? (like Blogspam, or the drupal spam module).

All in all, I'm so glad this module has been born. I've had a very similar plans though I never got the time to implement it them. Though my plans had a focus on antispam api with backends as modules for it.

Congratulations on the release of this surely bright module! :)

Thanks for your comment.

The moderation queue of this module is not a part of the external antispam service but a feature that this module provide. So it is not difficult to add other external services if the service provides HTTP interface or APIs to audit the contents(comments/nodes).

The next major version 2.x make it possible to use multiple services at the same time and determine if a content is spam or not based on a rule (majority rule, etc). I have already done the most of this and being testing now. :-)

Is it possible to hide the spam in the normal comment area under the article and show spam only in the moderation queue?

Don't you know that it is high time to get the loans, which will realize your dreams.

Don't you understand that this is the best time to receive the loan, which can help you.

I received 1 st mortgage loans when I was 32 and that supported me a lot. Nevertheless, I require the term loan over again.