Topic: Batch delete spammers?

Now that finally I have been able to update from punBB 1.2 to 1.3 (I've been on the Web for 17 years, but as a user not a programmer) I find that I have about 32,000 spammers to delete!  Deleting them one by one in 1.3.5 takes 4 clicks--has anyone come up with a faster way of doing it?

Re: Batch delete spammers?

Three ways I can think of;
There are two scripts, one by slavok and one by Grez, that can aid you

1   http://punbb.informer.com/forums/topic/ … punbb-13x/

http://punbb.informer.com/forums/topic/ … red-users/


****

3  Go to admin, users and sort by number of posts , date registered etc.... I don't know how you are specifically knowing which are spammers, but assume the scripts would get most of them...

Also worth noting, that if you have an API from stopforumspam you make certain, that all users you delete in future, will be directly reported there...

see camenis post:

http://punbb.informer.com/forums/post/140337/#p140337

Re: Batch delete spammers?

KeyDog wrote:

Three ways I can think of;
There are two scripts, one by slavok and one by Grez, that can aid you

1   http://punbb.informer.com/forums/topic/ … punbb-13x/

http://punbb.informer.com/forums/topic/ … red-users/


****

3  Go to admin, users and sort by number of posts , date registered etc.... I don't know how you are specifically knowing which are spammers, but assume the scripts would get most of them...


Also worth noting, that if you have an API from stopforumspam you make certain, that all users you delete in future, will be directly reported there...

see camenis post:

http://punbb.informer.com/forums/post/140337/#p140337

Thank you, Keydog, for your interest but I am still lost...

1.  Do I post script-to-remove-users-with-signatures-but-no-posts-from-punbb-13x into the extension folder in my forums directory, having given it any-old-name?

2.  I'm such a newbie that I have no idea what checking-ips-of-already-registered-users will actually do to delete them.  Can you advise?

3.  "Go to admin, users and sort by number of posts , date registered etc."  Are you suggesting that I do this after I have run one of scripts 1 or 2?  If it is a separate suggestion 3, it still leaves me with 32,000 spammers with no posts to delete!

Re: Batch delete spammers?

1.  Do I post script-to-remove-users-with-signatures-but-no-posts-from-punbb-13x into the extension folder in my forums directory, having given it any-old-name?
2.  I'm such a newbie that I have no idea what checking-ips-of-already-registered-users will actually do to delete them.  Can you advise?
3.  "Go to admin, users and sort by number of posts , date registered etc."  Are you suggesting that I do this after I have run one of scripts 1 or 2?  If it is a separate suggestion 3, it still leaves me with 32,000 spammers with no posts to delete!

1. into the root not extension folder
2. try it and let me know if you're not given the option at the end to delete...
3. alternative... all the users with 0 posts and registered before date x can be mass deleted...

Re: Batch delete spammers?

KeyDog wrote:

3. alternative... all the users with 0 posts and registered before date x can be mass deleted...

KeyDog, that's what I'm trying to find out--how to do a mass delete of all those users with 0 posts and registered before date x...what instructions can you give for this?

Re: Batch delete spammers?

KeyDog wrote:

1.  Do I post script-to-remove-users-with-signatures-but-no-posts-from-punbb-13x into the extension folder in my forums directory, having given it any-old-name?
2.  I'm such a newbie that I have no idea what checking-ips-of-already-registered-users will actually do to delete them.  Can you advise?
3.  "Go to admin, users and sort by number of posts , date registered etc."  Are you suggesting that I do this after I have run one of scripts 1 or 2?  If it is a separate suggestion 3, it still leaves me with 32,000 spammers with no posts to delete!

1. into the root not extension folder
2. try it and let me know if you're not given the option at the end to delete...
3. alternative... all the users with 0 posts and registered before date x can be mass deleted...

KeyDog, I have copied your "Script to remove users with signatures but no posts from PunBB 1.3.x" into an RTF file on my Mac.  Should I be saving it as a PHP file first before uploading?  Can you suggest a Mac app which will save the script as a PHP file? (HTML is a possibility also with TextEdit.)

Re: Batch delete spammers?

tundern wrote:

Should I be saving it as a PHP file first before uploading?

Yes, correct  -  php

tundern wrote:

Can you suggest a Mac app which will save the script as a PHP file? (HTML is a possibility also with TextEdit.)

I'm afraid I can't (Google will) ...

8

Re: Batch delete spammers?

tundern wrote:

Can you suggest a Mac app which will save the script as a PHP file? (HTML is a possibility also with TextEdit.)

php is a plain text file. so textEdit in plan text mode can save php.

If you use transmit, it can also create blank documents which can also be saved with any web document extension you like.

Alternatively, try BBEdit, textmate, dreamweaver, golive or any web authoring application.

Re: Batch delete spammers?

KeyDog wrote:
tundern wrote:

Should I be saving it as a PHP file first before uploading?

Yes, correct  -  php

tundern wrote:

Can you suggest a Mac app which will save the script as a PHP file? (HTML is a possibility also with TextEdit.)

I'm afraid I can't (Google will) ...

Sigh, KeyDog!  This afternoon I have tried 5 different methods to start up the PHP component of Mac OSX, mostly found by Googling--and NONE of them work!!!  (In two cases, I was led to pages which no longer exist.)

And all I want to do is get rid of 32,000 spammers as quickly as possible...

Re: Batch delete spammers?

colak wrote:
tundern wrote:

Can you suggest a Mac app which will save the script as a PHP file? (HTML is a possibility also with TextEdit.)

php is a plain text file. so textEdit in plan text mode can save php.

If you use transmit, it can also create blank documents which can also be saved with any web document extension you like.

Alternatively, try BBEdit, textmate, dreamweaver, golive or any web authoring application.

Colak, you would think that TextEdit could save text as a PHP file, but the current version refuses to do this.  The error messages says that it can be saved only as a .php.rtf file.

I had downloaded TextWrangler, the "lite" version of BBEdit this afternoon but thought that it could not do what was wanted.  So I was reluctant to download BBEdit as well, but have just done so.  I found that the "Save to FTP/SFTP Server..." command was just what was required!

Thank you!  And thanks to KeyDog too.  Now to see how this script works...

Re: Batch delete spammers?

tundern wrote:
colak wrote:
tundern wrote:

Can you suggest a Mac app which will save the script as a PHP file? (HTML is a possibility also with TextEdit.)

php is a plain text file. so textEdit in plan text mode can save php.

If you use transmit, it can also create blank documents which can also be saved with any web document extension you like.

Alternatively, try BBEdit, textmate, dreamweaver, golive or any web authoring application.

Colak, you would think that TextEdit could save text as a PHP file, but the current version refuses to do this.  The error messages says that it can be saved only as a .php.rtf file.

I had downloaded TextWrangler, the "lite" version of BBEdit this afternoon but thought that it could not do what was wanted.  So I was reluctant to download BBEdit as well, but have just done so.  I found that the "Save to FTP/SFTP Server..." command was just what was required!

Thank you!  And thanks to KeyDog too.  Now to see how this script works...

No it won't!  Uploaded as pun_name_of_my_choice.rtf.  #%&&$*()!!+##  So PLEASE!  How to save an RTF file as PHP on a Mac???? I've tried 6 different things and they either lead to Web pages which no longer exist or do not work!!!!!

12

Re: Batch delete spammers?

Open textEdit go to top menu textedit>preferences, new document (select plain text)

Quit textedit and start it again. Create a new document

paste the php code and save as .txt

Then find the file and change the extension to php:)

ps. if you can not see the file extensions, when on your desktop go to finder>preferences>Advanced>Show all file extensions

Re: Batch delete spammers?

tundern wrote:
tundern wrote:
colak wrote:

php is a plain text file. so textEdit in plan text mode can save php.

If you use transmit, it can also create blank documents which can also be saved with any web document extension you like.

Alternatively, try BBEdit, textmate, dreamweaver, golive or any web authoring application.

Colak, you would think that TextEdit could save text as a PHP file, but the current version refuses to do this.  The error messages says that it can be saved only as a .php.rtf file.

I had downloaded TextWrangler, the "lite" version of BBEdit this afternoon but thought that it could not do what was wanted.  So I was reluctant to download BBEdit as well, but have just done so.  I found that the "Save to FTP/SFTP Server..." command was just what was required!

Thank you!  And thanks to KeyDog too.  Now to see how this script works...

No it won't!  Uploaded as pun_name_of_my_choice.rtf.  #%&&$*()!!+##  So PLEASE!  How to save an RTF file as PHP on a Mac???? I've tried 6 different things and they either lead to Web pages which no longer exist or do not work!!!!!

Update:  I used the control panel for my Web site to change the name of pun_name_of_my_choice.rtf to pun_name_of_my_choice.php.  The change was accepted happily because now there is a PHP icon besides the name.  I conclude from this that is is not possible to save a file with a .php extension using any of my Mac apps or any that I can find on the Net, but a simple name change to a text file does work.

The file is now in the directory called Forum on my Website.  It's there with a heap of other PHP files and the Extensions folder.  It is not inside the Extensions folder.  However, even though I have logged out of my forum then in again, a refreshed a couple of times, I cannot see where to go to use pun_remove_users_with_no_posts.php.  There's nothing new in my forum, not even when I refresh the User List.

What next, Colak, KeyDog and other gurus?

14

Re: Batch delete spammers?

One thing. Never save in rtf as it might convert straight quotes into curly ones which would break the script.

15

Re: Batch delete spammers?

tundern wrote:

There's nothing new in my forum, not even when I refresh the User List.

It's a script that you need to call by entering [your-URL]/Forum/the-php-script.php (it's location basically) in your browser...
You won't see anything in the admin area of the forum, or the forum itself...