Spam filter catching legit posts?

Yeah, I’ve seen that. Usually it’s not the bots “getting smarter,” it’s the filter getting a bit too twitchy on normal stuff. Last time I dug into it, it was some combo of keyword rules + trust level + new accounts getting hammered harder than they should. The annoying part is the junk still finds a way through because it doesn’t trip the same signals every time. Real spam isn’t even trying that hard half the time, which is the dumbest part. If it’s suddenly worse, I’d check whatever got changed recently before blaming the spam wave. Plugin update, threshold change, Akismet-style scoring, any new regex rule someone got overexcited about… that kind of thing. Those “smart” filters love catching legit posts with one weird phrase and then letting some garbage affiliate dump slide right past. Classic.

Honestly, yeah, I’d check recent changes first too. We had this happen after a “minor” plugin update and it turned out the filter got way more aggressive on short legit replies with links / quoted text. Meanwhile the obvious junk was still getting through because it was just varied enough to dodge the same rules. 🙄 If it’s only been the last week or two, I’d be looking at whatever got tweaked in moderation settings, not assuming the spam wave suddenly got genius-level. Personally,

Yeah, I’d still look at recent changes first. Half the time it’s some “small” tweak nobody remembers making and suddenly normal posts are getting flagged for having a quote block and one link. I’ve seen filters get weirdly touchy on stuff like: – short replies – first-time posters – posts with the same URL pattern – quoted text + a link – anything with a couple trigger words stacked together And yeah, the junk still slips through because it’s usually not tripping the exact same rule set. It’s annoying, but that’s pretty normal with these things. If it started all at once, I’d check the moderation queue logs and see what the common trigger is. If it’s a bunch of legit posts getting caught for the same reason, it’s probably not “smart…

Realistically, yeah, that’s usually a settings/regression thing, not some super-bot apocalypse. I’d check the queue logs before anything else. If it’s the same couple of triggers over and over, somebody probably turned one knob too far or a plugin update changed the scoring.

Honestly, yeah, I’d be looking at the filter settings before blaming bots getting “smarter.” Seen this exact crap after a tweak — legit posts with a quote and one link get nuked, while some garbage with scrambled text still sneaks in. Pretty classic broken scoring, honestly. That’s how I look at it.

Yeah, I’ve seen that happen too. Usually ends up being some filter rule getting a little too trigger-happy, not bots suddenly evolving overnight.

Yeah, I’d lean settings/plugin too. I’ve had legit posts get snagged just because they had a couple links and a quote block, while some trash still wandered through like nothing happened. Usually it’s some overcooked rule, not bots suddenly…

Yeah, usually it’s the filter, not the bots getting genius overnight. I’d check the scoring/rules first before chasing ghosts. If legit posts are getting held and junk’s still slipping, something’s off in the weighting. At least from what I’ve seen.

From what I see, Yeah, seen that too. Usually it’s some combination of overly sensitive link/keyword rules and a half-baked spam score, not bots suddenly getting smarter. If legit stuff is getting held while junk still sneaks in, that’s usually a bad sign the filter’s just guessing badly. Annoying part is people always assume “more moderation = better,”…