Module Comments - now with functionality to receive trackbacks

[Andiministrator]

I did some development on the module Comments. Now it is possible to receive trackbacks. This could be interesting for using the module Blogs or News as a Blog. In addition it is possible now, to edit the email and website of a comment-author. I had no possibility so far to test the new functionality of the module, maybe anybody out there can do this?

To activate the trackback functionality, you need to update the Comments module first. Find my version (xml file packed as zip) here: http://www.petzoldt.net/download/Comments-1.9.zip
After updating the module, you'll find a new checkbox in the options of "Comments" to activate the trackback function.

Furthermore, you need to add the following code to the comments-template:

Code: Select all

{if $trackback == 1}
<span class="trackback"><a href="{$trackbackurl}" rel="nofollow">Trackback-URL</a></span>
<!--
<rdf:RDF
	xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:trackback="http://madskills.com/public/xml/rss/module/trackback/">
<rdf:Description
	rdf:about="{$redirecturl}"
	dc:title="{$pagetitle}"
	dc:identifier="{$redirecturl}"
	trackback:ping="{$trackbackurl}" />
</rdf:RDF>
-->
{/if}

Or, alternatively, reset the template to the standard.

This was my first development with a CMSms module, please feel free to give me any response.

[nicmare]

nice one! thanks alot

[nhaack]

That sounds pretty delicious I will give it a shot, hope to be able to put my fingers on it this week. I will let you know.

Thanks
Nils

[Andiministrator]

There are a lot of improvements on the Comments module now, like:
- possibility to receive trackbacks
- activate/deactivate comments from the admin list view
- pagination support in the backend
- now you can edit the author email and -website
- added the flied "comment title" (optional)
- some code cleaning
- ...

I'd like to release a beta version of Comments 1.9, but I have no permissions to do it. Would it be possible to give me the permission to release beta versions of Comments?

[kendo451]

Does your module check for trackback spam?  (When the person doesn't really link to you, but sends a trackback request to get a link from your page.)

Does your module support Pingbacks?

Thanks for doing this!

[Andiministrator]

At the moment, the module is using the akismet spam filter (seperate module). If the filter receives a spam comment, the comment will be inactive. If you have a suggestion how to improve the spam filter, feel free to contact me.

I had no possibility to test the pingback support. I supose that it works.
Do you have a possibility to send a pingback? I would be interested in a test ...

I'm still waiting for an approvement from Robert or Ted to release a beta version of comments 1.9.
So long you can use the following download url:
http://www.petzoldt.net/download/Comments-1.9.zip

[kendo451]

There is a different kind of spam that is directed against trackback pages.

There are several spam scripts that submit trackback requests to blogs, even though they didn't really link to you.  If you don't check the referring URL to make sure it linked to you, then your trackback server will link-back to the site even though it doesn't link to you.  They trick your trackback server to giving them a link.

In this kind of spam the link itself does not contain material that would normally be identified as spam by the askimet filter.

The only way to prevent it is the check the referring URL to make sure it really links to your page.

[Andiministrator]

Thanks for your input.
Let me implement a validity check of the referer url after checking the url itself. It shouldn't be a problem.

Andi

[Andiministrator]

I added some code to check the sender URL of a trackback, whether the URL is valid and accessible. I hope, this helps to avoid trackback spam.

Unfortunately I still have no access to release a beta version of the new Comments module. Please use SVN or the following URL for downloading the new Comments module: http://www.petzoldt.net/download/Comments-1.9.zip

[Andiministrator]

I added now an optional feature to check, whether a trackback-sender-url contains a backlink. You can enable this feature in the options of comments. Download URL for the new Comments module see above. Need some testing ...

[kendo451]

Here is a relevant thread with some discussion on what is needed for a pingback module.

http://forum.cmsmadesimple.org/index.php/topic,25765.0.html

[kendo451]

Is your trackback code included in Comments 1.9.2 ?

[Andiministrator]

The PHP code is still there, but unfortunately Calguy has banned the code for the templates, so that nobody can use it. The same with the spam protection (link check) which I included after your suggestion and my possibility to mark an editiorial (admin) comment.

SVN Log:
Revision: 125, Author: calguy1000, Date: 9.1.2009 - Clean up the comment list template.
Revision: 124, Author: calguy1000, Date: 9.1.2009 - Disable all trackback functionality, Remove the 'Edit.Com' field from admin interface, whatever that did. Rename the 'Notify stuff' so it makes more sense.

So I stopped to publish my further development on the Comments module. Maybe I will publish my version of the Comments module under an own project.