Movable Type "better_spam_protect" Plug-In

The plug-in is easy to install. Simply download the better_spam_protect.pl file and copy it to the Movable Type plugins subdirectory. Once done, improved spam protection is activated. Next, run a full site rebuild to apply the upgraded spam protection to older entries.

Here is what the plug-in does:

1. The primary function is to upgrade the <$MTEntryAuthorLink$>, <$MTCommentAuthorLink$>, and <$MTCommentPreviewAuthorLink$> template tags to provide stronger anti-spam protections on email addresses.

2. Email address spam protection becomes the default on these tags. Use spam_protect="0" to disable spam protection. (Without the plug-in, spam_protect="1" is required to enable spam protection.)

3. The semantics of <$MTEntryAuthorLink$> change slightly. If the author has defined a nickname in their profile it is displayed here. Otherwise their username is displayed. (Without the plugin, nickname is ignored and username always is displayed.)

4. A new template tag <$MTEmailLink [name="..."] address="..." $> is created. This tag inserts a spam-protected mailto: link into the document. The address= parameter is required; it specifies an email address. The name= parameter is optional. It specifies the text of the hyperlink. If omitted, the email address is used.

5. The following template tags are not changed by this plug-in: <$MTEntryAuthorEmail$>, <$MTCommentEmail$>, and <$MTCommentPreviewEmail$>. The addresses produced by these tags remain vulnerable to harvesting. You could, however, use the new <$MTEmailLink$> template tag to protect them.

The plug-in was tested on version 2.65. If you try it out, let me know how it works out for you.