No more double-posted comments! July 24, 2002 1:02 PM Subscribe
quite possibly the one feature that was the longest time coming. I finally did it.
You can't double-post a comment in either MetaFilter or MetaTalk ever again.
You can't double-post a comment in either MetaFilter or MetaTalk ever again.
asdf
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:08 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:08 PM on July 24, 2002
yup.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:08 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:08 PM on July 24, 2002
I wanna turn, I wanna turn!
posted by whatnotever at 1:11 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by whatnotever at 1:11 PM on July 24, 2002
I predict that this will be one of the greatest, most thought-provoking threads, ever.
posted by whatnotever at 1:12 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by whatnotever at 1:12 PM on July 24, 2002
FYI: I'm etting other users post the same thing, as that's not the problem of double posted comments
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:13 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:13 PM on July 24, 2002
Mathowie is the Kwisatz Haderach!
posted by Kafkaesque at 1:13 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by Kafkaesque at 1:13 PM on July 24, 2002
Muad 'Dib! Muad 'Dib!
...let the post wash over us, and around us, and through us, but only once ....
posted by gleuschk at 1:16 PM on July 24, 2002
...let the post wash over us, and around us, and through us, but only once ....
posted by gleuschk at 1:16 PM on July 24, 2002
I simply did what others like holloway and rusty suggested long ago. I am now creating an MD5 hash of every comment's content, and tossing that into the db. Before inserting new comments, I take a quick MD5 hash of the about-to-be-submitted comment and see if it matches any other hash stored in the db, in the same thread, by the same user. If there's a match, nothing is submitted to the db.
Moral of the story: read the directions. Who knew hashing string variables in ColdFusion was brain-dead simple?
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:17 PM on July 24, 2002
Moral of the story: read the directions. Who knew hashing string variables in ColdFusion was brain-dead simple?
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:17 PM on July 24, 2002
"if it matches any other hash stored in the db, in the same thread, by the same user."
So does that mean I can't intentionally say exactly the same thing later on in a thread, also?
Not that I'd ever want to.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:19 PM on July 24, 2002
So does that mean I can't intentionally say exactly the same thing later on in a thread, also?
Not that I'd ever want to.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:19 PM on July 24, 2002
hmm...
posted by interrobang at 1:19 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by interrobang at 1:19 PM on July 24, 2002
yup, writing hmm...(space) does not work. swell. now how about those damn A?s and E?s I keep farting out?ü
posted by interrobang at 1:20 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by interrobang at 1:20 PM on July 24, 2002
"if it matches any other hash stored in the db, in the same thread, by the same user."
So does that mean I can't intentionally say exactly the same thing later on in a thread, also?
Not that I'd ever want to.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:23 PM on July 24, 2002
So does that mean I can't intentionally say exactly the same thing later on in a thread, also?
Not that I'd ever want to.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:23 PM on July 24, 2002
How 'bout that?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:24 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:24 PM on July 24, 2002
i once had a whole pound of MD5 hash, you could see the imprint of the burlap in it.
posted by quonsar at 1:24 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by quonsar at 1:24 PM on July 24, 2002
I keep farting out?���¼
Not quite a fart and a half...
posted by machaus at 1:24 PM on July 24, 2002
Not quite a fart and a half...
posted by machaus at 1:24 PM on July 24, 2002
Hm, so you're actually filtering based on content? It's unlikely, but still possible that someone will want to post the same comment twice. Maybe something short, just for effect. I suppose you may consider that noise...
The other way to do it is to pre-generate a unique ID that goes in the form. Never let a form be submitted if its ID already has been. That will only block the unintentional double posts.
Of course, there are ways around this one, too, for those who insist on double-posting (as shown above, on preview). Gluechunk's method can be extended in various ways. I assume you're just trimming whitespace off the ends of the post now...
posted by whatnotever at 1:25 PM on July 24, 2002
The other way to do it is to pre-generate a unique ID that goes in the form. Never let a form be submitted if its ID already has been. That will only block the unintentional double posts.
Of course, there are ways around this one, too, for those who insist on double-posting (as shown above, on preview). Gluechunk's method can be extended in various ways. I assume you're just trimming whitespace off the ends of the post now...
posted by whatnotever at 1:25 PM on July 24, 2002
"Did you change anything, crash?"
No, I don't believe I did. It should be an exact copy, except for the timestamp. Is that part of the hash?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:29 PM on July 24, 2002
No, I don't believe I did. It should be an exact copy, except for the timestamp. Is that part of the hash?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:29 PM on July 24, 2002
Yeah, it will stop intentional double posts (I just tried). There is an easy way around this, though.
posted by insomnyuk at 1:32 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by insomnyuk at 1:32 PM on July 24, 2002
Insomnyuk, there are more elegant methods than that.
posted by whatnotever at 1:35 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by whatnotever at 1:35 PM on July 24, 2002
Insomnyuk, there are more elegant ways than that.
posted by whatnotever at 1:35 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by whatnotever at 1:35 PM on July 24, 2002
Insomnyuk, there are more elegant methods than that.
posted by whatnotever at 1:36 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by whatnotever at 1:36 PM on July 24, 2002
Actually, that's not what I wanted to do, damn I'm retarded. All you probably have to do is add one invisible character somewhere in the post and it will look the same but the filterfilter won't pick it up.
posted by insomnyuk at 1:36 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by insomnyuk at 1:36 PM on July 24, 2002
Bloody clipboard makin' me look like a fool! The second one is not the method I was intending. Perhaps Metafilter will be saved from our evil schemes by our ineptitude, eh, insomnyuk?
posted by whatnotever at 1:37 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by whatnotever at 1:37 PM on July 24, 2002
crash, you inserted an extra space in the middle of your post, that's why it wasn't an exact match.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:40 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:40 PM on July 24, 2002
dp
posted by adampsyche at 1:40 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by adampsyche at 1:40 PM on July 24, 2002
ok, so yeah, this can be thwarted if you really want to make a duplicate post, but you know what? I bet 100% of accidental "I just refreshed in IE for the Mac" reposts will be gone.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:41 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:41 PM on July 24, 2002
Matt: all you have to do is add an html tag and its closing tag somewhere(with nothing in between), I use that on other message boards to cheat the cursing filters (stick em in between letters) when I'm feeling mischievous.
Anyone who is going to go to this much trouble to intentionally double post is probably crazy.
posted by insomnyuk at 1:42 PM on July 24, 2002
Anyone who is going to go to this much trouble to intentionally double post is probably crazy.
posted by insomnyuk at 1:42 PM on July 24, 2002
Wow! It's not! Yay! Now for those double TrackBacks...
posted by evanizer at 1:48 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by evanizer at 1:48 PM on July 24, 2002
Anyone who is going to go to this much trouble to intentionally double post is probably crazy so it's sure to be a big problem around here.
posted by timeistight at 1:48 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by timeistight at 1:48 PM on July 24, 2002
damn I'm retarded
Jesus Christ man, do we want to go back to this stuff again???
posted by matteo at 1:53 PM on July 24, 2002
Jesus Christ man, do we want to go back to this stuff again???
posted by matteo at 1:53 PM on July 24, 2002
If I get MetaTalked for something like that, I certainly won't change my ways, but I will get a good laugh out of it.
posted by insomnyuk at 1:58 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by insomnyuk at 1:58 PM on July 24, 2002
This is a big shout out to mathowie and his dedicated test team. Pleasure doing business with you folks.
posted by MUD at 2:00 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by MUD at 2:00 PM on July 24, 2002
Yay, Matt! Instead of trying break it to prove something, I will applaud your ingenuity!
posted by daveadams at 2:01 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by daveadams at 2:01 PM on July 24, 2002
MetaTalked
I think you have just coined a new verb, mi'lad!
posted by evanizer at 2:10 PM on July 24, 2002
I think you have just coined a new verb, mi'lad!
posted by evanizer at 2:10 PM on July 24, 2002
Neat solution. Props...
posted by inpHilltr8r at 2:37 PM on July 24, 2002
posted by inpHilltr8r at 2:37 PM on July 24, 2002
::rides in on pony::
brilliant! brilliant i say!
what? why're you all looking at my pony like that? no, you can't have him, he's mine!
posted by lotsofno at 3:40 PM on July 24, 2002
brilliant! brilliant i say!
what? why're you all looking at my pony like that? no, you can't have him, he's mine!
posted by lotsofno at 3:40 PM on July 24, 2002
but does it take into account seven year hyphens?
Err, no. It's not supposed to account for intentional alterations in posts. It only prevents accidental reposts via browser refreshes or other such mishaps.
posted by Danelope at 4:03 PM on July 24, 2002
Err, no. It's not supposed to account for intentional alterations in posts. It only prevents accidental reposts via browser refreshes or other such mishaps.
posted by Danelope at 4:03 PM on July 24, 2002
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn Dominos
-In his house in R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits for the pizza man.
posted by bshort at 2:42 PM on July 25, 2002
-In his house in R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits for the pizza man.
posted by bshort at 2:42 PM on July 25, 2002
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn Dominos -In his house in R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits for the pizza man.
posted by bshort at 2:42 PM on July 25, 2002
posted by bshort at 2:42 PM on July 25, 2002
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn Dominos
-In his house in R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits for the pizza man.
posted by bshort at 2:42 PM on July 25, 2002
-In his house in R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits for the pizza man.
posted by bshort at 2:42 PM on July 25, 2002
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posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:06 PM on July 24, 2002