Filtering content for tagging

We can use filtering mechanisms to control which terms users can use and which terms they cannot use as tags. The portal provides both a blacklist and a whitelist filter. You enable and disable both filters in the WebSphere Integrated Solutions Console under the Resource Environment Provider > CPConfigService for tagging and rating. For details see the topics about Setting service configuration properties and the CP Configuration Service for tagging and rating.

Blacklist filter

The blacklist filter allows us to block selected terms from being used as tags, for example terms that could be perceived as offensive. If you enable the blacklist filter, the portal checks every term that users type as a tag before it is eventually applied and stored. If a user types a term listed on the blacklist, the portal blocks this tag and responds with a message. We can determine the terms that we want to be on the blacklist using the XML configuration interface. To enable the blacklist filter, the following configuration property in the CP Configuration Service to true:

com.ibm.wps.cp.filter.tagging.blacklist = true

Whitelist filter

The whitelist filter allows us to limit the set of tags that users can apply. If you enable the whitelist filter, the portal checks every term that users type as a tag against the whitelist before it eventually applies and stores it. If a user types a term that is not listed on the whitelist, the portal blocks this tag and responds with a message. We can set the terms that we want to be on the whitelist by using the XML configuration interface. To enable the whitelist filter, add at least one entry to the whitelist filter database and set the following configuration property in the CP Configuration Service to true:

com.ibm.wps.cp.filter.tagging.whitelist = true

Note: The portal applies the filter only if you activate it and add at least one entry to the whitelist filter database.

We can configure both filter lists using the XML configuration interface. The following examples show how to add or remove terms to the blacklist. To work with the whitelist, adapt the examples by changing the ID of the filter from DefaultBlacklistFilter to DefaultWhitelist Filter. Sample scripts for the XML configuration interface are located under the directory PortalServer_root/doc/xml-samples.Example: Creating new words to the blacklist filter:

<request
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="PortalConfig_8.5.0.xsd"
    type="update" create-oids="true">
    <!-- sample for creating a filter with some sample entries -->
    <portal action="locate">
        <filter-instance action="update" >
            <filter-data value="badword_1" action="update"/>
            <filter-data value="badword_2" action="update"/>        
        </filter-instance>
    </portal>
</request>

This sample snippet registers the two words badword_1 and badword_2 with the blacklist filter for all locales. Note that we must specify DefaultBlacklistFilter for the attribute id of the tag filter. We can optionally specify the attribute locale for the tag filter data. After we run this XML script, users will not be able to use badword_1 or badword_2 as tags. Example: Creating or deleting individual words:

<request
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="PortalConfig_8.5.0.xsd"
    type="update" create-oids="true">
    <!-- sample for creating a filter with some sample entries -->
    <portal action="locate">
        <filter-instance action="update" >
            <filter-data value="badword_1" update="delete"/>
            <filter-data value="badword_3" update="update"/>
        </filter-instance
    </portal>
</request>

This sample snippet removes the term badword_1 and adds badword_3 from the blacklist.Example: Deleting all terms from the blacklist filter:

<request
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="PortalConfig_8.5.0.xsd"
    type="update" create-oids="true">
    <!-- sample for deleting a whole filter -->
    <portal action="locate">
        <filter-instance action="delete" >
        </filter-instance>
    </portal>
</request>

This sample snippet deletes all terms from the blacklist.

Parent topic: How tagging and rating works in the portal

• CP Configuration Service for tagging and rating
• Set service configuration properties

• XML configuration interface

References: