ComusThumbz Documentation
HTML Markdown Print/PDF Plain Text
Admin Login

Documentation Menu


Admin Access

Gallery Scanner

Gallery Scanner

What This Page Does

The Gallery Scanner checks all the external gallery links on your site for problems like broken links, slow loading pages, inappropriate content, and security issues. It can automatically flag, disable, delete, or blacklist galleries that have issues, helping you keep your site clean and professional.

Think of it as a quality control tool that visits each gallery URL and checks for 29 different problems, then takes whatever action you tell it to.

[Screenshot: page-overview]

How to Get Here

Navigate to Admin Panel > Galleries > Gallery Admin, then click the Scanner button in the top navigation bar.

Understanding the Page

When you first open the Gallery Scanner, you'll see several sections from top to bottom:

Category Selection

A list of all your gallery categories with checkboxes. Each category shows how many galleries it contains that can be scanned. You can select all categories at once with the Select All Categories checkbox, or pick specific ones.

Radio buttons and checkboxes that let you narrow down which galleries to scan. For example, you can scan only approved galleries, only pending ones, or only galleries marked as "on-site."

Scan Tests

Two columns of checkboxes showing 29 different types of problems the scanner can look for. Most are enabled by default. Each test has a name and a brief explanation of what it checks.

Action Settings

For each type of problem, you can choose what action to take when that problem is found. Your choices are:

  • Flag Only - Just make a note of it (the safest option)
  • Disable - Hide the gallery from your site
  • Delete - Remove the gallery permanently
  • Blacklist - Block the submitter and all galleries from that domain

 

AJAX Processing Settings

Controls for how fast the scanner works. You can set how many galleries to scan at once (concurrent requests) and how long to wait between batches.

Scan Controls

Big green Start AJAX Scanning button to begin, plus buttons to pause, resume, or stop the scan once it's running.

Progress Display

Once scanning starts, this area shows a progress bar, statistics (how many scanned, how many violations found), and a live scrolling feed of results.

Common Tasks

How to Run Your First Scan

Before you run a scan that makes any changes, it's smart to do a test run with "Flag Only" to see what would be affected.

  1. Click Select All Categories to scan all your galleries.
  2. Make sure Scan Approved and Scan Pending are both checked (they are by default).
  3. Leave all the scan tests at their default settings (most are already enabled).
  4. Scroll down to the Action Settings section.
  5. Verify that every single action is set to Flag Only (this is the default).
  6. Set Concurrent Requests to 2 (Recommended) and Request Delay to 1 Second (these are also defaults).
  7. Click the big green Start AJAX Scanning button.
  8. Watch the progress bar and results feed as the scanner checks each gallery.
  9. When it finishes, review the completion summary to see what problems were found.
  10. Click View Reports to see the detailed list of flagged galleries.
Tip: Always run your first scan with all actions set to "Flag Only." This way you can review what would be affected before enabling any automatic disable, delete, or blacklist actions.

[Screenshot: first-scan-example]

How to Scan Specific Categories

If you only want to scan certain categories (for example, just your "Amateur" category):

  1. Leave the Select All Categories box unchecked.
  2. Scroll through the category list and check only the categories you want.
  3. The scanner will skip all unchecked categories.

This is helpful when you're testing or when you know a specific category has problems.

How to Set Up Automatic Actions

Once you've done a test run and you're comfortable with what the scanner finds, you can set it to take automatic actions.

Example: Automatically disable galleries with 404 errors

  1. Scroll to the Action Settings section.
  2. Find the row for 404 Error.
  3. Click the Disable radio button for that row.
  4. Leave all other actions at Flag Only for now.
  5. Run the scan.
  6. Any gallery that returns a 404 error will be automatically set to "Disapproved" status, which hides it from your site.

Example: Automatically blacklist galleries with banned words

  1. Find the Banned Words row in Action Settings.
  2. Click the Blacklist radio button.
  3. Run the scan.
  4. Any gallery containing banned words will be blacklisted, and all other galleries from the same domain will also be blocked.
Warning: The Delete and Blacklist actions are PERMANENT. Delete removes the gallery completely from your database. Blacklist blocks the submitter's IP and marks ALL galleries from the same domain as blacklisted, not just the one with the problem.

How to Pause or Stop a Scan

If you need to pause the scan to review results or because you want to make changes:

  1. Click the Pause Scanning button while a scan is running.
  2. The scan stops immediately and the button changes to Resume Scanning.
  3. Review the results so far in the live feed.
  4. Click Resume Scanning to pick up where you left off.
  5. Or click Stop Scanning to end the scan permanently.

Pausing is useful if you notice unexpected results and want to adjust settings before continuing.

The gallery filter options control which galleries get scanned. Here's what each one does:

Filter What It Does
Scan Only On Site Only scan galleries that are marked as hosted on your site
Scan All in Database Scan every gallery regardless of where it's hosted (default)
Scan Partners Only Only scan galleries marked as partner/preferred galleries
Skip Sponsors Don't scan galleries that have sponsor codes
Scan Approved Include galleries with "Approved" status (default: checked)
Scan Pending Include galleries with "Pending" status (default: checked)
Scan Waiting Include galleries with "Waiting" status
Scan Disabled Include galleries that are already disabled or blacklisted
Tip: For a typical cleanup scan, leave Scan All in Database, Scan Approved, and Scan Pending checked. This covers all your active galleries.

Understanding Scan Tests

The scanner can check for 29 different types of problems. Here are the most important ones:

Basic Tests (Always Useful)

Test What It Checks Why It Matters
404 Error Check Is the gallery URL dead/broken? Dead links look unprofessional and frustrate users
Server Speed Check Does the page load slowly? Slow galleries make your site feel slow
Banned Words Check Does the page contain illegal or prohibited terms? Protects you from legal issues

Content Tests

Test What It Checks Why It Matters
Image File Quality Check Does the gallery have enough images? Ensures galleries meet your quality standards
2257 Compliance Check Does the page have required legal notices? Required for adult content in the US
Age Verification Check Does the page warn visitors about adult content? Legal requirement in many jurisdictions

Security Tests

Test What It Checks Why It Matters
JavaScript Detection Does the page have JavaScript code? Can indicate popups, redirects, or malware
Popup Detection Does the page try to open popup windows? Popups annoy users and hurt your reputation
iFrame Detection Does the page embed content from other sites? Can be used for tracking or hijacking

SEO Spam Tests

Test What It Checks Why It Matters
Hidden Text Is there invisible text on the page? Common SEO spam technique
Keyword Stuffing Does the page repeat words excessively? Another SEO spam technique
Cloaking Detection Does the page show different content to search engines? Violates Google's rules
Note: Most tests are enabled by default. A few optional ones (like Broken Images Check and Video Content Detection) are disabled because they take longer or may flag legitimate content.

AJAX Processing Settings

These settings control how fast the scanner works:

Setting Options What It Does Recommended
Concurrent Requests 1 to 10 How many galleries to scan at the same time 2 for most servers
Request Delay 0ms to 5s How long to pause between batches 1 second to avoid overwhelming servers

When to adjust:

  • Use 1 concurrent request if you're getting timeout errors or if target sites are blocking you
  • Use 3-5 concurrent requests if you have a fast server and need to scan thousands of galleries quickly
  • Use longer delays (2-5 seconds) if target sites are rate-limiting you
Warning: Higher concurrency and no delay means faster scanning, but it also means you're hitting external sites harder. Be respectful of other people's servers.

Understanding the Results

Progress Display

Once scanning starts, you'll see:

  • Progress bar - Visual indicator of how far along the scan is
  • Status line - "Scanning X galleries with Y concurrent requests"
  • Statistics - How many processed, how many violations, how fast (galleries per minute)
  • Live results feed - Scrolling list of each gallery as it's scanned

Result Colors and Icons

The results feed uses emoji icons to show what was found:

Green checkmark - Gallery is clean, no problems found
Yellow/orange icons - Warnings like slow speed or JavaScript
Red icons - Serious problems like 404 errors or banned words

Each result line shows:

  • The gallery ID and category
  • The URL (shortened)
  • How long it took to load
  • What problems were found (with icons)
  • What action was taken

 

Example:

[10:15:23] Gallery 12345 [Amateur]: http://example.com/gall... - 1250ms - Violations: 🚧 ⚠️ Actions: 🏴 (javascript: 5 instances, popups: 2 instances)

 

Completion Summary

When the scan finishes, you'll see a summary box with:

  • Total Processed - How many galleries were scanned
  • Total Violations - How many had problems
  • Clean Galleries - How many were problem-free
  • Top Violations - The 5 most common problems found
  • Actions Taken - How many flagged, disabled, deleted, blacklisted

Two buttons at the bottom:

  • Start New Scan - Reload the page to run another scan
  • View Reports - Jump to the Reports page to review all flagged galleries

 

Tips for New Users

Tip:
  • Always test with Flag Only first - Run at least one scan with all actions set to "Flag Only" before enabling automatic deletions or blacklisting.
  • Start with one category - Your first few scans should be on a small category so you can see results quickly and understand what the scanner finds.
  • Review the reports - After flagging galleries, look at the reports page to see if the scanner's judgments make sense for your site.
  • Enable actions gradually - Start with just 404 detection on "Disable," then add more actions as you get comfortable.
  • Use 2 concurrent requests - This balances speed with server friendliness. Only increase it if you have thousands of galleries and need faster processing.
  • Don't scan too frequently - Once a week or once a month is plenty for most sites. Scanning the same galleries every day wastes resources.

Troubleshooting

The scan won't start

What you see: You click "Start AJAX Scanning" but nothing happens.

How to fix it:

  1. Make sure you selected at least one category. The scanner won't run if no categories are checked.
  2. Check your browser's console for error messages (press F12 and look at the Console tab).
  3. Make sure your browser isn't blocking JavaScript or AJAX requests.

 

The scan stalls at 0%

What you see: The progress bar doesn't move past 0%.

How to fix it:

  1. Check the browser console for errors (F12).
  2. Try reducing Concurrent Requests to 1.
  3. Refresh the page and start a new scan.
  4. Your server might not be able to reach external URLs - check with your hosting provider.

 

Too many violations are being flagged

What you see: Almost every gallery shows violations.

How to fix it:

  1. Review which scan tests are enabled. Some tests (like JavaScript Detection) will flag many legitimate galleries that use normal JavaScript.
  2. Disable tests that don't matter to you. For example, if you don't care about video content, disable "Video Content Detection."
  3. Some galleries naturally have features like JavaScript or iFrames that the scanner flags. This doesn't always mean the gallery is bad.

 

Galleries are being deleted or disabled by mistake

What you see: Good galleries are being removed from your site.

How to fix it:

  1. Immediately click Stop Scanning to halt the process.
  2. Review the Action Settings - make sure you didn't accidentally set an action to Delete or Blacklist.
  3. Check the Reports page to see what violations were found.
  4. If legitimate galleries were affected, go to Gallery Management and manually re-enable them.
  5. Next time, use Flag Only until you're sure the actions are correct.

 

Warning: There is no "undo" for Delete or Blacklist actions. Always back up your database before running aggressive scans, or stick to Flag Only and Disable actions which can be reversed.

The scan is too slow

What you see: Scanning takes hours to complete.

How to fix it:

  1. Increase Concurrent Requests to 3 or 5 for faster processing.
  2. Reduce Request Delay to 500ms or 0ms if the target sites can handle it.
  3. Disable slow tests like "Broken Images Check" if you don't need them.
  4. Scan one category at a time instead of all categories.

 

What you see: One specific gallery shows "Failed to connect" or "Failed to fetch content."

How to fix it:

  1. Open the gallery URL in your browser to see if it loads for you.
  2. The gallery might be offline or blocking your server's IP.
  3. The gallery might be slow and timing out. Try increasing the timeout (this requires editing the PHP file).
  4. If the gallery is permanently dead, manually disable or delete it from Gallery Management.

 

Page When to Use It
Gallery Admin To manually review, edit, or delete specific galleries that were flagged by the scanner
Reports To see detailed lists of all flagged galleries and what violations were found
Categories To set certain categories as "immune" so they're never scanned
Bulk Gallery Import To add many new galleries at once, which you can then scan for quality
Blacklist Management To view and manage IPs and domains that were blacklisted by the scanner

Important Reminders

Warning:
  • Delete and Blacklist are permanent - These actions cannot be undone. Deleted galleries are removed from your database forever. Blacklisted galleries block the entire domain and submitter IP.
  • Blacklist affects all galleries - When you blacklist a gallery, ALL galleries from the same domain are also marked as blacklisted, not just the one with the problem.
  • Start with Flag Only - Always do a test scan with "Flag Only" before enabling automatic actions.
  • Back up your database - Before running a large scan with Delete or Blacklist actions, make a backup of your database so you can restore if something goes wrong.
Success: The Gallery Scanner is a powerful tool for maintaining quality on your site. Used carefully with the right settings, it can save you hours of manual review work and keep your site clean and professional.

Related Pages