Spam
- Crystal
- Brooding
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Spam
I have noticed that spam is becoming a little more frequent on the forums; luckily it is still pretty rare (I have deleted a few messages, and moderator Tammie may be deleting them as well).
Unfortunately there are not too many more measures I can take to prevent spam--I already require users to register via e-mail and to type in a code at the time of registration to prove that they are people and not "spam bots." Occasionally spammers slip through even these processes, however.
The only last thing this software will allow me to do is force all registrations to be approved by me personally. This would eliminate spam because I would not allow spammers to register, but it would also be frustrating for new members trying to register because they would have to wait for me to get around to approving them. I of course would try to stay on top of this (most days I check my e-mail at least 5-10 times), but there would be days that I would be unable to get around to it (travel, etc.).
So, in short, I'm wondering what you guys would prefer. The options are to keep things the way they are (which means spam will occasionally occur and hopefully be caught quickly) or to force registration to be approved by the administrator. If things are kept as they are now, they can always be changed in the future if the spam becomes worse.
Feel free to let me know what you think via the poll and/or comments.
Unfortunately there are not too many more measures I can take to prevent spam--I already require users to register via e-mail and to type in a code at the time of registration to prove that they are people and not "spam bots." Occasionally spammers slip through even these processes, however.
The only last thing this software will allow me to do is force all registrations to be approved by me personally. This would eliminate spam because I would not allow spammers to register, but it would also be frustrating for new members trying to register because they would have to wait for me to get around to approving them. I of course would try to stay on top of this (most days I check my e-mail at least 5-10 times), but there would be days that I would be unable to get around to it (travel, etc.).
So, in short, I'm wondering what you guys would prefer. The options are to keep things the way they are (which means spam will occasionally occur and hopefully be caught quickly) or to force registration to be approved by the administrator. If things are kept as they are now, they can always be changed in the future if the spam becomes worse.
Feel free to let me know what you think via the poll and/or comments.
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- tammieb
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- tammieb
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- kenny
- Weaning
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- tammieb
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Most of the spam posts are nothing but a link to another website selling prescription drugs.
Occasionally, the entire post is in a foreign language, but you can tell what they are regardless.
Occasionally, the entire post is in a foreign language, but you can tell what they are regardless.
TammieB.
Use the talents you possess - for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best. ~Henry Van Dyke~
Use the talents you possess - for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best. ~Henry Van Dyke~
- Hilary
- Mod Extraordinaire
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- tammieb
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- Thalia
- Amateur Architect
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- Location: BC, Canada
lol I've seen quite a bit of spam, BUT I also obsessively compulsively check this and my hermitcrab forum a million times a day if I'm at work If you do make it so you have to approve people you could always have maybe the health forum open to anyone so that people with emergencies could still post before they get approved. thats what they do at the hermit forum
- Crystal
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Well, poop. Do you think it's bad enough to force approval, Tammie?:/
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- Crystal
- Brooding
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Dang.
I did not realize how many bogus accounts were made for the purposes of spam--these registered "users" had links to devious websites in their profiles. They were never used to post, just sit in the members list. I just spent over two hours deleting over 400 of them (one at a time, by hand, since there was no "batch delete" or "member prune" option--if there had been, it would have only taken a few minutes). Not fun! I don't want spam posts and I don't want profiles with links to sites selling drugs, etc. in the memberslist.
I tested it out, and requiring admin approval does NOT prohibit an "unapproved" account's profile from appearing in the memberslist (dumb!), so there is actually little point in requiring admin approval. The more I use this forum software (from an admin perspective), the less I like it. It's nice for users and we have built up quite a community, though, so I don't plan to switch to anything different at this time. However, I may need to take the forum offline temporarily if I find a mod I can add to the software to help combat spam. Hopefully I'll find some kind of fix soon.
Sorry for the inconvenience of the spam :(
I tested it out, and requiring admin approval does NOT prohibit an "unapproved" account's profile from appearing in the memberslist (dumb!), so there is actually little point in requiring admin approval. The more I use this forum software (from an admin perspective), the less I like it. It's nice for users and we have built up quite a community, though, so I don't plan to switch to anything different at this time. However, I may need to take the forum offline temporarily if I find a mod I can add to the software to help combat spam. Hopefully I'll find some kind of fix soon.
Sorry for the inconvenience of the spam :(
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- Crystal
- Brooding
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I found and installed a great MOD to help combat spam. Hopefully we'll be seeing a lot less of it now! Let me know if any of you come across any spam in the future though (in case I miss it) so I can take further action.
:)
:)
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- tammieb
- Brooding
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