Spammers

[darren]

Re: Spammers

when u say a form do you mean an actual form on paper mate.
if so i could not do it.



we dont get much spam here tho compared to some sites im on.

I have never had one single spammer on my own forum, forum has been running since late 90s! How? I have a registration software, written for me by a friend, in which anybody who wants to join has to first fill in an online small form. This comes to me, and I process the account myself and return details by email. Takes only a couple of minutes for each new member. But the plus side is that they have to provide a valid email for me to reply to. Sounds like a bit of work, not really, and as a consequence never ever seen any spam, anywhere.

[Elbmek]

Re: Spammers

I have never had one single spammer on my own forum, forum has been running since late 90s! How? I have a registration software, written for me by a friend, in which anybody who wants to join has to first fill in an online small form. This comes to me, and I process the account myself and return details by email. Takes only a couple of minutes for each new member. But the plus side is that they have to provide a valid email for me to reply to. Sounds like a bit of work, not really, and as a consequence never ever seen any spam, anywhere.

[Twocky61]

Re: Spammers

That's a very good idea Jay

[Jay Mc]

Re: Spammers

another site I used to use would put all new users into pre-moderation when they first joined meaning that the first few posts that were submitted had to be checked by a moderator before being allowed to appear on the site, causes a bit of work but stopped literally all the spam

[Twocky61]

Re: Spammers

Sorry Heather I wanted to annoy them

[Heather74]

Re: Spammers

Please do not reply to spam posts, report it via the triangle and mods get email reports. Replying just bumps it back to the top of the forum. Thanks.

[Twocky61]

Re: Spammers

Good point Amethyst. I think the reasoning in not deleting inactive accounts is the member may just be taking a break or working all hours or in hospital or prison or whatever. If they were to return to find they are no longer able to log in would be an issue, but there is an option open to Admin: Emailing (either manually or automatically from site at prdetermined intervals) reminders to members of inactive accounts to inform them they have been flagged up as inactive & they should log on more often to avoid their account being deleted. If they fail to log-in within a set time then Admin should delete (or at least temporarily suspend their account, in which case their account can be reactivated at the members request to Admin.

Any new member who posts links immediately on registering or hijacks threads with posts that have nothing whatsoever to do with the subject being discuused, should be banned without recourse & maybe have their IP banned too

[amethyst]

Re: Spammers

I am always suspiscious when someone new joins and straight away there is a link involving something that they do.Using sites to benefit thei own needs and as a few have said has nothing to do with dyr.

One thing I would like to ask there are thousands here that have joined this site,but have only posted a handful or none at all.Why do you keep them on the list?

[Twocky61]

Re: Spammers

There is another anti-spam option:

Disabling all links

But doing this alienates us legit users in not allowing us to post links to other related nostalgia sites

Disabling all links on this site will obviously be a deterant to all potential spammers but like i said would be too restrictive.

HG/Heather or any other admin, I offer my services, as have others here, if you require more moderators.

The more moderators you have at your disposal the more likely we are to stamp quickly on the spammers, plus, on a rota basis, each moderator only need to offer a little of their time, rather than the existing moderators being swamped

The offer is there

[Twocky61]

Re: Spammers

There a couple more options but these place a huge administrative burden and are not really worth it for the amount of spam we get bar the times we come under a sustained attack like Sunday. Thanks to everybody who helps by reporting spam and please continue to do so and if you see a new person signup whose name looks spammer like, do please let us know so we can check them out.

Moderating all posts by all members HG is really not an option (too much workload on staff as you say, who are, after all, volunteers, with, like everyone, lives of their own); I just suggested it as a possible (but not realistic) option. There is one other option I am sure you are already aware of HG: Closing the site when no admins/mods available. As with full moderation that option would result in many members flocking elsewhere

So the real answer?

As you say HG; vigilance by all of us members on DYR

[darren]

Re: Spammers

Id be happy to offer my services as an admin or mod.
Im sure i asked this before

as im always on regular.

But its impossible to stop it completely we can do but our best

[HG]

Re: Spammers

Can I volunteer my services as a moderator? My main duty being to delete spam.

Thanks, we'll pass your kind offer on to forum admin.

[HG]

Re: Spammers

The three main options to prevent spam are:

1) as IR Fincham says: moderator approval of first post, then free posting (though the more determined spammer will post a sensible/site appropriate post first, then after approval, they will spam as they intended to in the first place)


2) Email verification on registering, which, if I remember correctly, happens when registering on DYR

3) Or the most draconian option of all: moderating all posts submitted by all members (but to do that you would need regular moderating by staff, at least once a day & this option would have members abandoning DYR (or any forum, for that matter)).


So perhaps as IR Fincham says: Maybe it is better to put up with the odd spammer

There a couple more options but these place a huge administrative burden and are not really worth it for the amount of spam we get bar the times we come under a sustained attack like Sunday. Thanks to everybody who helps by reporting spam and please continue to do so and if you see a new person signup whose name looks spammer like, do please let us know so we can check them out.

[I. R. Fincham]

Re: Spammers

Can I volunteer my services as a moderator? My main duty being to delete spam.

[Twocky61]

Re: Spammers

On some boards your first post will only show if it has ben approved by a moderator. This means that a new poster has to wait hours, even days for his first post to show up in discussion. This always sucks. Allowing a few spam messages through is the price form avoiding that, and its the better opf the two alternatives.

The three main options to prevent spam are:

1) as IR Fincham says: moderator approval of first post, then free posting (though the more determined spammer will post a sensible/site appropriate post first, then after approval, they will spam as they intended to in the first place)


2) Email verification on registering, which, if I remember correctly, happens when registering on DYR

3) Or the most draconian option of all: moderating all posts submitted by all members (but to do that you would need regular moderating by staff, at least once a day & this option would have members abandoning DYR (or any forum, for that matter)).


So perhaps as IR Fincham says: Maybe it is better to put up with the odd spammer