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Hail shower...
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Message
Posted
I removed at least 70, probably more from 11.30 last night to 2.30am… then I gave up!
Just removed another dozen this morning but it’s getting almost impossible to keep up with them…
Something needs to be done by the web designers to make it more difficult to register… it’s getting bloody ridiculous!
Just looked and there’s another load of them… I’ll speak with Dawn on Monday and see if anything can be done, it’s making the forum virtually unusable!
Edited
by Alan Bickley
Posted
One thing that they might want to consider is charging a one time nominal fee for registration or membership, say £1. This has the benefit of making money, but also slowing down the registration process. Obviously using Captcha or some such 2nd level validation would be pointless as those registering are people not bots.
Second benefit of a nominal registration fee would be, if you were banned for improper posting you wouldn’t get a refund which means it becomes easier and cheaper to move on to a forum which is free.
Another thing the techies should do is block postings by a user immediately once an administrator has blocked or removed a post. There seems to be a delay here as you’ve pointed out. Unlock is only on appeal, and this would also slow things down.
Edited
by Andrew Roles
Posted
One thing that they might want to consider is charging a one time nominal fee for registration or membership, say £1. This has the benefit of making money, but also slowing down the registration process. Obviously using Captcha or some such 2nd level validation would be pointless as those registering are people not bots. Second benefit of a nominal registration fee would be, if you were banned for improper posting you wouldn’t get a refund which means it becomes easier and cheaper to move on to a forum which is free. Another thing the techies should do is block postings by a user immediately once an administrator has blocked or removed a post. There seems to be a delay here as you’ve pointed out. Unlock is only on appeal, and this would also slow things down.Just another thought, registration fee could be refunded if they take out a subscription to TA or LP, or enter a competition which requires payment such as TALP.
Edited
by Andrew Roles
Posted
Good ideas Andrew but will they consider them… unlikely I would suggest but I’ll put it to Dawn.
There’s two separate buttons to hit when removing these idiots, one is to remove the post and ban the user (which the latter doesn’t appear to be working), and the other is to remove the topic!
Generally it’s not too bad with just the occasional spam or two, but it would appear that the flood gates have now been opened.
Posted
Yes, it took some time and to be honest I couldn’t keep pace - I’ve zapped well over 120 of the pests since midnight now, but I think the storm is over but for how long?
Perhaps Dawn will have an answer… I’ll see what she has to say about the situation, but we both know that it ain’t going to happen overnight so we’re stuck with it.
My only hope is that it calms down somewhat and reverts to a more manageable level of a few a day!
Posted
Many thanks again to all of you who mop up this junk. I see there’s another just popped up!
There obviously needs to be something done, but I’m not sure what. I have suggested in the past that only those who have put artwork on the gallery are able to use the forum, but I’m not sure if this is feasible. I don’t use any other forum so have no idea if this happens so much elsewhere? 😡
Posted
I agree that there needs to be a way tightening up the registration process: what I don't know is HOW.
Robert, I’m not a web developer, but I do work in IT and what I proposed earlier shouldn’t tax anyone that’s developed this site. Warners already have a process for extracting money from users, and this could be used to extract a registration fee. It’s a question as to whether there is a benefit to them to do it as will obviously incur development costs, and whether such a new process would deter real users?
There are alternative methods, such as referencing email and IP blacklists to validate new users, but again I’m sure there is a cost associated with using these services and they aren’t foolproof.