Thank you for your report!
We have received your report and it is currently under investigation by a forum moderator.
Spam, spam and yet more spam!
Welcome to the forum.
Here you can discuss all things art with like-minded artists, join regular painting challenges, ask questions, buy and sell art materials and much more.
Make sure you sign in or register to join the discussions.
Hang on Studio Wall
This is a Studio member-only feature!
Join our Studio membership and save your favourite Painters Online content, from gallery artwork to step-by-step guides, to your own online mood boards. Create your go-to place for inspiration and learning. Plus, members can also enjoy a range of exciting features including monthly art videos and a digital magazine library.
If you are already a Studio member, simply login to your account.
Not a Studio member? Why not try our free 30-day trial - no commitment, no credit card required
Message
Posted
Hi - seeing as you admin guys are doing as such a top notch job of killing off spam postings, could I make a few suggestion for the website techies.
1. Provide a mechanism to report postings on the gallery rather than emailing Dawn about them (ref. the digital gold posting currently on page 2 of the gallery (as of 11:05 20SEP24) )
2. Provide a mechanism where forum administrators could suspend users who post such stuff on the gallery.
3. Provide a mechanism whereby an artist can delete a comment against one of their paintings. A few paintings have been hit by spam about fake money and it would be good to get rid of this as soon as possible. Yes I realise an artist might feel they want to delete negative comments on their work, but I hope that this facility wouldn't be used to stifle real constructive criticism.
Just a thought.
Posted
Alan, it may be that it’s not that the team are reluctant but that they can’t get approval to make what may be seen as non-essential changes. You will remember that after an upgrade some time ago we lost the ability to replace an image in our gallery and several of us had asked Dawn a number of times for this function to be re-instated - the last time I mentioned it she replied that although it was still on the team’s list of things to do, it was very unlikely to go ahead as their boss had not considered the work involved to be cost-effective.
Edited
by Jenny Harris
Posted
Problem is we need to keep ahead of these idiots, and currently we don’t have the right controls to do it. If we see an increase of spam left as comments on paintings then nobody is going to want to post here. So Warners either increase the number of their own administrators to police the site (£££) or they devolve responsibility for policing the site to the members.
Posted
Out all day - back now (you must all be thrilled...!).
Hmm. I think that so far, spam postings on the Gallery have been few and far between and so have not represented a problem very often. Plus - I don't know (and wouldn't understand) the intricacies of the website - but I suspect it's much easier to give moderating privileges to some of us on the forum than it would be on the Gallery: and it might require a major overhaul of the latter to permit it. Plus, it's perhaps harder for us to determine whether a Gallery image is inappropriate - or the site owners might think it is; I don't think it would be, so if that is a reason, I think they might dismiss it.
I'm pretty sure the reason we can't get our hooks into spam on the Gallery is that it would be costly, difficult, and perhaps impossible to do it; I can't think of any other reason really why we shouldn't be able to, and I know we'd all be willing to help if it were possible. In the meantime, Dawn and team do eventually track them down; if they became a major problem - perhaps they'll investigate what volunteers could do to help. Given the limited financial rewards of running the magazines, and maintaining a website free to use, I doubt they'll be thinking about spending money ... so, we stand ready, if we can help: but so be it if that's not possible.
Posted
The issues with spam on the gallery are few and far between, we all know that of course.
To allow a moderator unfettered access won’t happen any time soon… I’ve asked the question several times.
Dawn is on hand for three days out of the seven and she does quickly remove any unwanted postings.
Should such an occasion arise that a spam posting on the gallery was so offensive, I have a contact at Warner’s (the site and magazine owners), and could most likely get it removed in short order!
Not sure about weekends though!
Edited
by Alan Bickley