1 Reply by RobLarge

  • RobLarge
  • RobLarge
  • Veteran
  • Offline
  • From: Wiltshire
  • Registered: 15-07-2008
  • Posts: 812

Re: How bored of spam postings?

Is there no way we can get rid of the increasing number of spam postings on this forum? They are getting smarter and starting to post things that almost sound sensible. This could well confuse some users.

I realise that the forum has to be open enough to let people in and that moderating it is a big task, but surely the number of people who have a genuine reason to use the forum is relatively small and the number of new member requests must also be small, so why not prevent access to anyone who cannot provide a convincing reason why they deserve to be here?

For a start all members who only have a hyperlink as a signature should be rejected as obvious spammers.

Grrrr, rant over, for now!

Rob Large
Wildlife Sites Officer
Wiltshire & Swindon Biological Records Centre

RobLarge's Website

2 Reply by charlesroper

  • charlesroper
  • charlesroper
  • Digital Development Manager
  • Offline
  • From: Field Studies Council
  • Registered: 26-03-2006
  • Posts: 906

Re: How bored of spam postings?

There are already spam prevention measures in place. Hundreds of spam users sign up every week and these are deleted nightly using automated scripts. Still more are blocked by the captcha and other anti-spam measures on the sign-up page. The forum would be completely unusable if it weren't for these measures. However, there is one more thing I need to install which should hopefully help. Just gotta find the time to install it...

Charles Roper
Digital Development Manager | Field Studies Council
http://www.field-studies-council.org | https://twitter.com/charlesroper | https://twitter.com/fsc_digital

charlesroper's Website

3 Reply by RobLarge

  • RobLarge
  • RobLarge
  • Veteran
  • Offline
  • From: Wiltshire
  • Registered: 15-07-2008
  • Posts: 812

Re: How bored of spam postings?

Thanks Charles, I know you do a great job, and they keep finding ways to circumvent it. It just worries me that I have occasionally caught myself believing that they actually do know what they are talking about, and if I make that mistake, then I worry for some of the less experienced users who have a genuine problem to solve.

Keep up the good work.

Rob Large
Wildlife Sites Officer
Wiltshire & Swindon Biological Records Centre

RobLarge's Website

4 Reply by charlesroper

  • charlesroper
  • charlesroper
  • Digital Development Manager
  • Offline
  • From: Field Studies Council
  • Registered: 26-03-2006
  • Posts: 906

Re: How bored of spam postings?

I installed the latest spam protection measures last night - here's hoping they're effective. One of the other spam protection mechanisms that has been present for a while is reporting that 1003 spam access attempts have been blocked in the last 7 days. And spam still gets through in reasonable numbers! I don't we'll ever kill it completely, but the several layers of protection we now have should mitigate somewhat, I think.

Charles Roper
Digital Development Manager | Field Studies Council
http://www.field-studies-council.org | https://twitter.com/charlesroper | https://twitter.com/fsc_digital

charlesroper's Website

5 Reply by RobLarge

  • RobLarge
  • RobLarge
  • Veteran
  • Offline
  • From: Wiltshire
  • Registered: 15-07-2008
  • Posts: 812

Re: How bored of spam postings?

Well done Charles, keep up the good work.

Rob Large
Wildlife Sites Officer
Wiltshire & Swindon Biological Records Centre

RobLarge's Website

6 Reply by TonyP

  • TonyP
  • TonyP
  • Veteran
  • Offline
  • From: Somerset
  • Registered: 15-05-2006
  • Posts: 306

Re: How bored of spam postings?

Here Here ! Thanks Charles.

Data Manger
Somerset Environmental Records Centre

TonyP's Website