All this Spam and shit...

[Shane]

I think we should be on top of it now.

I've put a system in place that checks all new users, their emails address, usernames and their IPs against a "spammers database" sort of thing. If any of these things set off an alarm, they won;t even be allowed to register.

There's also a decent list of keywords for the forums to watch out for so, hopefully, no more silly "buy this damn iphone" threads flooding the new posts list.

Also, all new users are placed in a "Newbies" User group until they reach 30 posts. Each of these 30 posts are checked as they are made and, if they are thought to be spam, they aren't allowed to post those threads/posts at all.

Once "Newbies" reach 30 posts, they'll automatically be moved to the "Registered Users" User group and all is golden from then on in, regular moderation applies.

There's no difference in permissions between the Newbies and Registered Users groups, other than the Newbies being under constant (non-intrusive) scrutiny from the Forums to make sure they're not spamming.

tldr?
Forums now auto-stop spam (I hope). New users are placed in a Group that is auto-moderated and dealt with by the Forums till they reach 30 posts, then they're in the safe zone, with the rest of us.

Note:
This does not affect any spam that's been posted up until now, to the best of my knowledge. If you see any spam, please continue to report it and I'll deal with it asap.

if anyone has any questions with regards to this, feel free to reply. For now I guess we sit back and see if it works successfully. :D

[VallenAG]

Thank you!!!

[Shane]

Thank you!!!

No worries. Actually seems to be working too. :D

[phaggot]

yeah the keywords filter sounds like a shitty idea, we don't mind seeing spam every once in a while, but the moderators are fucking lazy, including you, I've seen spam topics last for days while you guys were online, and that's what's annoying.

[mandude]

Reporting spam is difficult. There is a 1 report per 10 minutes system in place. It's not effective against barrages.

[Shane]

yeah the keywords filter sounds like a shitty idea, we don't mind seeing spam every once in a while, but the moderators are fucking lazy, including you, I've seen spam topics last for days while you guys were online, and that's what's annoying.I might be away from the computer for a few days at a time but leave everything open. I check twice a day otherwise or whenever I get an email about a reported post. Most spam is always removed within about 6 hours, tops. A lot of it looks the same though so it might seem like it's been here longer.
Once I deleted so much spam that it took a while to do, once it had finished and I refreshed the new Posts page, I thought it was all back again but we'd just been hit by another wave.

Besides, why should I have to work that hard to clean up other people's auto-generated mess when I can simply install something that does the best part of the work for me? It was in place on the old forum and I thought it was still working, obviously not; hence the influx of shite.


Reporting spam is difficult. There is a 1 report per 10 minutes system in place. It's not effective against barrages.

Yeah, that's because I don't want each and every thread reporting to me when we get spammed otherwise I'll get masses of emails. Besides, 10 minutes is enough to report something serious like some shit going down in a thread or violation of rules (if we still have any).

[Darts]

yeah the keywords filter sounds like a shitty idea, we don't mind seeing spam every once in a while, but the moderators are fucking lazy, including you, I've seen spam topics last for days while you guys were online, and that's what's annoying.

I'm sure I've mentioned already that my mod tools aren't working. Shane's fixing it.

[Trollface.jpg]

Win

[phaggot]

I'm sure I've mentioned already that my mod tools aren't working. Shane's fixing it.only proves what a lazy nigger shane is, yeah clearly you had just left the window on when you're posting, not on for days my ass.

[Leon]

Sounds good.

[Shane]

only proves what a lazy nigger shane is, yeah clearly you had just left the window on when you're posting, not on for days my ass.

Just ask Darts or Trollface.jpg

[Trollface.jpg]

Yea shane is lazy ;P

ask me what..grammar not good

[Shane]

Yea shane is lazy ;P

ask me what..grammar not good

Well you know I'm not always on here.

[phaggot]

stop spamming your shit shane, it's annoying

[Shane]

stop spamming your shit shane, it's annoying

http://clarkbunch.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/spam.jpg

[coolguy]

i am on here all the time i could delete the threads but i can't

[Darts]

Neither can anyone but admins atm it seems. Darts for admin!

[LolaKoala]

thank you shane.

[bernadette03]

aww. this is better shane. those for sale things are soooooooo annoying.

[Giggle Monster]

So, it would appear that this isn't working. My suggestion is to just give someone else the power to delete the ads and/or bring down the banhammer on those posting them, because it seems you're the only one who can do it and it's not getting done. It's the simplest solution, better than forcing all new members to have their posts approved by mods who aren't always around very often, and I don't know why it hasn't been done yet. I know you can't be here constantly, Shane, so when these things are up for days with no one getting rid of them it's maybe time to let someone else help. "Lol, I'm lazy" is kind of a poor excuse when it takes all of about two seconds to fix, as well. So, that's my two cents.

[mandude]

I agree. I also nominate myself. I'm always online, I work from home, and spam killed my parents, so it's kind of personal.

[Prophet]

I agree. I also nominate myself. I'm always online, I work from home, and spam killed my parents, so it's kind of personal.

So sayeth the Batmandude

[coolguy]

spam made me pissed of so we should make the spambusters with all these codes a hacks and stuff so we can get rid of all this spam

only cool people aloud

[LoveBullets]

I can't believe this is still a problem -.-

This place is basically doomed if this keeps up.

[Shane]

I can't believe this is still a problem -.-

This place is basically doomed if this keeps up.

"1547 Spammers Denied Registration"

I'd say it's working, I just haven't been on over the weekend to clean up the extra shit and I'm having the same Problem as Darts with deleting right now so i have to go the long way about doing it. I'll try and get the new vBulletin Forum patch up soon and see if it resolves the issue.

In the mean time, feel free to get in touch with me via Skype or facebook if you genuinely want to be a Moderator.

[Darts]

It can't be only me surely? I've tried it on ie6 and firefox, turned all scripts off etc...

[bernadette03]

Go Darts! Go Shane!

and GO Mandude!

[coolguy]

i want to be a mod but am i good enough do i have to get more reputation or can i just be one

[Shane]

It can't be only me surely? I've tried it on ie6 and firefox, turned all scripts off etc...

I said I'm having the same issues as you so, no, it's not just you. :P

[Darts]

Aaah sorry. Can I blame my blatant skim of your post on ie6 as well?

[bernadette03]

♫ you are not alone.. ♪

[thomasbry]

Those things are pretty much just a way to slow them down. With what is happening at this moment it's obvious this problem will never be solved with scripts and modifications. You really do need a moderating staff if only to combat the spammers. I don't want the job because well I'm overly qualified and my time and efforts would be wasted. Seriously though it is just going to get worse.

[Shane]

Those things are pretty much just a way to slow them down. With what is happening at this moment it's obvious this problem will never be solved with scripts and modifications. You really do need a moderating staff if only to combat the spammers. I don't want the job because well I'm overly qualified and my time and efforts would be wasted. Seriously though it is just going to get worse.

Nah, it's been way worse. Shit happens.
Anyway, Trollface.jpg is on the Staff now and I'm taking a few others into consideration. ;)

[Darts]

No good having staff if we can't actually do anything -_- it was fine until the mod tools stopped working, I deleted everything at least once a day. I know Mo did too but not seen her online for a while.

[Trollface.jpg]

im trying to keep on top of it. now im back at work i can put some more time to the moderation.

[Darts]

It's working for you? D:

Well fuck me sideways and solder a biscuit.

[mandude]

I noticed Tim came on and deleted threads every now and then. You confused me, Darts. The shit you on?

[Trollface.jpg]

yea the mod tools work on ie 6. i am indrescriminately deleting as spam and enforcing never ending bans for ips and users.

this im sure will do very little untill we have a skynet level spam detection program.


retribution should be swift. are email adresses banned aswell as ip's??

[Darts]

I noticed Tim came on and deleted threads every now and then. You confused me, Darts. The shit you on?

Which bit confused you? I was expressing my surprise that Nic can get mod tools working on ie6 when I couldn't last week, and still can't get them working on firefox at home :]

[mandude]

Hmm. You're confusing me even more now, so I'd be inclined to say all of it. CEASE YOUR SORCERY.

[Shane]

Which bit confused you? I was expressing my surprise that Nic can get mod tools working on ie6 when I couldn't last week, and still can't get them working on firefox at home :]

Try clearing your browser's cache. If you have some none-working javascript cached for the site, it may be affecting the way you can select threads.

If, after highlighting/selecting spam threads, you see Moderation (0) on the Mod Button then it's a javascript issue. Chances are this is stopping you from using Multi-Quote in Threads too.

[Darts]

I've already tried all that with CCleaner, and yes I did close firefox before running it. Also I use NoScript but have definitely bypassed it for TF.

[Prophet]

Make mandude a mod yo, the mods you have now are never on because they're fairweather, are never available due to their schedules, or log in too late after all the damage has been done. He'll be able to keep things organized for you providing the mod tools actually work for him

despite your claims to the contrary that it isn't a problem, it looks terrible aesthetically, it looks terrible from a business standpoint if you're trying to get people to join the site

[Darts]

It just needs fixing. I'd be on more if I knew there was a point in me even checking for spam, but there just isn't. It only used to take a minute.

[Prophet]

I get that it needs fixing and I'm not questioning that, what I'm saying though is that there needs to be someone as a moderator who is active enough (provided the mod tools work) to get rid of the spam until things are corrected. You can't use the mod tools for whatever reason, and the other mods are either never on or show up too little too late yo

[LoveBullets]

This is still a problem?

wow.

[Prophet]

It's a real pity too yo

[mandude]

This is ridiculous. It's too hard to sift through all of this. I find myself marking forum as read, and leaving them alone as opposed to reading any topics.

[Shane]

It just needs fixing. I'd be on more if I knew there was a point in me even checking for spam, but there just isn't. It only used to take a minute.

This may now be fixed. I think it was caused by the way I had the server compressing javascript files before serving them up.

[Darts]

IT'S WORKING!!!!! yippee :D

Wow, I am way too happy about that to not be a loser.

[Shane]

IT'S WORKING!!!!! yippee :D

Wow, I am way too happy about that to not be a loser.

Haha, awesome. :) I knew I'd figure it out eventually.

I've also made some upgrades to the automatic anti-spam system and the server is now twice as powerful as before. :D

[Prophet]

and lo and behold, the spam returns

what a shock yo

[mandude]

It will never truly go away.

[Darts]

I've moved jobs again- I mainly use TF at work and can't use the spam deleting tools again. Meeting Shane this week to fix it (well, to get drunk and tell him he'd better fix it). Sozard, everyone.