Suggestion - Require approval on new threads for new users (i.e less than 10 posts)

[Speedbird_666]

@Jedi_Master & @proffrink

 

I have been playing whack-a-mole with the spammers for the last couple of days. I've nuked loads, I'm sure the other spam moderators have done the same.

 

Can we lock the ability for new users to create new threads without approval from admin/spam moderator? So they create a new thread - but a admin/spam mod has to approve that thread to show to the wider masses?

 

We would be able to tell pretty quicky if these are legit users, and the 'probationary' period will end if we are satisfied that what they post is appropriate to the forum.

Edited December 18, 2023 by Speedbird_666

[Speedbird_666]

Well, at least they've moved on from drugs....🙄

 

[Tackle]

Agree, I've banned dozens the over the last week, who knew there were so many witch doctors out there🤣. 

Definitely need something new, spammer signs up & 10 minutes later they've created about 15 absurd threads, it will drive genuine members away if they can't be arsed to trawl through the crap to find the Airsoft stuff. 

4 minutes ago, Speedbird_666 said:

Well, at least they've moved on from drugs....🙄

 

Great.....not, to make matters worse they look underage, someone randomly passes through & sees that they'll think it's a nonce forum😬

[EDcase]

I agree but then they'll probably start posting in existing threads.

So any post by a new user would need approval which is probably just as much or even more work for the admins.

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2023 by EDcase

[Tackle]

@Jedi_MasterMaybe it's time then to start with the "moody country" ip ban, see if that makes a difference, if it does, great, if not, consider other options. 

It seems like the easiest option initially, requiring not much mod work once set up. 

Although it does make me wonder about sites like zeroin, while it's a bit of a ghost town of late, don't see any spam popping up, wonder how they've filtered or blocked it ? 

[Jedi_Master]

1 hour ago, Tackle said:

@Jedi_MasterMaybe it's time then to start with the "moody country" ip ban, see if that makes a difference, if it does, great, if not, consider other options. 

It seems like the easiest option initially, requiring not much mod work once set up. 

Although it does make me wonder about sites like zeroin, while it's a bit of a ghost town of late, don't see any spam popping up, wonder how they've filtered or blocked it ? 

 

 I would love to blanket ban certain countries where all this spam is originating from. However, they tend to use VPNs which means it is not as simple. Something for the root admin to work on.

[Tackle]

2 hours ago, Jedi_Master said:

 

 I would love to blanket ban certain countries where all this spam is originating from. However, they tend to use VPNs which means it is not as simple. Something for the root admin to work on.

I agree, & I know frig all about vpn's etc, but at the same time trying to advertise the services of a witch doctor etc on a UK airsoft forum doesn't exactly scream "sophisticated", there's always the possibility that this wave of spammers is nothing more than a poor attempt at data harvesting by ill informed chancers who don't have the best masking technology. 

Now if they had created some convincing looking posts offering cheap tactical kit or gnu's, with pics showing them being modelled by an airsoft god such as myself 😏, they'd have got loads of hits. 

[Rogerborg]

27 minutes ago, Rogerborg said:

The chances of global spambots using a UK VPN is slim.  If we could whitelist UK IPs I think that would help significantly.  However, there are 13,000+ ranges covering 128 million+ IPv4 addresses (seems like there should be more) so I'm not sure of the practicality.

 

How about requiring one / a few uprates on a user's first post before they can make any more?  We tend to love-bomb new members, it shouldn't be hard to get some 💙.

[Galvatron]

Can a minimum number of posts (new topics or replies) be forcibly subject to pre-approval before they're given free rein?

[John_W]

Why not a cooling off period between registering and first post?

Another forum I joined many years ago now verifies email addresses before allowing new users to post.

I remember in the dim.and distant days of moderating UKASC emails had to be "proper" ISP addresses, but now everyone used GMail and Yahoo so it isn't practical banning "pop-ups".

[Enid_Puceflange]

On 06/01/2024 at 09:59, John_W said:

Why not a cooling off period between registering and first post?

Another forum I joined many years ago now verifies email addresses before allowing new users to post.

I remember in the dim.and distant days of moderating UKASC emails had to be "proper" ISP addresses, but now everyone used GMail and Yahoo so it isn't practical banning "pop-ups".

Getting hammered today lads

Time to get the wack a mole out 😆

[Tackle]

41 minutes ago, Enid_Puceflange said:

Getting hammered today lads

Time to get the wack a mole out 😆

On it, 7 or 8 new "members" banned🤬

[Enid_Puceflange]

1 hour ago, Tackle said:

On it, 7 or 8 new "members" banned🤬

Looks like you are about to whack number 8 or 9 for the day imminently 😉

[Tackle]

3 hours ago, Enid_Puceflange said:

Looks like you are about to whack number 8 or 9 for the day imminently 😉

Got him lol

 

Edit: & just now another one, that's 10 so far today for me, Dunno about the other guys ? 

Edited January 10 by Tackle
Add info

[Shamal]

5 hours ago, Tackle said:

Got him lol

 

Edit: & just now another one, that's 10 so far today for me, Dunno about the other guys ? 

You a hero man 💪😉

[Speedbird_666]

20 hours ago, Tackle said:

Got him lol

 

Edit: & just now another one, that's 10 so far today for me, Dunno about the other guys ? 

 

I average 4-5 a day, including preemptive bans on new users (some are easily identified). 

 

Just banned my first actual spammer for today. 

 

 

[DanBow]

Will someone please turn on first post limits or something? I will happily go on a list to check and accept/decline posts but it's getting bloody ridiculous now!

Edited January 11 by DanBow
gif didn't work

[Speedbird_666]

14 minutes ago, DanBow said:

Will someone please turn on first post limits or something? I will happily go on a list to check and accept/decline posts but it's getting bloody ridiculous now!

 

Well, compared to last year, the Spam is being dealt with much quicker. 

 

Previously, we were reliant on the legacy  admin/mods to clean up the spam which made the forum unusable at points. Since the appointment of Spam Moderators, the Spam has been dealt with in minutes rather than hours. 

 

I think there is more that can be done (hence starting this thread) but we are still in a better place than 12 months ago. 

 

I believe 4 spam mods were originally appointed:

 

@Tackle, @RostokMcSpoons, myself and Rocketdogbert (who no longer seems to be a forum member? Anybody know happened there?) 

 

 

 

 

[EDcase]

Its not too bad.

Yes, quite a few spam posts come in at a time but you guys are doing a good job cleaning up as soon as they get reported.

 

Hmm, I hope Rocketdogbert is doing OK.  Very strange that he's not posted in a while and he's no longer in the list.  Maybe he banned himself by mistake 🤣

[Tackle]

I think rocketdogbert had the arse, understandably, about the spam situation making the forum unusable, plus the bickering that was going on mainly due to one members narrow views, meant he decided to take a break. 

I do hope he comes back, he was one of the core members that always had valid points to input thanks to years of experience. 

If I remember rightly, he'd also taken a break from skirmishes, focusing more on target shooting at his local gun club in Essex ? 

[Speedbird_666]

25 minutes ago, EDcase said:

but you guys are doing a good job cleaning up as soon as they get reported.

 

 

Just to note - we don't get those reports. Everything that we Spam Mods clean up is as a result of regularly checking the forums throughout the day. 

 

The reports go to the 'proper' moderators. 

[EDcase]

4 minutes ago, Speedbird_666 said:

The reports go to the 'proper' moderators. 

Ah OK.  Good to know

[Cannonfodder]

I work alot of night shifts and I've noticed the majority of spam appears in the early morning so if another spam mod is needed I'll happily volunteer 

[Rogerborg]

Invision doesn't seem particularly extensible, but it does have some spam and membership options that might be worth exploring.

 

e.g.

 

Allow registration, but require approval of all posts

Flag the account for manual review

 

All taking up moderator time and punishing the innocent, sadly.  I don't see an obvious way to limit a new user's post rate or allow user/community moderation to raise their trust level.

[hunter511]

Im up early mornings through the week and willing to play whackamole with topics if needed?