This forum, even if it's secure, and no matter where we move it, will again become overrun by spammers such as new v forum members "comprar(buy) viagra" and "croolintentionsmovie.org".(intentionally misspelled).
We can't both hide the site and be effective ev advocates and an info clearinghouse.
As spamming will become an issue for this forum too, we have to be ready to put some kind of control on new memberships without presenting undue obstacles likely to prevent new people from joining and feeling welcome here.
To this end, I propose two policies for your consideration:
1) new members must submit a sentence or two about why they wish to join before the new membership is vetted (and either accepted or rejected) by one or more admin(s) or moderators.
The point is not to become a forum of cloistered elitists. The point is to dissuade spammers at least a little, since many will find it easier to spam elsewhere than make-up a sentence and wait a few hours to a day or two for membership acceptance. The only memberships that ought be rejected are those that are obviously from spammers like "buy viagra".
2) advertisements for EV related items and services, wherein such advertising has little or nothing to do with the thread's topic, should be limited to the new V's buy-sell-trade section.
The point is to prevent some businesses from having unfair advertising access, which is likely (at some point) to provide reason for reps from competing businesses to also post advertisements to the same thread, mucking up the thread, and ultimately the entire forum, to the point few will want to read or respond. As many members recognized, this was an ongoing problem at the original V that was not being addressed adequately.
I agree wholeheartedly with protecting the forum but at the same time i dont like the idea of making things 'formal'. The methods used in the previous forum should be able to apply here. Everybody gets a chance if its obvious the guys a nussance (spammer,troll,etc.) then hes banned, point and simple.
Maybe im just nostalgic but i want the old forum back everything the same except for the hacker.
Joe
That'd hopefully work fine too -- but we'd still require a formalized policy regarding the banning of members. Another problem with my suggestion: vetting new membership requests may be too much work to do before the fact compared to after.
-- Sitting on this many batteries is a sex crime in some states.
My rides
I'm not sure how to implement a questionnaire before allowing someone to join. I haven't done that before and am not sure it can be done. There is a module which implements "actions" that may be useful to design a questionnaire procedure. But I don't know how to do it nor if it can be done.
- David Herron, http://www.7gen.com/
- David Herron, http://longtailpipe.com/
some BBs have an "ignore" button for any user to block annoying trolls' posts from appearing in the user's display
some also have a "report post" or flagging like craigslist
both methods are useful and promote appropriate posting and accountability.
My .02
TD
There are addon modules available that let us vote up/down on postings .. so that it lets the community help rank them. Unfortunately those modules have not been ported to the current version of the software.
As I explained elsewhere, the site is running version 5beta1 of the Drupal software. Since it's "beta1" it isn't finished, and in particular the addon modules all need to be ported to run on version 5 and few of them have at this point.
A "report post" button is a cool feature, but I don't remember an addon module for that, however there is a method where it might be implementable. However one thing the moderator staff can do is regularly use the "Recent posts" link in the navigation bar and scan all the recent posts.
The one thing I can easily do right now is, in the Contact page, add a choice for "problem posting". The Contact page sends email to the admins.
- David Herron, http://www.7gen.com/
- David Herron, http://longtailpipe.com/
From a pure user perspective, I was never annoyed by spam on the old forum. But when the forum was hacked completely, that annoyed me. So what do we learn? We probably DON'T need more procedures around creating new user accounts. We probably DO need a forum that is kept patched and up-to-date with latest security updates.
The moderators must have a say also, if the burden of filtering out spam messages becomes too heavy, maybe we need to do something about the account procedures as well.
Great initiative bringing the forum back, btw.
Regards,
Rolf
and then just have a high profile web page that serves as a screen for potential new forum members? Someone does a search on google for the voltage forums and the aforementioned web site pops up from their search. They fill out a text block and submit it. It get's emailed to the moderators and the decision is made. If accepted into the forum, the necessary links are provided to the new member. Something like this might keep the actual forum out of the direct line of fire?
Charlie
e-EZ Sport CX
Currie e-ride mtb
Lepton-e
e-EZ Sport CX
Currie e-ride mtb
Lepton-e