In case you have a friend who is struggling to register, or having problems, or are just curious, this info may be of use to you. At present, spam controls are as follows:
*Yep, this one's gonna be the most onerous one. We'll see how it goes.
We may add more measures; if so I'll note them here.
[h=3]Why are we doing this?[/h]
Before the Big Hack (or Great Breach, or whatever you want to call it) we were being hammered by spambots. Dozens getting through our defences every day. In fact, that's why we originally had to close the blogs down - in a few days they were hit by over a quarter-of-a-million spam posts. All that data hammering us so fast was one of the main things behind some of our massive slowdown periods. It's therefore very, very important that we put secure anti-spam measures in place.
It's not just us. Forums everywhere are currently being hammered, especially some of the really large ones out there.
Note that this will not block spammers who have already registered (some register then wait a few days, weeks, or months), just those who try to do so from now on. Hopefully.
[h=3]But I'm not a spammer! I just came here to post a link to my website/blog/product![/h]
There's an Alanis Morissette song about that. And about too many spoons. Don't worry, though, just make 3 regular posts and our system will know you're not really a spammer, just someone who wants to post links. DAMN I'm funny!
No, seriously - we know it's a bit onerous. It is necessary, though (and, hey, it's productive: it encourages you to engage with the community by posting!) 3 posts will fly by so quick you won't even notice it, and then you'll be able to post links to your heart's content. We'll keep an eye on this, and will modify it if necessary. We promise we're not trying to inconvenience you, but to make your usage of the forum a more overall pleasant experience.
- Registrations which take under 60 seconds are blocked as spammers
- The IP and email of people trying to register are compared against databases of known spammers before registration is allowed - including Aksimet and StopForumSpam
- Users must have at least 3 posts before they can start a blog
- Users must have at least 3 posts before posting a link to their homepage on their profile
- Users must have at least 3 posts before posting a link in a forum post*
- We use re-Cachtpa image verification
*Yep, this one's gonna be the most onerous one. We'll see how it goes.
We may add more measures; if so I'll note them here.
[h=3]Why are we doing this?[/h]
Before the Big Hack (or Great Breach, or whatever you want to call it) we were being hammered by spambots. Dozens getting through our defences every day. In fact, that's why we originally had to close the blogs down - in a few days they were hit by over a quarter-of-a-million spam posts. All that data hammering us so fast was one of the main things behind some of our massive slowdown periods. It's therefore very, very important that we put secure anti-spam measures in place.
It's not just us. Forums everywhere are currently being hammered, especially some of the really large ones out there.
Note that this will not block spammers who have already registered (some register then wait a few days, weeks, or months), just those who try to do so from now on. Hopefully.
[h=3]But I'm not a spammer! I just came here to post a link to my website/blog/product![/h]
There's an Alanis Morissette song about that. And about too many spoons. Don't worry, though, just make 3 regular posts and our system will know you're not really a spammer, just someone who wants to post links. DAMN I'm funny!
No, seriously - we know it's a bit onerous. It is necessary, though (and, hey, it's productive: it encourages you to engage with the community by posting!) 3 posts will fly by so quick you won't even notice it, and then you'll be able to post links to your heart's content. We'll keep an eye on this, and will modify it if necessary. We promise we're not trying to inconvenience you, but to make your usage of the forum a more overall pleasant experience.
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