Transport Tycoon Forums

kamnet wrote:But, unfortunately, we know that some users just can't be trusted with that power.

This is why I suggested limiting it so they can only remove posts by users not over 24 or 48 hours old, this would limit any potential damage, and the forum backs up nightly anyway.

Pyoro wrote:I think this is an internet-wide phenomena, pretty much. I've seen more sophisticated captcha, delays (you register and your account unlocks days later), the need to post a minimum number of posts/in an introductory topic, etcetc. Everyone's having trouble with it.

And we seem to be among the least prepared.

[+] Spoiler

EDIT : I've noticed a lot of the e-mail "services" (some of these are just "E-mail Address Generator" have been used almost exclusively by spam posters. Maybe it's possible to vet those ?

YNM wrote:

Pyoro wrote:I think this is an internet-wide phenomena, pretty much. I've seen more sophisticated captcha, delays (you register and your account unlocks days later), the need to post a minimum number of posts/in an introductory topic, etcetc. Everyone's having trouble with it.

And we seem to be among the least prepared.

Keep in mind we are a roughly 20 year old online forum dedicated to a 30 year old video game. Not exactly state of the art, phpbb.

Chrill wrote:We are a roughly 20 year old online forum dedicated to a 30 year old video game. Not exactly state of the art, phpbb.

I've seen others using phpBB and being mostly clean though - ProMods, our 'sister' site.

Maybe it's just the general emptiness - not many people to report, not many moderators to act most of the time.

There are actually a number of anti-spam systems in place, including some non-standard extensions to help filter out spam. I daresay if they weren't in place there'd be a fair bit more. Unfortunately they can't catch everything.

I am aiming to appoint another moderator, perhaps in the US, to help oversee the spam.

Hyronymus wrote:Why wait for the forum design to be updated? I can survive this forum with a temporary default look.

I could do that, but given that the TT theme forms a fairly core part of the forum's identity, I'd prefer not to lose that, even if only temporarily (which may turn out to be some time in practice). The alternative is to upgrade phpBB but keep the design the same as it is, which would mean that some new phpBB 3.2 functionality would be missing from the default theme. That may be more of a possibility - I'll need to look a bit more into exactly what's changed.

orudge wrote:There are actually a number of anti-spam systems in place, including some non-standard extensions to help filter out spam. I daresay if they weren't in place there'd be a fair bit more. Unfortunately they can't catch everything.

I am aiming to appoint another moderator, perhaps in the US, to help oversee the spam.

I'm not from the USA but I'm in Ontario Canada, which puts me in the eastern time zone. Even with College classes, I have time in the morning, at noon, and in the evening to be messing about on the computer, as well as much of my free time is on the computer checking the forums at least several times a day.

Previously I wouldn't want the resposibility of a moderator but if it means I can help clean up the spam and other garbage posts around here, I'd be happy to help where I can.

YNM wrote:

Chrill wrote:We are a roughly 20 year old online forum dedicated to a 30 year old video game. Not exactly state of the art, phpbb.

I've seen others using phpBB and being mostly clean though - ProMods, our 'sister' site.

Maybe it's just the general emptiness - not many people to report, not many moderators to act most of the time.

ProMods is a fair bit more active. In regards to the way it looks, you're always more than welcome to reach out to Owen about designing an upgraded TT-Theme for us. This one has looked virtually the same since I joined.

I should perhaps have stated "the Americas" - I'll keep you in mind!

Chrill wrote:... This one has looked virtually the same since I joined.

By 'clean' I mean from spam. I've grown to liking the look of this forum (also I've grown fond of BBcode - WYSIWYG editor isn't always the best, I found out in another forum).

Is just me or has the Spam increased in the past month , Charter a boat , what next . On a lighter note I love Spam in a Bun .

Charter a boat... yeah, I guess there are some millionaires on theses forums.

It does seem to have dissipated a bit for whatever reason now - despite they still register in droves the posts seem to not come back.

Thank you Owen & Moderator team !

When a person joins the forums as a new member, they are able to create a Topic as soon as they join.

Wonder if can put a time limit on new members so have to be a member for a certain amount of time .. maybe a week, before they can create their own Topics.

Gives the moderators a week to inspect and decide if that new member is genuine or not.

New members could still leave a message in other members topics.

The creator of Topics can "Report this Post" in his/her topic, but also be nice if can have the power to delete it too.

Cheers

GarryG wrote:When a person joins the forums as a new member, they are able to create a Topic as soon as they join.

Wonder if can put a time limit on new members so have to be a member for a certain amount of time .. maybe a week, before they can create their own Topics.

New members could still leave a message in other members topics.

Cheers

It's easier/quicker to delete a complete spam topic than to split a spam posting from a genuine thread (IMHO)

Chrill wrote:

YNM wrote:

Chrill wrote:We are a roughly 20 year old online forum dedicated to a 30 year old video game. Not exactly state of the art, phpbb.

I've seen others using phpBB and being mostly clean though - ProMods, our 'sister' site.

Maybe it's just the general emptiness - not many people to report, not many moderators to act most of the time.

ProMods is a fair bit more active. In regards to the way it looks, you're always more than welcome to reach out to Owen about designing an upgraded TT-Theme for us. This one has looked virtually the same since I joined.

It probably would go a long way to present some customized theme which looks approximatly like what we are looking for

Thanks to a volunteer it looks like a new phpBB 3.2 theme is on its way - it may be the new year before I can get it in place and the forums upgraded, but it should happen soon.

Very exciting news. Owen, when was the current (temperate) theme designed and by whom? And has it been updated over time, if so how recently?

It was designed many years ago now, probably 2003 or so. I can’t quite remember by whom off the top of my head (I’d need to check the archives - for some reason I think it may be DominionSpy but that may be wrong!), but I updated it to phpBB 3.0 in 2007. It’s just had minor maintenance since then.

orudge wrote:There are actually a number of anti-spam systems in place, including some non-standard extensions to help filter out spam.

Can we at least disable hyperlinking for new members by default ? At least when reporting/cleaning the junk we don't have to travel through all the hyperlink landmine.

If you can write a reliable phpBB extension to do so (that will still work when we upgrade to phpBB 3.2), or find one that already exists, then feel free. There is no such functionality in phpBB out of the box unfortunately.

Bit of a dig I know but it is relevant, I promise

Is there any way of programming robobot to inform mods of potential addition of a spam post, or better still get it to report spam posts?
On a second note is there a(n automated) way to detect if content from a previous thread, say example content from the lead post of two topics I started then being used word-for-word in a new thread, outside of having to search through the forums to see if it is duplicated?