Why the **** is there four forms of verification to just post a message?
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If you are requiring a registration and we are adults here why the fuck do we need four verifications, especially the stupid text one which you can't read except if you are an android.
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Because the spam bots are getting better and better and no one really wants to see what they post.
We do the same on a forum I admin for and we still delete a half dozen spammers a day… Without the checks it was 50-60 a day...
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Since the new checks are in place we have maybe 2~3 spam posts a week which we have to delete/ban manually.
Before it was more like 20~30 per day. -
I assume, since I've never seen these checks, that they only apply to new or low post count users?
Steve
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subject line edited.
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I assume, since I've never seen these checks, that they only apply to new or low post count users?
Yeah, only applies to new accounts, and only on the first post, and when sending private messages if you have < 5 posts.
Since the new checks are in place we have maybe 2~3 spam posts a week which we have to delete/ban manually.
Before it was more like 20~30 per day.Exactly. Anyone that's run any large-scale forum on the Internet wouldn't ask the question OP asked. The 20-30 per day that were getting through were just a fraction of the total attempts the less strict spam-checking measures stopped.
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And it will continue to get worse. Right now its pretty easy to put IP addresses on a black list. Whence there are trillions of IPv6 addresses then IP banning will be pointless.
The problem will finally degenerate to the point where new users will have longer waiting periods and humans will have to vet their probationary messages.This is a pretty bad deal for new users with a "oh shit I need help right now" problem. What PFsense should do is have some kind of $1.99 oh-shit-please-help-me-now section where paying that minimal fee gets an instant post and a response. Yes, I know many will bitch about this being a money grab, but blame the damn spammers, not the team for that one….
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Whence there are trillions of IPv6 addresses then IP banning will be pointless.
I'd not say so. As the chance with IPv6 is, you get big ranges for sure. Yes. But you also have the chance to narrow down on them with masks in blacklist and as there "should be" less NATting around, you can wheat out those ranges disturbing your forums a bit better. OK v6 isn't that big in use now, but as we see it, the ones nagging you ATM can be put down quite easily. And as providers tend to hand out subnets statically to their users, if you ban one (subnet), he/she can't simply reconnect and try again (with another IP) so easily. Sure there are ways with botnets but blocking a single IPlegacy (IPv4) or blocking a /64 or /60 IPv6 range isn't that much of a difference (as a /64, /60 or /56 is mostly used by a single customer that got it by its provider).What PFsense should do is have some kind of $1.99 oh-shit-please-help-me-now section where paying that minimal fee gets an instant post and a response.
If they provide that users won't (only) bitch about that being a money grab (it isn't really), but paying customers will be offended, too, as they pay a much higher fee to get "that instant response" in an emergency. And only pay $0.99-$1.99 for a post without knowing there is a reply no one will use. So not exactly a workable solution even if I find it not bad (as in the idea of a one-time-support-ticket instead of paying a 1y fee including 5h support). Second problem would be the follow ups to that question ("I paid for it, now I want help / a definite answer!") so pricing would be tough as you don't know if it's something super easy (as PEBKAC) or something bad in the code that needs testing between support and user.But somehow I like the idea of a $1 "lift captchas on forum" payment, as spammers won't use that en masse (would be too stupid to pay and then get your post catched by other filters of the forum) and it's low enough it isn't to "make money" but to make emergency postings possible without hiccups. Only downside is payment implementation etc. (paypal?) but SMF2 has a subscription mode AFAIR. ;)
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It's an interesting suggestion. It would be controversial though, as you say, almost however it was implemented.
Setting aside the guaranteed suggestions of money grabbing/selling out there would be an issue of expectation. As soon as you ask someone to pay they will expect to receive something for that payment. If you had people paying to get posts in a special forum section you would then need to offer something like a guaranteed reply time etc.
If this is just to prevent spammers then the price could be very low. Even at say 10c it would make it very much harder to spam, especially if payment had to come from something like paypal. I still don't think it would be workable though. :-
Is it really too much to ask new users to answer a captcha for just the first post?Steve
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Is it really too much to ask new users to answer a captcha for just the first post?
I don't think so but as with any suggestion it seems controversial. As Chris described it as only counting against the first 5 posts, I don't find it that much a barrier.
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I read that as only the first post for a normal post on the forum (for PMs up to 5 posts). Either way it doesn't seem like much of a barrier to someone who really has a valid question. I guess people who are desperate for help are often not in the greatest of moods by the time they are registering on the forum, as evidenced by the OP. ;)
Steve
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Yeah it's only the first post to the public forum where additional controls apply, verification up to 5 posts is for PMs only. Discouraging people from signing up and then PMing everyone they can find is reason enough to keep that one to 5.
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I have noticed a reduction in spam – So thanks Admins!! bump it up to 3434 posts if you want :)
Use to be almost every day I was reporting a spam related to kitchens..
