batmanuel
10-01-2008, 10:41 PM
We all saw the spam or at least heard about it. It wasn't even good porn!! Anyway, I did some searching on the vb site and found a possible solution.
Earlier today I turned on "require email validation." This means they have to click the link in the email. There are 30 users in this state right now--likely spammers registered today.
SpongeBob was promoted to an admin during a spur-of-the-moment decision. After thinking about later in the day, I decided this was a good decision. This makes me, Kaga and Spongey the only full blown admins.
I have installed the Akismet (http://akismet.com) plugin for vb. If you've ever installed/used wordpress you've probably learned that Akismet totally rocks for catching spam.
There is a new usergroup called "Regulars." You'll note most of us are in it.
New users still go to "Registered Users" and are promoted to "Regulars" after they have been members for 3 days and have more than 5 posts.
"Registered users" has a few differences compared to "Regulars":
Can't upload images, attachments or profile pics
Can't have images in signatures
Can't have animated avatars (bwuahaha)
Can't post polls
Can't see who is online
Can't email users
Can only PM 2 users at a time and has fewer PMs allowed
Some minor tweaks to search permissions
All posts are run through Akismet before being posted It's important to note that if a message is caught by Akismet, it will go to a moderation queue where a Moderator or Admin has the option to approve the post if it is legitimate. I'll say that on one particular blog, in review tens (perhaps hundreds) of thousands of spam posts I never saw a single one caught by mistake, so it seems unlikely that it will happen here either.
If this was all done right existing users should see no issues. Please post here immediately if you do. New users will have to deal with the limitations but they are not overly severe, I don't think.
I don't recommend trying to test Akismet as your IP may be added to their DB and you'll have loads of issues around the web.
FYI:
459 users with < 5 posts
296 users with > 5 posts
Edit: obviously there were issues for a few minutes while I puzzled out that the cms portion also needs to know about the new user group permissions. Special thanks to Brad for pointing it out and testing. Someone give Brad a gold star for the day.
Edit: I have updated the forum rules (http://vsfgamers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12997) to reflect the probation, not that anyone reads them.
Earlier today I turned on "require email validation." This means they have to click the link in the email. There are 30 users in this state right now--likely spammers registered today.
SpongeBob was promoted to an admin during a spur-of-the-moment decision. After thinking about later in the day, I decided this was a good decision. This makes me, Kaga and Spongey the only full blown admins.
I have installed the Akismet (http://akismet.com) plugin for vb. If you've ever installed/used wordpress you've probably learned that Akismet totally rocks for catching spam.
There is a new usergroup called "Regulars." You'll note most of us are in it.
New users still go to "Registered Users" and are promoted to "Regulars" after they have been members for 3 days and have more than 5 posts.
"Registered users" has a few differences compared to "Regulars":
Can't upload images, attachments or profile pics
Can't have images in signatures
Can't have animated avatars (bwuahaha)
Can't post polls
Can't see who is online
Can't email users
Can only PM 2 users at a time and has fewer PMs allowed
Some minor tweaks to search permissions
All posts are run through Akismet before being posted It's important to note that if a message is caught by Akismet, it will go to a moderation queue where a Moderator or Admin has the option to approve the post if it is legitimate. I'll say that on one particular blog, in review tens (perhaps hundreds) of thousands of spam posts I never saw a single one caught by mistake, so it seems unlikely that it will happen here either.
If this was all done right existing users should see no issues. Please post here immediately if you do. New users will have to deal with the limitations but they are not overly severe, I don't think.
I don't recommend trying to test Akismet as your IP may be added to their DB and you'll have loads of issues around the web.
FYI:
459 users with < 5 posts
296 users with > 5 posts
Edit: obviously there were issues for a few minutes while I puzzled out that the cms portion also needs to know about the new user group permissions. Special thanks to Brad for pointing it out and testing. Someone give Brad a gold star for the day.
Edit: I have updated the forum rules (http://vsfgamers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12997) to reflect the probation, not that anyone reads them.