by MudBug » Sat Nov 05, 2011 12:05 pm
LOL, it's crazy isn't it.
for awhile I was looking at every post and when it was obvious spam I would ban the user, delete his account, and his posts. (sometimes as many as 30)
you guys seldom see any of this because I have it set up so that first posts by new users have to be approved by me.
Lately it has been such a rush of spammers (up to 500 a day) that I just quickly scan though a page of new posts (25 per page), pick out the real posts and approve them, then select all the rest and disapprove their posts.
This leaves the spambots as users.
So now I'm stuck with how to deal with that.
Just minutes ago I almost did.
the Forum software has a function that allows me to "Prune Users". This basically means that I set the guidelines and them bam, I delete all of those users.
I set it up to prune all users with no posts and I swear I was just about to delete thousands of users, the majority of which were spambots whose posts I keep deleting. I started to worry about the fact that some valid members who are new or just prefer to lurk would get caught up in the action, so I didn't do it.
I am going to do it though.
Here is my dilema, the thing that keeps me dragging my heels on the forum software upgrade that will help with the spam problem.
The server I am on is using an older version of PHP which does not support the better image verification registration process which defeats spambots. So in order to upgrade I need to back up the database and move us to a new one with the latest version of PHP. This worries me, I'm afraid something will get screwed up in the process, so I keep putting it off.
I can't put it off any longer. I'm gonna just do it and hope for the best (Really, it should be fine).
Before I do this I will prune out all of the spambots. some innocent people will get caught, but they won't be banned, they just have to re-register.
After that I will ask for a couple folks to be moderators.
I know I have been saying I'm gonna do this for a long time, but I swear it will happen soon.
Eric
"A coward is much more disposed to quarrels than a man of spirit." - Thomas Jefferson
"War is less costly than servitude. The choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." - Jean Dutourd