An idea to minimise spam annoyance

[Rob Lang]

No doubt you've noticed the kitchen obsessives. It's not just bots hitting us, it's humans. So here's an idea:

We create a "Say hi, say you're human!" forum, for registered users is the only place they can post. Once they've said Hi and said they're human, we give them Monkey status so they can post anywhere. It's a little bit of work for the mods but it is less work than all the fopping spam we get.

The Say Hi forum will clear out every so often so the link baity spammers don't get a long lasting message.

What do you think? Too off-putting to new users?

[Evil Scientist]

I guess a forum riddled by wig-wearing kitchen-themed mini-golf spammers is way more off-putting than having to post in a special topic. Just make sure there's a mod checking it daily for humans who want to join to reduce waiting time.

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

I'm not a fan of the idea, but yeah, the recent spam storm has been a bit annoying. Captchas might be a possibility, or is there a way to use confirmation e-mails?

[Onix]

I run the same message board software and I haven't found a perfect solution. I'm not sure why there isn't a confirmation email mod out there for these boards (I haven't looked recently though).

If the Hi I'm Human boards were set up so the casual user could post questions or talk about what they came to 1km1kt with the assurance the post would be migrated to the appropriate forum once they were confirmed, it would eliminate most of the delay frustration.

[Evil Scientist]

[J.K.Mosher]

First post approval by admins. If the post is valid for the forum, it gets approved and the new member gets automatic access to unrestricted posting from that point on. if it is not valid (ie a bot posting wig ads) the post gets denied and the user gets removed.

It adds work for the admins, but cleans things up right away.The approval system could generate an acceptance/welcoming email letting the member know they are free to post as they wish in the forums.

[catty_big]

[GSLamb]

I don't know about you, but all the people I know that play rpgs also eat.

[Evil Scientist]

[catty_big]