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View Full Version : Upgrade to the forum... and the dreaded spam


Aleesha Sattva
09-01-2012, 09:39 AM
Hi Everyone,

I just spoke to Alissa and the guy who does our web upgrades is going to be doing his magic on the site in the next week.

So... of course that means some down time for the forum and we are going to be doing some upgrading to the way we deal with spam.

As you all know the spam has been absolutely crazy lately. Cathy and I are deleting over 500 spam a day. (We are easily hitting 800+. The estimate of 500 is a low one actually.) That doesn't include the blogging section. Don't even get me started on the blogging section (*rolls eyes*)

So there will be some changes coming. Please bear with us as we transition into a space where this crazy spam-fest 2012 comes to an end, :woot: the tables are taken down and the lights turned off.

in light,
Aleesha
Admin

Cheering is welcomed at this point LOL :cheer:
laughalways
09-01-2012, 09:43 AM
:throwhearts:Thank you! All your hard work is very much appreciated!
MysticTree
09-01-2012, 10:13 AM
yay! Great news for you and goodcat, great news for us, great news for the forum. So excited :)
delmar
09-01-2012, 10:49 AM
I love it.
buffalogal
09-01-2012, 07:42 PM
If anyone can stop this awful spam, he/she will be our hero!:throwhearts:
delmar
09-01-2012, 08:09 PM
Before you know it we will have newbies complying that they can not post a link because they don't have 25 posts. So be it!
Aleesha Sattva
09-01-2012, 09:33 PM
Trust me, you can never please everyone. But removing the spam is the priority at this time and will continue to be in the future.
delmar
09-02-2012, 12:42 AM
No doubt.
laughalways
09-02-2012, 05:38 AM
Too funny...they spam the "lets get rid of the spam" post. Can't wait!
Aleesha Sattva
09-04-2012, 10:36 AM
The forum will be down later today and possibly tomorrow to upgrade it and better deal with the spammers in the future.

Please, please, please stop creating new threads to complain about the spam. It doesn't assist us in any way to not only have to delete over 100 spam threads but then to have to also delete your thread.

Let's all work to keep the forum clean folks... Cathy and I are busting our butts doing our very best and we could certainly use your assistance as well (in not making non-raw threads).

in light,
Aleesha
Admin
delmar
09-04-2012, 06:42 PM
The forum will be down later today and possibly tomorrow to upgrade it and better deal with the spammers in the future.

Please, please, please stop creating new threads to complain about the spam. It doesn't assist us in any way to not only have to delete over 100 spam threads but then to have to also delete your thread.

Let's all work to keep the forum clean folks... Cathy and I are busting our butts doing our very best and we could certainly use your assistance as well (in not making non-raw threads).

in light,
Aleesha
AdminThank you so much for your efforts. I am glad to see that the end of this is near. I have come to believe this is much more than mere spam, but some sort of a purposeful attack. Perhaps when this is more under cantonal you would be willing to leave one thread open for us to talk about our conspiracy theories?
Aleesha Sattva
09-04-2012, 08:09 PM
When this is over it's over delmar. Feel free to talk about conspiracies elsewhere. This forum is for raw food discussion. Let's focus on that please. :~)
MysticTree
09-05-2012, 12:04 AM
Best place would be on your rft blog page Delmar. People could choose to comment or not then.
lafsalot
09-05-2012, 08:48 AM
When this is over it's over delmar. Feel free to talk about conspiracies elsewhere. This forum is for raw food discussion. Let's focus on that please. :~)

:applauding your advice:
MysticTree
09-06-2012, 08:59 AM
Hi Aleesha,

What is the news with the upgrade/spam busting stuff?
Aleesha Sattva
09-06-2012, 09:43 AM
I'm emailing Alissa to find out. It was supposed to be done by now. Every time I log into the forum and see it's online I make a very unhappy sound LOL
Aleesha Sattva
09-07-2012, 10:00 AM
I hear that today is the day!

I've been told the forum won't be down for too long... so this is good.
MysticTree
09-07-2012, 10:02 AM
good news indeed . . . on all fronts. Today the spam seems worse than ever!
Aleesha Sattva
09-07-2012, 09:18 PM
They are working on it now folk... bear with us a little longer please...
Aleesha Sattva
09-07-2012, 09:48 PM
They are working on it now folk... bear with us a little longer please...

It'll take the weekend to do all the upgrades... so bear with us. :heart:
streetsurfer
09-08-2012, 01:28 AM
((bear hugs))

I come bearing gifts of bear hugs, as I bear with you.
Aleesha Sattva
09-08-2012, 09:57 AM
(((street)))
Aleesha Sattva
09-09-2012, 12:27 AM
Okay so phase one is complete on the forum. We have a much higher level of spam-ware now so there should be very little spam making it's way on to the forum.

There are more phases to come... more changes... :~)
MysticTree
09-09-2012, 12:33 AM
very tantalising, what changes? Do tell please :)
Aleesha Sattva
09-09-2012, 12:36 AM
:o You'll have to wait and see! :backsout:
MysticTree
09-09-2012, 01:24 AM
Teaser! How long do we have to wait and will we like what we see?
Aleesha Sattva
09-09-2012, 10:40 AM
I certainly hope you will!

It'll all be complete in the next couple of days. Much of it you (as a regular user) won't see. It's a much higher level of spam protection, behind the scenes stuff that I'll be doing to keep the forum cleaner (like approving every new member) and then Alissa has some changes in store for the forum... from what I understand... we are getting a make-over!
delmar
09-09-2012, 11:00 AM
... behind the scenes stuff that I'll be doing to keep the forum cleaner (like approving every new member) That alone should make a huge difference. It stinks to make good newbies jump though hoops but the spam attackers have made it a must.
Living Food
09-09-2012, 11:15 AM
The random question actually changes every time!:holysheep:
Aleesha Sattva
09-09-2012, 11:31 AM
Living Food,

The new members will be writing a paragraph from now on... so I'll be able to detect a spammer from a new member. It won't take long to approve anyone... 24 hours will be the absolute max.

And heck... this forum is sooooo worth the wait! We are a great group of rawbies! :throwhearts:

And delmar it already has. The spam that I saw this morning and the spam you (as a member) saw was very very different.
delmar
09-12-2012, 06:04 AM
And delmar it already has. The spam that I saw this morning and the spam you (as a member) saw was very very different.Yes, I can actually find the quality posts quickly again! It's like a gentle rain while the sun is shinning!
Aleesha Sattva
09-12-2012, 11:30 AM
And that gorgeous fresh smell that the rain brings...
MysticTree
09-12-2012, 01:10 PM
Is board-life easier now or is it still heavy going behind the scenes? I hope it's easier.
Aleesha Sattva
09-12-2012, 09:38 PM
soooooo much easier! soooo much. I'm beyond pleased with the changes so far and there are more to come to assist with the spam. So it's going to get EVEN better! *falls over with a thud*
ReneeH
09-15-2012, 07:08 AM
Spammers have a LOT of nerve posting even HERE!!!! :off to report:
MysticTree
09-15-2012, 07:20 AM
It's as though some of them have sledgehammered the defences.
delmar
09-15-2012, 07:40 AM
They are resourceful! If they would only use their powers to do good!
MysticTree
09-15-2012, 08:42 AM
Indeed. Ah well. Listening to a repeat of a repeat of the Goon show and reading seed catalogues whilst also dreaming of building gypsy caravan on the stripped-down chassis of the existing caravan once the new-to-us one arrives. None of which requires me to buy dodgy clothing, handbags, drugs or porn. It's really great to HAVE a life :lol: