Registration Required

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 4:57 am

I have just made registration required for three forums - this one, non-pharm and special populations. We will test these and see if we can eliminate the spam from them. If it works, we will make all forums that way. Anyone can read them, but only members can post. We can easily remove members who are members only to spam. Should this not be enough, we will then require either recognition/authentication or a short letter to be written as to why you want to join and approve applications.

I know that none of us wanted to do this, but it has become a requirement for message boards anymore. I'm sure you are as tired of the spam as the three of us are deleting it. The spoof our IP addresses so we can't track them down, nor block them in any way.

If anyone had trouble posting in those two sections, let us know.

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 6:04 am

I just made the remaining forums registration required to post. Today, we only had spam (that I know of) in the forums I didn't change to registration required. I know that now we will have a war with spammers who register, but at least we got rid of those who don't.

It's about two hours after I made the change and we already had someone register as a spammer and post. I deleted it and banned the member. But, that may mean we have to stop allowing people to become members without more control. <big sigh>

ksxroads · Post by **ksxroads** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 3:16 pm

Thank you Ann for all your efforts. I just think someday maybe an ex spammer may need us! Bet they never think about that!

*********Positive Energy************

Hazey

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 1:11 am

Ah, the peace and quiet of less spam. I think I only deleted one since I closed the forums. I'm sure they will figure a way to register, but we'll deal with it when they do.

In the meantime, I don't hate coming here anymore and now have time to do things other than delete spam.

sardsy75 · Post by **sardsy75** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 10:06 pm

Hi Ann, Hazel

Good to see that the new registration process has stemmed the tide of spammers.

If it does get out of hand again then the only other suggestion I have is that we include a "tell us why you wish to join" in the registration section; something i've seen on quite a number of discussion boards around the place, including yahoo groups. If your speel doesnt convince the moderator/s that you are genuine then you arent granted membership ... simple as that.

Take care
Nadia

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 6:52 pm

Hey Nadia, how goes it? Hope all is still very well with you, the girls, and the main man.

I went one step farther - I made them respond to an email instead of just registering. Registration reduced it a lot, but this has reduced it to almost zero. I have only deleted one spam post since I did that last week while Lynne and Hazel were gone.

Lynne and Hazel - let me know if you want any info on what I did. All newbies have to respond to an email that they get from this site. Once they do that, they are registered. It seems that we must be mostly getting spambot registrations, as only one spammer has activated his account. I hope that continues. I am deleting the memberships that are spammers when I am certain that is what they are (web links to drugs, gambling, *****, etc.). I've left several that I am unsure of. . .

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 1:10 am

where do I go to check my private messages?[size=0].[/size][size=0].[/size][size=0].[/size][size=0].[/size][size=0].[/size][size=0].[/size]

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 4:08 am

When you log in, there are several options at the top of the screen, each of which are links:

FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups
Profile You have no new messages Log out [ your username ]

If you have a private message, it will say so there - middle option, second row. Just click on it.

When you set up your account, you can also change the settings. I have mine set up to send me an email when I get a private message. When I click on the link in the email, it takes me directly to that section.

Hope that makes some sense - it's hard to explain as I don't have a message right now and can't remember exactly what it says!

FYI, your website link is definitely not typical for our members. I hope you are not a spammer :-)

.