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Anybody volunteer to be a moderator?

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:49 am
by Pellanor
After not being here for some time, I popped in and noticed we've been inundated with spam. Anybody want to volunteer as a Mod to delete this junk?

Also I'll try to do some upgrades to the software soon to make it harder for people to post spam.

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:12 am
by Togashi Rogi
I took the somewhat draconian method of just blanket pruning the general forum. A little harsh but I didn't figure there was enough slavageable content to justify not doing it.

Volunteer Mods would be welcome though.

Spam on the General forum

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 4:45 pm
by anifan
I have noticed the spam on the General forum for several months - actually since just after the Xmas party. Don't know if that's related somehow (see below). At first I thought it might be from a couple of indiscreet "new members" posting their links... which is actually spam anyways. And I have been meaning to check them, to see just who and what - and if they were bona fide new members. But personal problems and computer access aside, I am using the computers at various libraries, and they frown on displaying risque material... and think that anime = porn. As it stands, recently, there have been a lot of new people joining (?), and some of the topic titles in particular have been pretty obvious of late. Again, I have meant to view - and pass on my comments; my own apologies :oops: . But it did begin to look like a whole load of junk :x . I took a look as recently as of last night. Anyhow, because of the amount of activity around the Xmas party, I think that attracted internet attention. Why spammers is a good guess, as is why only on the General forum. :?:

Software updates - and vigilance - aside, maybe we should require people to actually personally come out to JAWS meetings, to be able to register. Then they could be given a secret, individualized passcode then and there? A little draconian though... and it would keep legit members of other anime groups out. But regardless, I think we need to post a prominent "NO SPAM" heading at the top of the site index page. :!:

FURTHER: I, and others - have had issues with site construction, maintenance - and completion - for some time. The volunteer moderator position is a tad overdue. :o In fact, there is one other JAWS member, who is experienced in more basic website design, who has volunteered to take over. They can start as of tomorrow (the June showing) for volunteer moderating. But the site administrator has not been active, as has been obvious by the spam issue. :shock: What about the picture galleries, etc., etc.? :cry: These have been promised but no work has been done. How do we send images in? It would seem, that as the site administration has been sporadic and intemittent, that the volunteer mod could team up with the admin, work together and learn; and eventually take over the site. Being too busy and having enough time to work on the site tend to be mutually exclusive concepts. The last JAWS President was not a webmaster, but had his own site. HIS webmaster was kept busy doing his site - and the old JAWS website was very basic.

The website design is basically fine. However, there is a basic point as to completing the site FIRST - so that we can do a needed blitz in attracting new members. :roll: These are circular problems, as an improved site would help in attracting members... but the extra effort is needed. :? The setting up of the site is much appreciated. :D And attention to correcting fairly important but doable problems has usually been forthcoming... eventually. But there is no direct admin contact. I know; they'd be spammed. I can't contact Pellanor directly via his profile: public computers generally aren't set up to do this. This is one of the reasons why I'm posting this as a Reply to here as well as on the other spam posting on the site. Then Greg could e-mail Pellanor... to ensure that he pops onto the site.

I am interested in being a volunteer mod.

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 5:52 pm
by tigergirl
Greg Lang was talking to me, and I had e-mailed the mod before, (through this forum on PM) but I haven't recieved an reply from the second message that I had sent him.

I will do my best to upkeep and mantain the website, as I have a lot of free time. I know a lot about doing websites as I have done a few sites myself. If I don't know how to do it I will ask someone who could help me.

I will be at the JAWS meeting tomorrow so I could talk to the other Greg (President) and/or the moderator.

Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 4:28 pm
by Pellanor
Okay, some upgrades have been done to the forums. Spam shouldn't be an issue any more. Also a few of the other bugs (ie. posts not showing when they were made) have been fixed.

Unfortunately this upgrade broke the main page, so It'll take me a little time to fix that. I'll try to have it done tomorrow.

Also I'm going to be adding the ability to upload images. I might get it done tonight, but I'm not sure.

Re: Spam on the General forum

Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:30 pm
by Pellanor
anifan wrote:Software updates - and vigilance - aside, maybe we should require people to actually personally come out to JAWS meetings, to be able to register. Then they could be given a secret, individualized passcode then and there? A little draconian though... and it would keep legit members of other anime groups out. But regardless, I think we need to post a prominent "NO SPAM" heading at the top of the site index page. :!:
Adding a password would keep non-members out, but it would also prevent people from stopping in to ask questions about the club before they head out to their first meeting. Also telling people not to post spam won't do anything. It's usually just bots that automatically submit spam to the site. The forum upgrade prevents those bots from working, but anybody that's manually spamming will still be able to do so.
If we continue to have spam issues, then I'll look into some more anti-spam mods.