A suggestion for future versions

[fresh_42]

I frequently see posts of members which are bound to end up as spammers. Normally I would set them on watch to see if I'm either right or wrong. However, I don't really want to watch their activities. My conclusion is: a second watch section for suspicious users would be fine.

Also a partition along forums for the ordinary watch list would be nice. I sometime get an alert "... is following you now" and I have to think each time: "Oh, dear, better expect a lot of nonsense in the leisure forums." So a "follows in forum xy" might be better.

 

[Bystander]

second watch section... ordinary watch list

Moderator/Mentor features? You're posting this publicly as a "scaretroll?"

 

[fresh_42]

Moderator/Mentor features? You're posting this publicly as a "scaretroll?"

No, it has nothing to do with the role. As an ordinary member, I can still be interested how things evolve and whether a report is due or not. As soon as you read the New Member Forum, you will automatically see posts which look suspicious, because if people talk about their profession, it can go either way. Similar in threads with problematic topics: evolution, medical, politics. My suggestion is thought to affect all who are interested to keep PF free of spam.

And a distinction among the follow forums is, too, an ordinary matter. If people follow me if I've written something smart in a technical forum, they might be disappointed by what I write in "Lame Jokes". So again no matter of my role.

 

[Bystander]

The "lists;" not available to "rank and file."

 

[Ibix]

The "lists;" not available to "rank and file."

I think he just means his list of people he "follows". I never use the feature but it's there. And I recall one of the mentors commenting that being followed by a mentor says something about the quality of your posts - not necessarily something good though.

 

[e-pie]

I frequently see posts of members which are bound to end up as spammers.

Why can't I see any spam threads?Is it because you delete them quickly?

 

[fresh_42]

Why can't I see any spam threads?Is it because you delete them quickly?

Yes, they are usually reported quickly so that moderators can delete them if they don't see them by themselves. From time to time we get DOS attacks, in which case it might last a little bit longer.

 

[e-pie]

DOS attacks

Don't you use something like Cloudflare?

 

[fresh_42]

Don't you use something like Cloudflare?

Yes, this was a sloppy wording. I meant bots which manage to sign in and create many threads with spam posts in a very short time.

 

[e-pie]

Okay. I see many robots in members page. What do they do? Run some automated script to check each posts and report necessarily?

 

[fresh_42]

Okay. I see many robots in members page. What do they do? Run some automated script to check each posts and report necessarily?

I don't know enough about the forums software, so I cannot answer this. But certain links are automatically shifted into moderation, which doesn't always select the correct ones, but at least give us time to decide.

 

[e-pie]

Okay!

 

[mfb]

Okay. I see many robots in members page. What do they do? Run some automated script to check each posts and report necessarily?

No, these are tools from e.g. external search engines (like Google) checking the forum for new content.
The forum has its own tools to fight spam but these tools don't appear as visitors.