VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION New User Forum General discussions

Why is every item under General Discussion written in a foreign language this morning, 5/22????? Billu38

It was in english yesterday. I reported it and that thread was deleted but it seems they have returned. This problem is dealt with differently on Stovebolt. There ALL new users go through a moderated period where their first four posts have to be checked and approved by a moderator before showing up in the forum. Any spam is deleted and the poster blocked from the site. It's the same software and could easily be done here.

I think that Bill Barker had a similar system in place as well. Anyway, we almost never had any spammers posting before the upgrade in January. Now we are being raided by spammers.

I noticed those postings last night and as a Moderator banned the poster but didnt try my luck at removing the postings though.
JYD is right Bill had a process in place that kept 99.9% of the spam off the forum and if I noticed a suspicious "new member" I sent a pm off the Bill and he dealt with it but this system has gone out the window. I found I have a bit more authority than I knew about so next time I notice a definite spam posting I might try deleting it for fun.
Tony

Easy to do Tony. As a mod on another forum using the same software I can help point you in the right direction if need be.

Spam postings should be deleted instead of just locking the thread.

I agree JYD, BUT, without explicit direction as to how to handle various situations I simply followed the lead of another "more experienced" Moderator in a similar situation.
My actions in the future will be different.

By the way......today my email notifications seem to working again. I received email notifications of posts in several forums that I moderate and watch.

It appears that Peter deleted ALL of the spam posts, even those that had a locked thread.

I too received a bunch of email notifications this morning for threads that I'm watching.

If I see an obvious SPAM posting, I immediately permanently ban the poster. Then I delete all the additional posts in the thread so I can then delete the initial SPAM post. The longer the SPAM exists the more damage it can do. Besides if the spammer understands that those posts will not be tolerated they may get the idea that their efforts and time is being wasted.

Chipper----

Thank you.

I have been a Moderator almost from the very start. My Chat number is 14.

I took the correct action on the recent three postings of Spam. I locked the thread in accordance with current policy. The reason the thread is locked is to allow the Chat Master to deal with the matter at hand. Once he has taken correct action he may delete the post or leave it locked.

If the first action is to DELETE the post this prevents the Chat Master from taking any action and the spammer can come right back and re-spam (is that a word?).

Finally, rather than embarrass the first Moderator to take action, at least consult with him for an explanation OF WHAT YOU HAVE ON YOUR MIND.

When I first noticed the spam postings I blocked the poster on a permanant basis but I dont think this is the place to be discussing this subject either.
Tony

I feel that informing people on Chat that SPAM will not be tolerated and there are procedures in place to quickly remove it and block the Spammer is appropriate for the general discussion. I agree that discussion of details is not appropriate.