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Spam Control Attempt #3

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 11:35 am
by Pete
I have now disabled *all* guest posts of QB News articles.

I was hoping I could control the spam without having to resort to blocking everybody, but unfortunately I couldn't find a satisfactory method.

Now if you have a QB News article that you'd like to post, you have to either email it to me or send it via the Contact Form and I will post it for you.

If this new system discourages people from using the QB News feature, I think I will probably just eliminate it completely from the site. Not that many people use it anyway, and it's caused far more problems than it was worth.

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 1:11 pm
by moneo
Pete,

I agree. I think just eliminating it would be the simplest approach. It's not worth your time to have to be filtering these messages. There are alternative places where these messages can be posted.
*****

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 2:09 pm
by {Nathan}
Just have certain people that you know you can trust (eg the forum regulars like me, nek, rattrap, and ect) be able to post...

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 3:04 pm
by RayBritton
i agree with nathan that would be a great idea, but if you type for example Nathan1993 in the username box couldn't you post then?

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 3:17 pm
by Patz QuickBASIC Creations
RayBritton wrote:but if you type for example Nathan1993 in the username box couldn't you post then?
It says 'That username is already taken.'[/quote]

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 3:32 pm
by {Nathan}
Like you have to log in... anad post on a certain forum... eg everyone can reply, but only regulars can post new topics.

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 4:14 pm
by Rattrapmax6
Sounds kinda like Supporters City at ASCII World.... Only Mods can post in them.... And like the Debate forum was, at QBN, where you needed to be in a group to post.... Whether that work as a news submition would be the only prob....

Tho it might be only Nathan on the group,. he's normaly the only one who submits news...

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 4:45 pm
by Pete
When I have some free time... meaning probably not until December or so... I will come up with some new system for the QB News. I'll change it so that it's handled entirely through the forum.

It will work like this: everyone makes their posts in the forum as usual, and if I decide that a post is newsworthy, I'll have it syndicated (automatically) in the "QB News" box on the front page.

I'll make it so all I have to do is click "Edit" and check off some box that says "Highlight as QB News?" I just have to figure out some way to make it work. But it shouldn't be too hard.

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 5:01 pm
by Patz QuickBASIC Creations
Make it so when we post, make a checkbox that says: "Mark as QB News". Then, you have to be logged in and you can still use QB News :wink:

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 7:25 pm
by {Nathan}
PQBC wrote:Make it so when we post, make a checkbox that says: "Mark as QB News". Then, you have to be logged in and you can still use QB News :wink:
Thats a great idea, but still, only give certain permission to some people to do that (but most of em, that way the bot can't make an account (or a human can and the bot uses it) and then post spam all over again.

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 9:00 pm
by Rattrapmax6
Wounders, why these spams keep coming.... Wouldn't it be a waiste of his time? He can't be making money here, I mean... No1 here is clicking on these ads are they? :twisted:

Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 2:15 am
by Pete
Rattrapmax6 wrote:Wounders, why these spams keep coming.... Wouldn't it be a waiste of his time? He can't be making money here, I mean... No1 here is clicking on these ads are they? :twisted:
It's for search engine rankings. The more sites that link to your site, the higher it will place in Google, Yahoo and most other major engines.

Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 10:46 am
by Rattrapmax6
Hmm... if that's how they rate... they need to update... Other wise ppl like this dude try to cheat it... :P

Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 1:44 pm
by {Nathan}
Just get a free sire a topcities/freeweb and make 10,000 links to it...

Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 4:30 pm
by Pete
The "popularity" method of ranking search results is the best that anyone has ever come up with. That's why Google search is so much more reliable than other search routines.

It has a few downsides, like the fact that it can be taken advantage of, but in it's by far the best system we've got. All search engine ranking methods have vulnerabilities.

Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 4:56 pm
by Rattrapmax6
Now I'm cunfused... What does ranks have to do with searching? Which one it returns first? :roll:

Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 7:07 pm
by Pete
Rank is the order that your search results come back in.

For example, if you search for "qbasic" in Google, QBasic.com is #1, QBasic New Zealand is #8, Pete's QB Site is #11, and so on...

Google sorts based mostly on popularity, or in other words, by which sites have the most links pointed to them. Other factors influence rating too, like use of keywords, reputablility of the site, how often the site updates, etc.

Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 7:40 pm
by Rattrapmax6
*Types in FreeBasic Site,.. gives up after 12 pages*

:lol: Ouch, I'm nowhere.... Tho, type xtrGRAPHICS and hit "I'm felling lucky"(Google) it takes you right to my site.... :lol:

Oh well... :roll:

Edit: Oops, I typoed... I rank 41th

Re: Spam Control Attempt #3

Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 8:00 pm
by sid6.7
Pete wrote:I have now disabled *all* guest posts of QB News articles.

I was hoping I could control the spam without having to resort to blocking everybody, but unfortunately I couldn't find a satisfactory method.

Now if you have a QB News article that you'd like to post, you have to either email it to me or send it via the Contact Form and I will post it for you.

If this new system discourages people from using the QB News feature, I think I will probably just eliminate it completely from the site. Not that many people use it anyway, and it's caused far more problems than it was worth.
we understand pete...not a problem...someone always comes
along and ruins a fellows attempt at runnning a cool site...
you had a good run...now ya got to apply some brakes....:)

thanks for having such a nice site and forum too
LOTS of HARD work man... :)

Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 2:34 am
by Dr_D
Rattrapmax6 wrote:*Types in FreeBasic Site,.. gives up after 12 pages*

:lol: Ouch, I'm nowhere.... Tho, type xtrGRAPHICS and hit "I'm felling lucky"(Google) it takes you right to my site.... :lol:

Oh well... :roll:

Edit: Oops, I typoed... I rank 41th

41st... unless your name is, Jocke The Beast. Then, and only then is it, 41th... forty-firth???

j/k

:lol: