New Forum Setting - Please Help Me Test

[atomicAdam]

Ok - I just set the admin approval setting for forum post.

That means I've got to 'ok' each new user who wants to join.

I've never set the feature on audioreview - so I need someone with an email account they aren't using to sign up as a new user and help me test. Obviously after which point that account will be deleted.

Who can help?

This should - i hope - significantly reduce spam

[atomicAdam]

Ok - the setting seemed to keep my new user account from posting.


What do you folks think of sending the new users a quick questionnaire to answer before admitting them to the forums. Any other site do that from your experiences?

[atomicAdam]

This is also going to add a lot of work to my daily load - especially on days when we get hit with 50 new members - going to verify each one will be a bit of pain in the butt.

Anyone want to take on the responsibility of being the welcoming committee for me?

[Mr Peabody]

The other forums I've joined have been the same as AR in that you just register and that's it. Some send an email to the address used to register and you have to follow the link back to verify you aren't a robot.

Does AR really get 50 legit requests? I don't see that many people posting. I'm usually only on of an evening but I would be willing to help you with some of the verification. I think if you make some of the profile boxes required opposed to optional you may weed some spammers out. Like listing a system, most spam doesn't even make sense let alone being able to put together anything resembling a system. Of course, that may not work with a newbie looking to put one together so we may have to come up with an either/or.

[ForeverAutumn]

The other forums I've joined have been the same as AR in that you just register and that's it. Some send an email to the address used to register and you have to follow the link back to verify you aren't a robot.

That's been my experience too. Does a system like that (email verification) work? If so, that might be an easy solution that won't require any additional time. Otherwise, I'd be willing to help screen new members but I'd also only be able to do it in the evening. I already spend enough time at work on this site, I can't actually be 'working' here too. :)

[ForeverAutumn]

Oh, I forgot, do you still need someone to pretend to be a newbie? I have a Yahoo email that I can use if you want me to.

[atomicAdam]

The thing is that if you want to review a product you have to register in account on vB. I would say that most people who want to write a review don't want to participate in the forums.

I'm trying to reconfigure/write the welcome email to let people know they should contact the admin if they want to post in the forum.

I know it is a bit over the top - but - this is the only option I have at the moment. I've asked for a new recaptchia to be installed for well - for a year - and it hasn't been done. So ......

[JohnMichael]

I am surprised how many people register and leave most of the info in their profile blank. If they are not interested enough to share some audio info I watch them for spamming. If someone does not fill out their profile they should not be approved to join.

Would the mods be able to help you check out new members?

[atomicAdam]

Lets just see how it goes - it might not be an issue - thanks for offering - if it gets to be an issue i'll hit you up and we can figure something out.

[atomicAdam]

Oh, I forgot, do you still need someone to pretend to be a newbie? I have a Yahoo email that I can use if you want me to.

Yes - it would be great if you could. Please let me know how it goes.

Thanks
-adam

[ForeverAutumn]

I'll try to do it later today. I'm logged in on my phone right now. Ahhhhhhh technology...gotta love it. :)

Adam, just so you know, I'm always willing to help out here. This site has given me so much over the years, I'm happy to give back.

[atomicAdam]

I'll try to do it later today. I'm logged in on my phone right now. Ahhhhhhh technology...gotta love it. :)

Adam, just so you know, I'm always willing to help out here. This site has given me so much over the years, I'm happy to give back.

Thanks FA - let me know how it goes. I'm headed out climbing this afternoon but should home as the sun is setting.

[dakatabg]

Very good idea about the approving thing!

[ForeverAutumn2]

Hey Adam. I registered as ForeverAutumn2 and am posting.

[ForeverAutumn]

Hmmmmm. I registered as ForeverAutumn2 and tried to post. I got a message that said that I could not post until my account is verified. However, as you can see by the post above I was still allowed to post even though the message said that I cannot.

[ForeverAutumn2]

I'm trying to post again to see exactly what the message I got said.

[ForeverAutumn2]

I'm trying to post again to see exactly what the message I got said.

Okay, so when I post I see the following message...


Your account has not been confirmed and is not yet active! To become a registered user on this forum (required for posting or accessing special features) you will need to verify your email address by clicking a special link sent to you in our original welcome email. If you have lost this email, or it never arrived, please go here to request another activation email be sent to you. If you suspect your email address is set wrong, go here and fill the form out so an administrator can fix your account. Also please be sure to disable any spam filters you may have for our website, so that this and all future messages can reach you.

Yet, as you can see, I'm still allowed to post.

[ForeverAutumn2]

I can't edit my previous posts and I can't give rep points (thought I'd pat myself on the back while I'm here but...nope...can't. ;)).

[atomicAdam]

Hummm... that is a loop hole in the system -

Thanks

-adam

[atomicAdam]

you didn't get this message?

"
atomicAdam02, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.
"

This is what I get when I try to post with my test account. I'll check out the difference in the user permissions.

[atomicAdam]

So - did you get the automatic Welcome Email and then a second one from me about writing to allow you to post on the forum.

We you able to post w/o see either of these emails?

Or if you saw the 1st one did you click on the link to move your from the 'user awaiting authentication' to a 'forum user'?

Thanks,
-adam

[ForeverAutumn]

When I registered, things went kind of wierdly.

I registered with my Yahoo address and it said that address was already registed (but I don't recall ever using it to register). So I used my work address, but then I got a message saying that user name (ForeverAutumn2) was already in use, so I assumed that I actually was registered using the Yahoo address. I logged in and I could post, although I did get the message above. I never recieved any emails to my Yahoo account.

However, I just checked my work email account and did receive this email...

Hi -
Welcome to AudioReview.com.
Due to the high amount of spam we have been experiencing lately we are currently verifying each new user before allowing them to post on the forums.
If you just plan to review a product, please proceed and thank you very much for using AudioReview.com.
Please write something to let me know why you’d like to join the AudioReview forums.
Thank you,
- AudioReview Admin


But I never recieved anything with a link for me to confirm my registration.

If you want to delete the ForeverAutumn2 account. I'll try again.

[atomicAdam]

Yeah - that is kind of strange -

Ok - i'll delete that account and we'll try again.

Thanks,
-adam

Ok - delete - LMK how it goes w/ round two


Thanks,
-adam

[ForeverAutumn3]

I've received the welcome email but haven't yet clicked the link. It appears that I do not have the ability to post except on this Feedback/Discussion board. Just testing this before I complete my registration.

[ForeverAutumn3]

So before I clicked the link I could post only on this forum (as above). I couldn't edit my post or add rep points. I also didn't have the "New Posts" link in the menu. After clicking the link, I appear to now have full function on all forums. I even gave myself a little rep boost for fun (forgive me JohnMichael).

[Mr Peabody]

Yeah, I noticed on FA2 the number of posts was N/A, that was cute.

[atomicAdam]

that is a little frustrating - it means that the user group controls are not working the way they should - i'm going to have to see if I can manage the permissions by individual forum.

[ForeverAutumn]

Yeah, I noticed on FA2 the number of posts was N/A, that was cute.

I think that's because Adam deleted the account so I could register again using that same email address.

[ForeverAutumn]

that is a little frustrating - it means that the user group controls are not working the way they should - i'm going to have to see if I can manage the permissions by individual forum.

If this is the only forum that I could post in before confirming registration, is that so bad? It would reduce the spam everywhere but here, which means that spammers couldn't hit us with multiple posts.

[basite]

audiokarma.org uses email verification, you'll have to type a "secret message" (the picture with a word in it), and admin approval setting, but they STILL manage to get alot of new members, and most of them actually post there too...

[ForeverAutumn]

So - did you get the automatic Welcome Email and then a second one from me about writing to allow you to post on the forum.


But I never recieved anything with a link for me to confirm my registration.


Hey Adam,
I just got into the office and found the welcome email with the confirmation link in my spam folder. So it did get sent.

Let me know if I can help in any other way or if you want me to retest anything.

[Hyfi]

Quick question, are the spammer accounts created by BOTs or real people with nothing better to do?

If they are BOTS, you can use the picture word feature but it has to be the 2 part one where one word makes sense and the other does not because the BOTs cannot read the ones that do not make sense.

I like the idea about forcing to fill out the profile also since it would make a spammer waste time.

[Hyfi]

Not sure its working with the latest hit of spam.

Make everyone including current members fill out the profile and type the picture words both.

[atomicAdam]

The recapchia we have is an alphanumeric picture, but it is old.

I've been pushing to get this feature updated by engineering but unfortunately audioreview forums isn't top priority. Though this is very frustrating.

I'll check out the latest spammers and see whats up.

I might just see if I can block out all forums to new members. Guest, as in people not logged in, should still be able to see.

[atomicAdam]

Ok I just further restricted the 'user awaiting confirmation email' user group.

Mods - if you get more spam - can you please see if the user group is from a 'user awaiting confirmation email' or 'regular users'.

The user awaiting confirmation email should be a highly restricted access user group at this point.

The point being now I have to move them from that group to regular user by hand after they respond to my inquiry email.

Thanks,
-adam

[Geoffcin]

I'm getting a message about having double posted every time I post now?

[atomicAdam]

It could be a data base issue - i've only been messing with the User Awaiting Email Confirmation user group permissions.

I'll check into it.

[atomicAdam]

last post worked ok for me.

[ForeverAutumn]

I'm getting a message about having double posted every time I post now?

I've been getting that, off and on, for weeks.

[Geoffcin]

Thanks, I'm glad to know I'm not alone with my little "problem"

[Geoffcin]

weird, that time it didn't happen!

[atomicAdam]

IT just made some changes. LMK if it continues.

Thanks,

Also - I'm working on the SPAM issue the best I can w/in the access I have.

At the moment I'm trying to regulate all new users. No longer is it sign up, get email, and be able to post.

Now it is sign up, I send email, they send email back, and I set up account to be able to participate.

This leads to a lot email sending on my part. I'm trying to find where our automatically generated email contents are held, in which case I'll ask the user in there to send me another email before I confirm and move account over to being able to participate.

I hope this will reduce spam. I'm also editing and highly restricting the User Awaiting Email Confirmation user group.

[ForeverAutumn]

Also - I'm working on the SPAM issue the best I can w/in the access I have.

At the moment I'm trying to regulate all new users. No longer is it sign up, get email, and be able to post.

Now it is sign up, I send email, they send email back, and I set up account to be able to participate.

This leads to a lot email sending on my part. I'm trying to find where our automatically generated email contents are held, in which case I'll ask the user in there to send me another email before I confirm and move account over to being able to participate.

I hope this will reduce spam. I'm also editing and highly restricting the User Awaiting Email Confirmation user group.

Wow Adam. That's a lot of extra work on your part. Thanks for all the time you're spending trying to make this site better. :thumbsup:

[atomicAdam]

Wow Adam. That's a lot of extra work on your part. Thanks for all the time you're spending trying to make this site better. :thumbsup:

no worries - it is my job.

the one thing i'd like to get going which i need everyone's help on is an active and progressively bigger forum base.

so, help me with that....

and if you have ideas LMK.

thanks
-adam

[GMichael]

IT just made some changes. LMK if it continues.

Thanks,

Also - I'm working on the SPAM issue the best I can w/in the access I have.

At the moment I'm trying to regulate all new users. No longer is it sign up, get email, and be able to post.

Now it is sign up, I send email, they send email back, and I set up account to be able to participate.

This leads to a lot email sending on my part. I'm trying to find where our automatically generated email contents are held, in which case I'll ask the user in there to send me another email before I confirm and move account over to being able to participate.

I hope this will reduce spam. I'm also editing and highly restricting the User Awaiting Email Confirmation user group.

I agree with FA. That seems very kluncky to me. There must be an automated way to make it harder for Spammers without forcing you to be tied to your PC/laptop. What if people want to join at 3AM? If I were to sign up for a sight and wasn't able to post till the next day, I might forget all about them.

Please don't think that I'm just complaining. You are going above and beyond the call of dutty IMO. It just seems that there should be an easier way.

[atomicAdam]

you know i just signed up at another forum and they had to 'ok' the sign up. so I'm not super worried about it.

the problem is I'm not an engineer - so I can't install an updated vB or recapchia. i've got no other choice though I am being a squeaky wheel, so maybe i'll get some action out of the higher ups.

[ForeverAutumn]

Want me to yell at them for you? They won't know what hit 'em. :D

Edit: I got the duplicate post message on this post.

[atomicAdam]

Edit: I got the duplicate post message on this post.

LOL - oh computers! Probably some clocks are off between servers and database.

ugh........

And thanks for the offer, but remember, you get more flies with sugar than salt.

[ForeverAutumn]

And thanks for the offer, but remember, you get more flies with sugar than salt.

While the sugar thing usually works, every once in a while I find that trading in my sugar bowl for a nine pound hammer does the trick. :devil:

[atomicAdam]

While the sugar thing usually works, every once in a while I find that trading in my sugar bowl for a nine pound hammer does the trick. :devil:

Trust you me, I'm a fairly imposing 6'4" tall. But isolating engineering and IT means my projects will continue to be put on the back shelf. In this case, if a little sugar doesn't work, and a little squeak doesn't get oiled, I just have to keep adding more. Trust me, it isn't in my nature to do it that way. But I need my projects worked on.

[ForeverAutumn]

Wow. You're 6' 4"? I think I just fell a little more in lust with you.

[atomicAdam]

Wow. You're 6' 4"? I think I just fell a little more in lust with you.


ummm.... thanks? :blush2:

[ForeverAutumn]

Sorry. I was actually going to come back and delete that, but I know that the mods can see deleted posts so I figured I just had to leave it because you were going to see it anyway. I do like tall men, but I'm happily married. I apologize if my post was inappropriate.

[atomicAdam]

Sorry. I was actually going to come back and delete that, but I know that the mods can see deleted posts so I figured I just had to leave it because you were going to see it anyway. I do like tall men, but I'm happily married. I apologize if my post was inappropriate.

No worries - maybe it was the climbing photos! lol!

[Mr Peabody]

I seem to remember JohnMichael saying one time he was well over 6', you guys would make a good AR tag team :) Any advertisers not paying

[atomicAdam]

I seem to remember JohnMichael saying one time he was well over 6', you guys would make a good AR tag team :) Any advertisers not paying

Lets work on getting advertisers at the moment - we can break some knees after we have some knees to break.

[GMichael]

Am I on the wrong thread?

[atomicAdam]

Am I on the wrong thread?

This is not the thread you are looking for?

[atomicAdam]

test post new load balancer - ......

[atomicAdam]

testing again w/ image attached

http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/audio//500/LargeBeaverPhoto.jpg

[vlad008]

testing12345678



Ok - I just set the admin approval setting for forum post.

That means I've got to 'ok' each new user who wants to join.

I've never set the feature on audioreview - so I need someone with an email account they aren't using to sign up as a new user and help me test. Obviously after which point that account will be deleted.

Who can help?

This should - i hope - significantly reduce spam