Another mod? Just a suggestion

[didier]

I have noticed the coupon people are getting quite persistant. I know the mods we have now do a great job, but perhaps they could use a little help with adding one more? to be clear, I don't want the job, it sounds so tedious.....but there are a few in here that seem to be on here a lot, so perhaps they could do double duty besides posting? and get rid of the coupon ads as they come in. I wonder if the other dennis might be interested?

 

[Dennis]

I wouldn't wish it on an enemy. I'll get to deleting these shortly. Kevin is on a road trip so we're a man short. JEK is probably waiting in line for some Apple product.

 

[KevinS]

Actually, I spam-hammered about 30 in the wee hours of Arizona time.

JEK has made suggestions to the site owner for ways to reduce both spam and bots.

 

[ouanalao]

I manage a few other websites and the best approach would be to block as much as possible before it even reaches moderation.

I had a quick look at the spam issue and since the forum is running on XenForo, I think the best approach would be to use its own anti-spam tools/add-ons. I would probably look at stronger registration protection, email verification, rate limiting, approval of first posts and restrictions on links for new accounts.

There are also services like CleanTalk and AI moderation tools that can be added as an extra layer, but I would first try to stop as much as possible before it even reaches moderation.

> Stop the bots first, then moderate what gets through.

(Just my 2 cents)

 

[JEK]

Actually, I spam-hammered about 30 in the wee hours of Arizona time.

JEK has made suggestions to the site owner for ways to reduce both spam and bots.

I just (1:00PM 9/23) hammered another dozen. I haven't heard back from the authorities, but this is what I sent:


Registration & account gating

• Enable email verification before first post (Admin CP → Users → Registration Options)
• Turn on Q&A-style CAPTCHA or add a reCAPTCHA plugin — bots increasingly solve simple image CAPTCHAs, but a text question ("What year did this forum start?") trips them up
• Integrate StopForumSpam via a plugin (there's a free vBulletin plugin for this) — it checks new registrants against a shared spam-IP/email database at signup

New user restrictions (Usergroup Manager)

• Create a "Pending" usergroup for all new registrations
• Under that group's permissions, set "Post Moderation" = on, so their first N posts (5–10 is typical) queue for mod approval before appearing
• Promotion to full member happens automatically at that post count (Usergroups → Promotions)

Old-thread specific

• Install a "necropost warning" plugin — these show a banner like "This thread hasn't been replied to in over a year" when someone opens the reply form on an old thread. It doesn't block bots, but it's low-effort and helps human moderators/readers immediately spot suspicious revivals
• Optionally auto-close threads after X days of inactivity (some vBulletin versions/plugins support this) so replies to threads over, say, 2 years old require a mod to reopen first

Ongoing filtering

• Build a banned/flagged phrase list (Admin CP → word filters) for generic bot tells — "Great post," "Thanks for sharing," "I found this very helpful," combined with a link or signature promotion
• Watch for posts with no reference to actual thread content — that's the single best human tell

 

[amyb]

Merci

 

[Leon]

I just (1:00PM 9/23) hammered another dozen. I haven't heard back from the authorities, but this is what I sent:


Registration & account gating

• Enable email verification before first post (Admin CP → Users → Registration Options)
• Turn on Q&A-style CAPTCHA or add a reCAPTCHA plugin — bots increasingly solve simple image CAPTCHAs, but a text question ("What year did this forum start?") trips them up
• Integrate StopForumSpam via a plugin (there's a free vBulletin plugin for this) — it checks new registrants against a shared spam-IP/email database at signup

New user restrictions (Usergroup Manager)

• Create a "Pending" usergroup for all new registrations
• Under that group's permissions, set "Post Moderation" = on, so their first N posts (5–10 is typical) queue for mod approval before appearing
• Promotion to full member happens automatically at that post count (Usergroups → Promotions)

Old-thread specific

• Install a "necropost warning" plugin — these show a banner like "This thread hasn't been replied to in over a year" when someone opens the reply form on an old thread. It doesn't block bots, but it's low-effort and helps human moderators/readers immediately spot suspicious revivals
• Optionally auto-close threads after X days of inactivity (some vBulletin versions/plugins support this) so replies to threads over, say, 2 years old require a mod to reopen first

Ongoing filtering

• Build a banned/flagged phrase list (Admin CP → word filters) for generic bot tells — "Great post," "Thanks for sharing," "I found this very helpful," combined with a link or signature promotion
• Watch for posts with no reference to actual thread content — that's the single best human tell

That's a lot of good suggestions, John. Thank you for your resesrch!

 

[cassidain]

is the basic problem disinterested site owners ?

 

[KevinS]

Not really disinterested. Perhaps not familiar with the practicalities of running a forum. One good thing, as has always been the case, is that there has been no “thumb on the scale” to control content. Wanna talk about WIMCO, great. Sibarth, that’s OK too. Corcoran, go for it. Just talk about St Barth.

 

[Jim A]

It's too bad and I suspect getting tougher to battle by the day. On a positive note I've never so many new posts on the trip report forum

 

[BND]

So greatful for all those with expert knowlwdge who want to keep the forum the special entity it is! Love our forum and our forum friends. As Amy would say, "Ah, St Barth."

 

[cec1]

Not really disinterested. Perhaps not familiar with the practicalities of running a forum. One good thing, as has always been the case, is that there has been no “thumb on the scale” to control content. Wanna talk about WIMCO, great. Sibarth, that’s OK too. Corcoran, go for it. Just talk about St Barth.

So well said, Kevin! As always, thanks to you, John, & Dennis for keeping the site running & a valuable source of information, pleasure, & entertainment!