Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

kylelandry · 2011-11-21 18:04:52

The Moderators and I have been discussing the serious spam overload issue. In order to slow this problem down, we are currently considering an addition to the current group of moderators. If you are interested in applying, please follow the link below:

http://www.kylelandry.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=289

As far as other updates I have been working on...

1) 350 characters allowed in signatures instead of 200.
2) Members can now post every 10 seconds as opposed to 60 seconds.
3) A post leveling-up system has been added. You start at level 0, get to level 1 at 10 posts, and level 2 at 20 posts and so forth.
4) Forum updates now has its own section!
5) A rules link has been added at the top between the user list and search features.
6) Links open in *NEW* tabs!!!!!!!
7) I have completed editing sheet music to my Etude in A minor - Homage to Chopin, is anyone interested in the sheets?

I hope this helps! I am still working on getting links to open in new tabs. I will need Guillaume to sort this out!

Gryephon · 2011-11-21 18:12:36

kylelandry wrote:

6) I have completed editing sheet music to my Etude in A minor - Homage to Chopin, is anyone interested in the sheets?

You asked the wrong question... The correct question is, 'who isn't interested?'

But yes to your original question.

InfestedNerd · 2011-11-21 19:00:51

As much as I want to be a mod, I don't know if I qualify. :0

EDIT: Can you also reduce the time between searches (30 seconds currently) and the time between reporting (20 seconds)

Last edited by InfestedNerd (2011-11-21 19:35:29)

Gryephon · 2011-11-22 10:35:35

InfestedNerd wrote:

As much as I want to be a mod, I don't know if I qualify. :0

Could bribe people with nerd points.

InfestedNerd · 2011-11-22 17:23:31

Ha, I'd have to do some weird math to get kyle out of negative infinity.

Last edited by InfestedNerd (2011-11-22 17:23:41)

Gryephon · 2011-11-22 17:25:31

InfestedNerd wrote:

Ha, I'd have to do some weird math to get kyle out of negative infinity.

Negative, why isn't it positive?

InfestedNerd · 2011-11-22 17:27:57

Because he haxored my signature and gave himself 129123 points.

Kana · 2011-11-22 20:34:41

Good to see the limits being expanded. And the new Updates forum is nice. The Rules link looks clean and proper where it is now. Good addition there. Though the leveling system isn't visible to those who have a custom title. Or does that imply 1000+ posts awards you this custom/max level?

Nice re-name for "Say Anything", I was wondering if that was ever going to change ^_^

kylelandry wrote:

I hope this helps! I am still working on getting links to open in new tabs. I will need Guillaume to sort this out!

It's working now! Awesome job guys. Give thanks to Guillaume if he doesn't see this <3

Iota · 2011-11-22 20:37:16

yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss ty

Cry Stall · 2011-11-22 20:37:58

*bows to Guillaume* Thank you!!!

MrStinji · 2011-11-29 15:52:22

kylelandry wrote:

6) I have completed editing sheet music to my Etude in A minor - Homage to Chopin, is anyone interested in the sheets?

I'd love the sheets, I want to make a youtube channel with all covers of you I can get smile
I learned Colors of the Wind and The Little Mermaid Already.

I will put these videos up in the hollidays.

Last edited by MrStinji (2011-11-29 15:52:41)

marnixschut · 2011-12-02 08:17:42

kylelandry wrote:

The Moderators and I have been discussing the serious spam overload issue. In order to slow this problem down, we are currently considering an addition to the current group of moderators. If you are interested in applying, please follow the link below:
http://www.kylelandry.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=289
As far as other updates I have been working on...
1) 350 characters allowed in signatures instead of 200.
2) Members can now post every 10 seconds as opposed to 60 seconds.
3) A post leveling-up system has been added. You start at level 0, get to level 1 at 10 posts, and level 2 at 20 posts and so forth.
4) Forum updates now has its own section!
5) A rules link has been added at the top between the user list and search features.
6) Links open in *NEW* tabs!!!!!!!
7) I have completed editing sheet music to my Etude in A minor - Homage to Chopin, is anyone interested in the sheets?
I hope this helps! I am still working on getting links to open in new tabs. I will need Guillaume to sort this out!

I certainly would be interested in that sheet! And I'm happy that links open now in new tabs haha it was pissing me off. Btw are you still thinking of teaching through webcam? If so please contact me, I am really interested in the idea.

Gryephon · 2011-12-03 09:06:07

Hey, is it possible to remove the FluxBB in the board footer? If I were to build a spam bot, I would have it scour the internet for Zetaboards, Invisionfree, SMF, FluxBB, et cetera (And cross reference the search criteria with common topic words such as "FAQ", "Welcome" "Members" et cetera) Because FluxBB is mentioned there, its possible to find this by typing "FluxBB". If it's illegal to do so (as in required by license agreement), you could make a fancy picture of it so that it isn't text, that way you couldn't google it. You could also change the title of your forum page (so you can't find your forum using the common "forum" search term) like name it clubroom instead of forum.

Also a suggestion might be to remove your site from all search engines, and just have the only link through youtube channel… Spambots should only come from search engines… I bet if you poll the question of where everyone found you link, the answer should return YouTube channel… I doubt anyone typed in a bunch of random letters and found your site without meaning to. (even a search term such as "youtube pianist" wouldn't return you your results… Of course I just skimmed the first 20 pgs of that search term and I couldn't find you... Maybe page 1 billion I might find you.. But the point is no human would)

Last edited by Gryephon (2011-12-03 09:09:36)

G_Snake · 2011-12-03 10:17:19

Great idea about removing the footer link, Gryephon. Logistically speaking, removing footer links like that is often against the Terms of Service of things like FluxBB, unfortunately. But you're right about how spam bots work. As far as changing the title of the page goes, I'm pretty sure there are other footprints that can be used to find this site and others like it, just like you said to an extent.

Over 8,000 people a month search for Kyle on Google. Kyle has built up enough of a brand to get significant search traffic on his own now. Your reasoning is sound and that's a good idea about polling everyone, there are just tools that give insight on that already. Thanks for your input.

Gryephon · 2011-12-03 12:18:36

Well the terms of service should be easy to get around... You can contact FluxBB, find the person In charge and negotiate a new terms of service (some negotiating ideas might be that we'll replace the FluxBB text to a picture with something like "Powered by FluxBB, KYLE LANDRY Recommends FluxBB". FluxBB may listen to it when they understand how big Kyle is, and that he recommends them). Problem Solved.

There is another option, having a registry committee. All registering members have to email to be approved by one of the committee members or admin. Like set up a gmail account (e.g. landryforums@gmail.com) and have them email something like "I would like to become part of the forum" (This way we know that it's a human, not a computer)... And give all the committee members the password for them to check everyday and sort through the registration mail. That way they can sort through the spambots and they wouldn't show up on here. Albeit, registering won't be automatic, but it should be a sure fire way to reduce spam.

Just disable forum registration and put "Register Forums" at the top (where it has youtube, forum, sheet, et cetera) it should be pretty simple instead of hasselling with a lot of code.

Out of curiosity, where is that 8,000 number coming from? I'm sure your right, but I just want to verify.

Last edited by Gryephon (2011-12-03 12:21:36)

Kana · 2011-12-03 14:09:38

To my understanding. These two search terms account for a small portion of the traffic

ps3 games "powered by fluxbb" - 2.74%

ps3 game "powered by yabb" - 5.51%

Then the majority of the rest of the traffic is "kyle landry" and variations on his name and mispellings. Combinations with "youtube" like "Kyle landry youtube" and the such also factor in. This could be out-dated info but it shows you're somewhat correct gryephon (I think).

Last edited by Kana (2011-12-03 14:10:57)

Gryephon · 2011-12-03 14:17:00

Woaw??? How do you know those numbers =o

Gryephon · 2011-12-04 18:44:37

Hey kyle, have ya'll tried out Google ReCaptcha yet?

http://www.google.com/recaptcha

http://fluxbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=5636

G_Snake · 2011-12-04 20:55:38

This might not be where Magicturbo got the numbers, but you can find them at Alexa. My numbers, however, come from the Google Keyword Tool as well as top of the line paid keyword tools. I make my living being right about that stuff. Lol.

Having a committee would be a sure fire solution, yes, though perhaps not the most practical. There are ways to semi-automate it, thankfully. I'd elaborate, but this is far too reminiscent of the Report In For Brainstorming Ideas. Lots of ideas, not a lot of Kyle. So I'm waiting to hear his thoughts.

Unfie · 2011-12-05 07:20:17

Thanks Kyle and French boss.

Last edited by Unfie (2011-12-05 07:20:50)

leekaiwei · 2011-12-08 04:39:26

This is getting ridiculously bad.

G_Snake · 2011-12-08 06:49:48

The spam? You have no idea whatsoever how much worse it would be without the mods. Seriously. I ban most of these guys before anyone notices they're there. Gary does a ton, too.

IF you're still thinking about getting a new mod, Kyle, pick one that will be up during UK hours or something. I'm banning 10-25+ spammers during the day just fine, but I'm not getting the nighttime ones until the following morning.

Mercutio · 2011-12-08 07:18:50

Does reporting them when you come across them help make deleting the posts easier for mods through collating the posts, or should I just leave them? I reported about 10 in the space of five minutes sometime today, then just gave up with I saw another three.

G_Snake · 2011-12-08 07:46:32

Excellent question. Personally, I just sweep through every section and cross reference the reports to make sure I don't miss anything. GaryOak, however, may go through each report himself since he isn't on here as much. I don't know.

A safe medium would be to report on a spammer to spammer basis. In other words, if Mr. Spammer posts 8 times, only report him once and we'll find the rest.

A less cumbersome option would be to report by section (The Clubhouse, Video Game Informer, etc). We'd see the one spammer there and be able to follow up on any others.

Mercutio · 2011-12-08 07:53:14

I tried to only report a given spammer one time because I figured such. I was really surprised today to see how overwhelming the problem was for a relatively modest forum like this one.

#1 2011-11-21 18:04:52

Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#2 2011-11-21 18:12:36

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#3 2011-11-21 19:00:51

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#4 2011-11-22 10:35:35

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#5 2011-11-22 17:23:31

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#6 2011-11-22 17:25:31

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#7 2011-11-22 17:27:57

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#8 2011-11-22 20:34:41

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#9 2011-11-22 20:37:16

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#10 2011-11-22 20:37:58

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#11 2011-11-29 15:52:22

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#12 2011-12-02 08:17:42

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#13 2011-12-03 09:06:07

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#14 2011-12-03 10:17:19

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#15 2011-12-03 12:18:36

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#16 2011-12-03 14:09:38

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#17 2011-12-03 14:17:00

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#18 2011-12-04 18:44:37

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#19 2011-12-04 20:55:38

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#20 2011-12-05 07:20:17

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#21 2011-12-08 04:39:26

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#22 2011-12-08 06:49:48

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#23 2011-12-08 07:18:50

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#24 2011-12-08 07:46:32

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

#25 2011-12-08 07:53:14

Re: Updates (11/21/11) - Recent Spam Problem and New Stuff!

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