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Trying to eliminate Spam

Lucas Garron

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Okay, spam is starting to get a bit bad, and a completely different problem from people who have no idea about cubing.

Could we give experienced members the ability to tag something as spam, like on YouTube? This way, we might not, say, get people quoting spam, which is harder to get rid of. :rolleyes:

We should, of course have some specifications, make sure it's not abused, and have a mod review spam before deletion, but it might be nice if the spam is replaced early by "This post by [spammer] was marked as spam by [should we put the marker's name?]. Click here to view it, anyhow." The word "spam" could also be linked to a description of a forum policy on it.
 

PCwizCube

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What about the report button below your avatar? It's designed for reporting spamming and advertising and I think it works well. I have used it and the post has been deleted by a moderator.
 

JBCM627

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And yeah, why not just use the already existing report button? I guess it isn't too obvious, but it seems like this idea is already implemented. Perhaps to increase its chance of being used, move the report button over near the "quote" button, or somewhere in the actual post? Change the image also, so it includes the word "Report".

Here is another suggestion, which I posted in another thread as well, and is more appropriate in this thread.

One idea for reducing repeated threads I saw in a physics forum: automatically hyperlink certain very common phrases. Such as, when displaying a page, any (not already linked) phrases such as "best time" would automatically link to the thread with best times. Or "lubricant" could link to another thread discussing this. Obviously these would have to be picked very carefully to avoid linking every other word in someone's post, and to reduce chances of it linking in the wrong context. It would also be a good idea to make a tag to disinclude this linking if a poster wishes.
 

Dorsenstein

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And yeah, why not just use the already existing report button? I guess it isn't too obvious, but it seems like this idea is already implemented. Perhaps to increase its chance of being used, move the report button over near the "quote" button, or somewhere in the actual post? Change the image also, so it includes the word "Report".
Or Just make the report button really big. Like this:
REPORT THIS POST
Well, maybe it could be a tad smaller...

Nah!

:D:D:D
 

StachuK1992

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I used the report button today... it made me feel good about myself.

If you don't think the report button is large enough, require the forum to be viewed at a screen resolution of 320x240.
I also used the report button today...I DON"T WANT WoW GOLD!!!

but nice one about the 320x240 res.

another way to accomplish this goal would be to not be an idiot

edit--
after reading this post, i realized that it sounds...angry
sorry, not to be angry, just proving a point...
 
Last edited:

shelley

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You don't need to be meticulous about it. When it's obvious spam I just type "spam" as the reason and let it speak for itself.
 

McWizzle94

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JBCM627

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You don't need to be meticulous about it. When it's obvious spam I just type "spam" as the reason and let it speak for itself.
ooh...I guess I was wasting my time typing out "spammer," then...:p:D

I think he might have meant it takes a while for the mods to get rid of it.

Solution: more mods? Or another level of members ("Staff" or something maybe? "Junior Moderator"?), below mods, but above members, as they may have some extra privileges?

And what does anyone think about the linking idea I had above? Actually, with the wiki coming, this could become even more useful. Links to that, instead of just other threads.
 
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ExoCorsair

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I think he might have meant it takes a while for the mods to get rid of it.

It gets emailed to us (or at least me); if I'm online, the spam gets taken care of almost immediately (huzzah, Gmail Notifier).

And what does anyone think about the linking idea I had above? Actually, with the wiki coming, this could become even more useful. Links to that, instead of just other threads.

I personally hate reading things with hotlinks in them...
 

Dorsenstein

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kungfu888 should be suspended. most people probably know this already, but who wants to be hearing about kung fu lessons (For 380 dollars?!), porcelain, and bronze, on a rubik's cube forum. It's just not right. Furthermore, it's not even in the Off-Topic section. Please send a warning of some sort to this guy(or girl).
 

Stefan

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I noticed that at least two spam bots entered a "1" or similar as WCA-ID. That could easily be detected.

Or answering a somewhat intelligent cube question could be made mandatory.
 

pjk

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I can make the min field size larger, but that won't prevent people from simply entering random numbers. There is an image verification you have to enter to register, and you have to activate your email before posting. So those spammers posting technically aren't bots.
 
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