I like these forums because it feels like you are talking to real people. On other forums I’ve been on it feels like a spam farm, where a bunch of people huddle together speaking different languages, very little makes sense. I won’t name names though
That’s why I’ve stuck around SitePoint a few years. And their books are really good, my personal favorite is Simply SQL. I would like them to make more books like this in great detail. I’m interested in Python, but Ruby is the closest thing they have right now, I’m not sure I could enjoy Ruby (though they appear similar).
PS: I’m not affliliated with SP besides using the forums like anyone else, so this isn’t an advertisement or anything, LOL.
I wonder if they are every going to update their logo, its kind of cool but it feels like it’s getting a little rusty (The little arrows). They should add a barely visible gradient on those colors, BAM, good to go LOL.
I see spammers as nothing more than annoying low life parasites on the www and I’ve been clicking that little orange flag quite a bit during the last few weeks.
In fairness to the moderators, from what I’ve seen at least 90% of the possible spam posts I have flagged have eventually been deleted or their links removed.
I “spat the dummy” one evening when it was well over 30 minutes between me flagging some posts and them still not deleted, even though I could see there were active moderators currently online.
I got a message from a mod. soon after explaining that the mods can be busy doing other things etc etc and that is fair enough and I accept that, but as I am flagging spam posts (they tend to come in short bursts) I also check to see which moderators are “on duty” and I can get a feel for what they are doing, along with all other members, by watching who is doing what on the Who’s Online listing.
More often than not, as I am flagging potential spam posts I am seeing the mods surfing from thread to thread either just viewing them or replying to them. When they are actually moderating, their activity comes up as “moderating”.
Now I accept that mods. might have a higher priority of helping others by replying to posts in threads or doing “other things”, but the side effect of that, for me at least, is that it takes away a lot of incentive to even flag the posts especially if I am expecting to log off soon because I know the spam posts are unlikely to be removed before I log off.
The annoying part of these short bursts of spam posts is that they appear as new posts to a thread and when people click the thread they find the latest post is garbage.
[FONT=“Georgia”]Kalon, please remember that the mods are mostly volunteer staff.
We’re all here to browse, read and learn just like everyone else so please be mindful of that before you’re critical about those evil “other things” that you mentioned in your post.
Thank you for reporting spam posts. It helps.
It’s not always possible for us to hang on your beck and call, but we do it as efficiently as possible while still allowing playtime for persons who are not paid for the amount of work they do. And trust me, there’s a lot.
I understand the point you’re making about the reduced incentive, but please hang in there and keep reporting them when you see them.
You said so yourself, it mightn’t always happen quickly, but we’re still among the most thorough that I’ve ever seen as well.
I realise that no-one is at my beck and call, and as I said most if not all the posts I flag, and I assume that everyone else flags as well, will eventually be looked at.
but unfortunately my tolerance level of spammers and the time it is taking to delete their posts is not as high as it probably should be.
hey, I’ve just had an idea.!! :lightbulb:lightbulb
what about giving my account access rights to delete spam posts on the spot? (I wouldn’t want to be a full mod)
I’ll fix 'em up for ya and that will free up some time for the mods.
That’s one job I’ll be happy to do free of charge.
Sometimes we appear online because we always have one window open with the forum sitting there… but on many occasions we’re working so it is not like we’re here. Sometimes, as Shaun says, we’re simply looking at other threads, learning and answering questions.
Still, we are aware that we need to improve and we try to do just that everyday.
Regarding giving your account access rights to delete spam posts on the spot… that will make you and advisor and that comes with other responsibilities too
Regarding free of charge… hey, we all do it for free!
We did discussed at one point how to get people involved to report more, or giving more privileges to mentors, but we didn’t find a real, feasible solution.
I wish that more people would report… unfortunately, there are not so many that do it. A shame!
but from my personal perspective, it would give me more incentive to flag potential spam if I believed there was say a 90% chance that it will be looked at in say 10 minutes max from the time I flag it.
I know that’s easier said than done and that resourcing is not the problem of the moderators, but probably that of someone higher up the food chain.
to give you an example, if I now see spams appearing in various threads but I know that within say 30 minutes I will be logging off I probably wouldn’t take the time to flag the posts because I feel they will most likely still be there when I log off but will eventually be looked at some time after I log off. but if I felt there was a high probability that the flagged posts would be looked at within 10 minutes then I would definitely flag the posts because I would know they would be gone while I am still logged on and I wouldn’t have to put up with them for very long.
Sorry to say so, but this doesn’t make any sense to me. You don’t flag because you think the message is still there after 30 minutes. If you don’t flag though you can be sure the message is still there after those 30 minutes
Flagging something cost you what? 1 second? You are not obliged to write something when you flag. So what you actually say is that, when you know you’re going off line within the next 1/2 hour you won’t flag, because the span will probably still be there when you logoff. Maybe that is even worse
I’m sure he does Since, that’s how I see Kalon, always helpful. But this didn’t sound right that’s all. It’s the same as saying. I would alarm the Police, when witnessing a robbery If I was sure they would react within 10 minutes, but since I know they won’t, I can’t bother to report it
Perhaps you need a new category in the annual readers awards:
‘Spam-buster of the year’
Or perhaps keep a user high score table of successful spams wiped out per user, that’d get people hunting them down!
I’m like kalon, I fly into spam rage very easily :kaioken:
Though we’re fortunate here that’s it’s being kept in check
Would be an interesting programming challenge to come up some sort of smart filter for forums that detects fluff and spam and alerts moderators automatically
e.g
spam factor = links to content ratio X spelling mistakes X keywords from list X previous posts deleted / time registered X amount of posts
and that will free up some time for the mods.
