Enough is enough

[Bonzo]

It is about time that the Haynes admin got on top of these spam posts.

Now the site is being bombarded with porno spam.

Here was I thinking this was a family forum.

Here's a top tip, employ admin staff that are actually capable of doing the job they are being paid to do.

It's a simple piece of forum software, how difficult can it be !!??

[Big Vern]

Originally Posted by Bonzo

It is about time that the Haynes admin got on top of these spam posts.

Now the site is being bombarded with porno spam.

Here was I thinking this was a family forum.

Here's a top tip, employ admin staff that are actually capable of doing the job they are being paid to do.

It's a simple piece of forum software, how difficult can it be !!??

I suspect if we moan too much they'll just close the site down siting an irrepairable problem.
The spammers have exploited a loophole in the sites basic design which is why its not proved an easy or quick fix.

[Dualist]

It has been a couple of weeks now and no doubt that he's gonna be on holiday for the next 10 days before anything is bloody sorted.
Haynes should get an admin that can do the bloody job.
Worse case they can do a back up, install the new upgrade and get George (eva2000) who helped write the vb code to set it up for us, he's an Ozzy so would do it for a few tinnies.
All depends though if the mysql on the server is upto date.

[Bonzo]

Originally Posted by Big Vern

The spammers have exploited a loophole in the sites basic design which is why its not proved an easy or quick fix.

Said with the very greatest of respect BV

The sign up procedure of this forum is/was insanely amateur at best.

This was a problem waiting to happen.

Admin had the chance to close this forum to new members within 24 hrs of this all kicking off.
Instead, chose not to do so for several weeks, resulting in several thousand sleeping accounts that now need to be cleaned up.

Sorry, in my book, that's just sheer incompetence.


Yes, I know, this forum is provided free by Haynes but at the end of the day it must be a valuable marketing tool for them, else they wouldn't waste resources on it.

Every member who has bought the Haynes title " Build your own sports car on a budget " has paid for this forum.

Said book being one of Haynes best selling titles.

[twinturbo]

Originally Posted by Dualist

It has been a couple of weeks now and no doubt that he's gonna be on holiday for the next 10 days before anything is bloody sorted.
Haynes should get an admin that can do the bloody job.
Worse case they can do a back up, install the new upgrade and get George (eva2000) who helped write the vb code to set it up for us, he's an Ozzy so would do it for a few tinnies.
All depends though if the mysql on the server is upto date.

May wana tone that down a bit.


What's your day job? do you think Admin does not have one to get on with rather than supporting us lot for free? We have to remember we are free loading in a minuscule organisation.

Admin has stated that new software is coming (vbul is not free) and has closed new registration until new year when it is hoped the update can be applied.

Me and Ash will continue sweeping the floor, things are improving as less spam is appearing.


If us two can get by, then the rest of you should be able to avoid the chaff...

TT

[Bonzo]

Nice to know that us forum members are seen to be a bunch of free loaders.

The latest version of Vbulliten hardly breaks the bank at $240 odd dollars.

Small beer in the context of the profits made from the sale of the book !?

[twinturbo]

I am a member of the forum. It's provided FOC so I am classed the same as every other person here, i am using haynes generosity and I have had more info, fun, conversation from the forum than the cost of the book many times over.

We can't knock the person who has a day job to look after what he is paid to do. ( i know I provide support for a large institution and some things have to give)

The forum was provided free, maintained free to all users, many have not purchased the book.

Support admin otherwise it's "thanks for all the fish" time as that's the easy option.


TT

[twinturbo]

$240 still has to go through process, finance teams can be slow.

the implementation. " do it once, do it right "


TT

[alga]

I have a few comments. Obviously, this forum is not the first priority for the Haynes admins. We have to live with that. The way they dealt with the spam problem indicates that they didn't have more than about 1 hour to spend on the forum during the two months we are having this problem (if we discout the possibility that they are grossly incompetent).

Personally, I find it strange that commercial forum software was chosen when the Open Source alternatives are way more flexible, easy to use and secure.

Lastly, running a forum site costs peanuts, contrary to what the locostbuilders owner would like everyone to think.

TT, if I gave you a list of suspicious accounts, would you be able to remove them? It's obvious which ones are spam when looking at them -- home page URLs in Ukraine or Poland, ICQ numbers set, registered this autumn, gibberish location and interests, last seen on the day they registered. (e.g., http://www.haynes.co.uk/forums/member.php?u=3984, http://www.haynes.co.uk/forums/member.php?u=6248 and http://www.haynes.co.uk/forums/member.php?u=5078). I suppose I could spider the user list and put it into a spreadsheet. That would make filtering fake users not very hard.

[twinturbo]

Hi Albert,

I can give it a go, although it may lead to genuine readers being banned.

The backend ( as I see it ) does not allow sorting by registration date which is a pain.

There maiy have been a reason for having to use VB, many companies won't let OpenSource anywhere near production system.

TT