OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I think to reduce spammers, we should consider ideas to be rid of them.
These could include:
CAPCHA (spelling) needed for an account's first 20 posts.
The first 20 posts of an account needed to be approved by a mod.

Any other ideas?

that's a bit hard to implement, as I don't think we have enough mods in enough time zones to really have proper 24 hr monitoring/post fast approval. Plus, new users tend to like seeing their new thread appear. I guess if they don't see it appear and get some 'submitted for moderation approval' or similar message, they'll go somewhere else and ask. Some even reply to their thread asking for a reply if nobody has replied within 5-10 minutes...

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Chasse Patate

The mod's are doing a good enough job, though I do know what you mean Vince...
I don't think the spammer or the bots have increased activity, but it is a good thing if forum members do spot one
Is too alert a mod right away by pressing on the exclamation button.

As for the activation thing... LOL I'm still waiting on my account to be activated in DTTW. I think it's been since march now, and it's still waiting approval from admin.

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the re-evolution of war
Bty Gergely Palio Macro Era 42.5 Max DHS H2 Max

Perhaps we should create a section just for spammers? They are people too (are they? ) and need a forum to play as well Of course we'd have to delete all non-spam posts

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Want to get rid of annoying spammers for good? Visit my website...

I still think the spammers are bots, and this forum needs a customized registration rather than the default phpbb captcha. Phpbb is popular enough that spammers will crack the default security pretty quickly.

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Equipment: Matsushita PowerDefence, Spin Art 1.9 black, Xiying 979 ox red
Style: American | US Rating: barely 2000

Perhaps to minimize spammers, we should have a screening question for anyone who wants to become a member, even something relatively simple like, "Name the two most common colors of the rubbers on a blade." (I would word it that way as opposed to "name the two most common colors on the two sides of a table tennis paddle" because non-TT folk might not even know what a "blade" or "rubbers" are.) Then have two separate fields (each accepting no more than five characters) for the two responses to eliminate punctuation issues that would come from having a single field (i.e., if there's a single field, the following becomes an issue: "red; black" "red, black" "red black"), and then make sure that the answers have "red" appearing in one field and "black" in the other. Don't know how easy that is to program, but I imagine it's not too hard. I'm sure you can think of other questions to ask that, maybe, have only one response, if that's easier to deal with, but it should be something basic that won't screen out any real prospective members. What d'ya think?

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I. Re-Impact Tachi Plus 2019; FH: Nittaku FastArc G-1 1.4mm; BH: Saviga 77 Monster OX
II. Re-Impact Turbo; FH: Spinlord Sandwind 1.5mm; BH: DMS Kamikaze OX
III. Re-Impact Smart; FH: TSP Spinpips RED 2.1mm; BH: Dr. Neubauer Gangster OX
IV. Sauer & Troger Firestarter; FH: Spinlord Waran 1.8mm; BH: Giant Dragon Snowflake OX

Anything like that, that requires thinking, is good.

Yes. A Q&A captcha will be implemented when we upgrade the forum software early in the new year.

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NITTAKU SEPTEAR cpen | FH: 729 802, 1.5, black | RPB: CORNILLEAU PILOT POWER, 2.0, red
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Yes that's right... and this forum does have more than the default captcha already, and the additional modifications used to do the job, but lately they seem to have become a lot smarter...

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

I wonder how many of them actually sign up with a person to forums, and just get a computer to post the message, because that would mean you could bypass any Captcha.

That's exactly right, and I believe that is what's been happening at least some of the time... These spammers are much harder to stop...

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

I think a good one would be that you have to enter CAPTCHA at the end of your message for your first 10 posts, if that would be possible to code.

That's a good idea and may well stop these spammers, but it would almost certainly really annoy new members as well... enough to put them off the forum completely perhaps

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

What about keywords that are triggered, such as computer, mobile phone, and then that post is put in some sort of hold until the next mod comes on, and can approve or disprove it to be put as a post on the forum?