Accounts <50 posts permissions changes : dealing with spam.

[bapoumba]

Hello

We will be taking away profile customization from users having less than 50 beans (beans are posts in the support sections). We are quite sorry about that, but currently it takes at least one hour from 2-3 persons, each day, to clean profile spam. New users register only to fill the account with spam links, pics and things.

We have waited for a long time before deciding we would be less friendly to genuine new users, but we are quite tired of spending so much human resources on so little interesting tasks.

Once an account has 50 beans, all profile customization (including avatar and signature) will be available.

If you have an account < 50 beans, your customization will not be lost and you'll have access again to all the info once you hit 50 beans.

A script is running every hour on the active (logged in) accounts to adjust the permissions (the usergroups more precisely).

If an account > 50 beans has not been active over the last month, it will take at most an hour for it to be bumped in the proper usergroup and have all the shiny and sparkling personal touch back.
For people who have logged in at least once over the last month, it should be all transparent.

Any admin can manually adjust the profile settings, so if you get quite anxious or nervous, please ask in the Resolution Center and understand it will not be treated as an emergency call


We will change the permissions this week-end (Sept 2nd-3rd).

Thanks for your understanding.

[haqking]

Sounds like a great idea.

Guess i will have to look for my shoes and handbags elsewhere now, oh well

Is there anyway you can make this as a greeting for new users so you dont get bogged down with issues relatiing to the changes ?

[bapoumba]

Sounds like a great idea.

Guess i will have to look for my shoes and handbags elsewhere now, oh well

Is there anyway you can make this as a greeting for new users so you dont get bogged down with issues relatiing to the changes ?

Do not forget the watches
I have a few links handy before we purge our spam forum as we do every month or so ^^

We'll adjust the greeting PM accordingly, but I know it wont stop the flood of recurring questions until the new setting blends in minds over the next few months.

[haqking]

Do not forget the watches
I have a few links handy before we purge our spam forum as we do every month or so ^^

We'll adjust the greeting PM accordingly, but I know it wont stop the flood of recurring questions until the new setting blends in minds over the next few months.

ha ha yeah i bookmark most of them LOL

fair one, sounds like a good plan anyways.

[bapoumba]

ha ha yeah i bookmark most of them LOL

fair one, sounds like a good plan anyways.

We'll see

I expect some adjustments from spammers. Either they will post links in posts, which can be found easily or they will go posts hunting to get to the limit. 50 should be enough to allow finding them out without being too annoying to genuine users. Keep your eyes open.

[PCaddicted]

The new users could consider it discrimination and they could be upset.
Plus that, indeed, true spammers could simply go bean hunting in the support sections-for example by posting support requests for problems they don't have. This way they could quickly hit 50 posts.
But it's still a useful measure to handle spam. Newcomers will have to suffer, but that's it.

[haqking]

The new users could feel this is discrimination and they could be upset. They will invoke the reason that we were all green users at first. Not every new user is a spammer.
Plus that, indeed, true spammers could simply go bean hunting in the support sections-for example by posting support requests for problems they don't have. This way they could quickly hit 50 posts.
Luckily for me, I now have almost 4 times the minimum bean count, so the restriction does not affect me

Well if the new user or current user below 50 does not post very often, then there is no real need to be able to adjust profile as it is rarely seen.

If the person posts alot or will be posting alot then 50 is nothing and within a few days they could be able to change profile.

Besides lots of places have restrictions as noobs, you earn the right !

Like here you cant adjust your own custom (dipped in, roasted blah blah) until over 3000 posts.

If new users are quick to complain about discrimination then they are likely to be a pain as poster anyways IMO......of course i might very well be one also, thats life

[PCaddicted]

Like here you cant adjust your own custom (dipped in, roasted blah blah) until over 3000 posts.

Interesting . Didn't know that.
But I don't post too much in support sections thus I have few chances to ever hit 3000 beans.

[Paddy Landau]

Spammers spoil it for everone else -- that's a fact of Internet life.

I belong to forums where you can't even start a new thread until you've posted 10 times (without spamming).

[cgroza]

Good idea. I support this.