What's going on?

[Sven]

No new post in 36 hours?

Has Tim abandoned development? Has this forum outlived it's usufullness for him?

Or are people just no longer interested and have moved on?

[Marcie]

Hi Sven - I posted elsewhere that Tim had the forum locked mostly for newer members because of malware/spam attacks on this domain. I'll let you know when there is an update.

[Sven]

Well, whatever Tim is doing, it is taking too long.

If Tim really thinks that this forum is a tool for his selling, it should be solved pronto.

Internet forums die quickly if not maintained. Not allowing postings to keep spam away is very crude and poor management...

And to think that this spam situation was the reason why I stopped being a moderator months ago... So basically nothing has been done for months. Or at least, that is the message because Tim does not communicate at all.

In short, he does not seem to care, this forum does not matter anymore. I'd like to see that he does care!

[Marcie]

Hi Sven - Tim does care, we've had several conversations about this forum...without going into too much detail, we're working on it. As you know, the spammers always figure out how to get in front of the vbulletin updates so we're doing the best we can - and the last attack took down not just the forum but the whole domain to include his blog so, his domain, his call - thanks for understanding.

[Sven]

Hi Marcie, that is just the kind of info that puts everything in perspective. I thought it was only about the forum, which I feel could have been taken care of.

Only now that you wrote this the severity has become clear. So please give us some heads up every now and then.

Thanks for the reply!

[Marcie]

I will be updating everyone as soon as I know something. Thanks!

[bsiege]

So is the site officially unlocked? (I assume it will be slow for a bit due to lost users)


I gotta say I was a bit sad when I heard they locked it. It has been an excellent resource for my business, and I hope others+myself will be able to continue using it.

Thanks

[FrozenCanuck]

Hey Marcie,

I understand the problem, definitely. We've suggested a few things here and I'm curious what Tim thinks.

Two very simple ideas, to repeat:

1) Paywall. Make people pay a small one time fee to post. Keeps all the spammers out. $5 or something tiny would be something nobody will complain about (if they do they are not serious). But it completely fixes the spam problem.

2) Certain number of posts required before you can drop any links at all. Makes it a major hurdle for spammers to use the site.

Another one I'll add is don't allow the site to be searched unless you are logged in. That will take away a lot of spammer interest.