SPAM!

KevinW · Post by **KevinW** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 3:14 pm

Seriously...is there nothing that can be done about these annoying posts?

DavidC · Post by **DavidC** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 4:18 pm

What needs to be done is to have the Site Administrator(s) here set up a system of Moderators who could edit and/or take down spam posts, illegal, obscene, or abusive material, ban spammers, lock topics, etc. From what I understand, it's not that hard to do: set up a few of the people here at the Forum w/ Moderator authorities, set up a private Moderator's side forum for the Mods to be able to hash things out, and have a Site Administrator and/or Advisory Panel set up as final arbiters.

It would help greatly if we could get the Private Messaging feature back, as well.

David

Post by **Admin** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 6:01 pm

We are looking into your concern(s) and hope to address them in a timely fashion.

Thank you for your patience and participation in WrightChat.

sjnorris · Post by **sjnorris** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 7:31 pm

Since this is a FREE chat site except for the few that make a donation is it really that hard to pass over the spam? Better yet maybe someone here is willing to donate there time to delete the spam. Anyone ?

How many of are wonderful chatters make a donation to FLWBC ?.

Paul Ringstrom · Post by **Paul Ringstrom** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 7:47 pm

I would be more than happy to volunteer to be the designated SPAM deleter, if given the authority.

Yes, let's also turn PM back on.

Wrightgeek · Post by **Wrightgeek** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 8:49 pm

I'm pretty sure that many of the participants on Wright Chat are dues paying members of the Conservancy, and/or also pay to attend events that support the Conservancy. Many also volunteer their time and effort at Conservancy functions like the annual Conference and the "Out and About" events.

That said, I would also be willing to volunteer my time to help with the moderation of this board. I'll also second the motion that the restoration of the PM function here on Wright Chat would be greatly appreciated.

DavidC · Post by **DavidC** » Thu Nov 11, 2010 6:23 am

Count me in as a volunteer "Spam Eradicator". I'd be more than happy to try and make this a better, more functional place for Wright Chatters to enjoy.

David

Paul Ringstrom · Post by **Paul Ringstrom** » Thu Nov 11, 2010 1:19 pm

Paul,

Thanks for your suggestion regarding policies and etiquette.

We are looking into several matters that have been brought to our attention for which we hope to find speedy and satisfactory solutions.

I will be sure to keep you posted as we make progress.

As always, please donâ€™t hesitate to write or call, 312.663.5500, if I may be of assistance.

Regards

Jeffrey Levine
Communications and Events Manager
The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 11:14 am

Despite the above-posted letter to Paul Ringstrom, nothing is apparently being done to counter the influx of commercial messages, which have progressed rapidly in only a couple of months, starting with spurious posts on existing threads and moving to new threads begun by new "members" -- with several of these just in the last 24 hours.

How long would it take an administrative official to identify these posts and remove them by executive fiat ? Two minutes a day ? I assume that the discussion board is now being targeted with this spam because the messages are allowed to remain up, presumably gathering eyeballs, rather than being removed promptly . . .

Stephen

Post by **Admin** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 2:30 pm

Recently it has come to our attention that there has been an influx of spam posts and topics. We have taken down these posts and banned several WrightChat usernames as well as associated IP addresses. We will continue to ban users and delete erroneous posts that do not adhere to our terms of service.

Please know that we are dedicated to maintaining WrightChat as the premier place to discuss Wright's architecture and legacy, unencumbered by spam or other unwanted content.

If you have any comments or concerns, please email preservation[at]savewright[dot]org.

Thank you all for your concern and I look forward to a spam-free 2011.

egads · Post by **egads** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 8:47 pm

I think "concerns" have been more than communicated to the admin of this site. The site needs updated software and regular moderators. All internet posting sites have moderators. This one seems to rarely have the presence of one. Several regulars have volunteered. Have those offers been responded to?

As a complete aside: Because my partner is a working performing artist, I have some insight into all arts organizations. Here is my main observation: There is no money in the arts, only power. All too often arts administrators are frankly, control freaks. Many organizations are held back by this. If the folks in charge would only let go a little, progress could be made. So, as Niecy Nash says, "get ta gettin'

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 9:08 pm

At the moment, all the recent spammer-initiated threads have been removed. Lets thank to the administration for that ! We can assume, from the statement above, that those posters have been barred from further activity on the site.

Spam messages remain in threads such as "Top ten least favorite . . .", "Small houses in Milwaukee", "Tracy Residence for sale", etc.

Stephen

WiscoUsonIan · Post by **WiscoUsonIan** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 7:36 am

Thats the problem... more users will be accessing the site now, especially since it's already been breached. New accounts will be created, more posts added, and we'll be in the same position as we are now. There are a few ways to help relieve the spam issues... but the end result is that registration policies must change. BTW anyone know what version of PHPBB we're on? I see a Â© 2001, 2005 phpBB Group so it must be an old version, with outdated spam measures?

As others have said, It's not that hard to allow a few active users become administrators to delete new threads, as well as posts within existing topics. Then that can be sent to a high-level Admin to ban a user and/or IP. And as we've seen, there are many members who will be willing to help the spam issue (myself included) in exchange for a spam free website, WITH a pm system.

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 11:11 am

Iheard another forum I attend, just signed up, has had spam issues as well.
I got an email had to state why I was joining the forum and I was in. I couldn't post anything till going through the email notification

Wonder if they thought about this for this forum.

DavidC · Post by **DavidC** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:36 am

It's very good to know that we do have someone (Pat Mahoney) checking in on things to help relieve us of our spam overload.

But with a non-functioning private message system, how are we to let him know that new spam and spammers have shown up? For example, alp12ha arrives on the scene two days ago and spams up a storm. I hope to be able to let the proper authorities know of this latest invasion. But when I click on the 'Private Message' button of moderator pmahoney I am left with the usual "Private messaging has been disabled on this board." response.

If we are to truly to begin to fight spam and the like here at Wright Chat and facilitate it's removal, we need to be able to work together as a team at this - both administrators/moderators and forum participants.

David