Linky Restrictions for New Members ... ?

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Would it be possible/sensible/logical to consider/re-consider/include a restriction/barring/banning system to be imposed for brand new members to stop/prevent/avoid them adding links in their posts until, say, they have reached a pre-determined number of posts ... 10 ... 25 ... 50 ... or something like ... :thinking: ... in the same way as is done for restricting New Member postings in Personal Classifieds ... :shrug:


I acknowledge you will never eliminate the problem entirely, especially for the determined type, but it might help to avoid/delay/put off such postings by professionals/bodies/companies who sign in and immediately proceed to post an advertising thread c/w linky to their web site or worse ... :eek: ...

... as if anyone would be so forward I know ... ;)


Just a thought ... :D



:p
 
Gets my vote!
 
It would still need to allow them to post images up though.
not sure of this software but some forum software treats image urls and links as the same thing.
 
Yeah, I wouldn't want to prevent new people from sharing images. Also, when new members introduce themselves, it's nice to be able to see their websites (if they have a website.)
 
We need Marcel to tell us what is possible. A woodworking forum I use mangles any links posted within the first 5 posts of joining. You can work out the link but not click it. Different site software so don't know if we could do that.
 
Mr V wins this week's prize for the most //////////// in any post. :D :D
 
Thats why I suggested it may require some code writing, as the software may not be capable of doing this on its own. Preventing URL tags may also prevent IMG tags, etc, so whilst I agree with the idea, only if it can be done effectively ;)
 
surely people could just post the urls without making them links?

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk

Whilst a good idea in theory, it would be far too easy to get around...
 
That's true but the lazy amongst us would never get to see whatever site they are pimping :lol:
 
I have paid a coder to write a plug in for me that stops people posting more than 2 new threads in a month in my free to advertise classified forum. It originated because I had commercial businesses placing ads all over the place. When someone asked in a thread where to locate some music or for a particular CD etc, this commercial business always jumped into the thread with a link and image directly to their online catalogue.

Many of my members got naffed off with this, and I decided that despite asking them to stop, they continued - so I had this piece of code written that stops people doing that.

Only two per month now :)
 
I would imagine this would be extremely difficult to implement. And very easy to circumvent. And therefore, sadly, not worth the trouble.
 
Gets my vote too, if it can be done that is. If people want to advertise a photographic service they should have to contact the admin so they can decide if they want it posted or not. Unless of course they're also coming here to share images/knowledge etc.
 
alternatives would be hiting the notify button on any posts that are suspect, i will have a quick look to see whats possible and what isnt
 
I'm sure there are enough savvy members to spot the kind of post this is referring to by using the notify button? The few examples I've seen in recent days have been stamped on pretty damn quick by the staff.
 
It gets my vote.

... and it can't be that hard. I suspect I could write the PHP in an hour or so. Not that difficult a task to query the number of posts a person has and then process a post to see if there are links in it.
 
I'm glad someone has mentioned links (sorry went slightly off topic in Big Cat thread)

I have a picasa web album where I have started putting all my photos - what are the rules surrounding me putting the link to my web album in my signature and also my rugby site where a lot of my match pics go?

Would be grateful if someone could point me in the right direction so I don't mess up in my first week :D
 
2blue4u said:
I would imagine this would be extremely difficult to implement. And very easy to circumvent. And therefore, sadly, not worth the trouble.
Click to expand...
Nope.

I, like Marcel, run a busy vBulletin forum. I delivery over 20,000,000 pages per month and have nearly 100,000 unique visitors per month. No-one circumvents this plug-in I have, they simply are not permitted to by the code.

It was easy to implement - took a coder a few hours to write, and it's been running successfully for 2 years now.

Cost: $25 for the coders time :)
 
theMusicMan said:
Nope.

I, like Marcel, run a busy vBulletin forum. I delivery over 20,000,000 pages per month and have nearly 100,000 unique visitors per month. No-one circumvents this plug-in I have, they simply are not permitted to by the code.

It was easy to implement - took a coder a few hours to write, and it's been running successfully for 2 years now.

Cost: $25 for the coders time :)
Click to expand...

would your fix cope with thisdodgysexsite at domain dot net?
 
Hi 2blue4u

No, my fix wouldn't deal with this as this isn't what it was coded for - however vBulletin itself would be able to deal with this - you just need to use 'replacement variables'. These are effectively key-words that when seen or used on a site - are replaced by something else that you specify.

My code is as Ven asked, a restriction on where and the number of posts that can be made by any member in the classified advertisements section of my forum. vB itself can deal with only allowing members to post in specific areas on a forum once they have attained a certain number of posts.
 
theMusicMan said:
No, my fix wouldn't deal with this as this isn't what it was coded for - however vBulletin itself would be able to deal with this - you just need to use 'replacement variables'. These are effectively key-words that when seen or used on a site - are replaced by something else that you specify.
Click to expand...

which was my point. it is easy to cirumvent. And I don't see how 'replacement variables' could help. Unless you replace every use of 'at' '@' '.com' '.net' '.co.uk' etc :lol:
 
I'm not convinced that it would be good idea.

Firstly, is there really a large spam problem on this forum? I don't see much of it, and the three posts that I have ever RTM'd have been removed rapidly by the admins.

Secondly, as mentioned, it would probably be pretty simple to circumevent.

And finally, I think it would be a bit restrictive to members; they wouldn't be able to post links to their sites / photos / useful tutorials etc
 
Totally agree with Ad.
I run a large (and sometimes ven popular)site and over the last 5-6 years have never needed to use this approach (although when certain sites of a dubious nature were abundant it would have been helpful).
That was a passing phase though and mostly the spambots follwoed by the paid spammers.
With the vigilance of members and mods/admin it's pretty well looked after(there) here anyway.

I think it would cause as many issues as it cures and possibly be more of a hinderance and more work when all things are considered.

Until it's a major problem I'd just be aware of it for future reference. All IMHO.
 
I suppose it's technically possible. Either via a freely available plugin, or via some hand crafted code.

But, would the end result be worth the work? To be honest, I don't think it would.
Spam isn't a problem on this forum, because we have 10 members of staff to look after things, plus you chaps hitting the RTM button at first notice of anything fishy.
So the end result is anything obvious spam (porn etc etc) is nuked very quickly by reports, and anything that 'might' be spam, is either left, or removed, or replied to. For sure though, all spam is dealt with quite quickly.

We could also alienate new members who may sign up to share a legitimate link as their first post (does happen...lol) which could cause problems.

PS. Sorry I missed this yesterday, was having a BBQ for my wifes birthday :D
 
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