I have to admit that I'm a fair newbie when it comes to forums.
But is that sort of spamming thing common?
Whoever did that needs a hot poker installed somewhere private.
Must be tough for them though, you know, alone in their moms basement, naked in front of the computer with a bag of Cheetos.
Cheers
Fred
Looks like they're still at it. China strikes again!
Yep... mainland China, judging by their ISP codes. Whoever is behind the 400-500 spam threads that popped up today surely doesn't think BritishV8 readers are itching to buy counterfeit designer handbags by mail-order. Instead, they apparently think text links from message boards like ours will give their websites more credibility from search engines. (Google isn't so easily gamed, but perhaps some of the more primitive search engines are.) I like the red hot poker idea, but it would be so much better if people (and companies) around the globe would simply stop buying junk from the Chinese.
I deliberately made it easy for someone who discovers BritishV8 to immediately get an ID, post their first message, and include text links in that message. I wanted to encourage quick growth and active participation... but maybe it's time to put some controls back in. Just adding a timed delay between when a person requests an ID and when it's activated is enough to cut spam significantly. Then there are other strategies, such as having a moderator review the application, reviewing the first post, etc.
If this becomes a problem & you need some of us to sign up to help with moderating you can sign me up.