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Not sure what is going on but.....

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Not sure what is going on but.....

Old 06-21-2018, 07:27 AM
  #11  
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Again if the site owners would put up filters to stop the bots from signing in and putting up spam You might get some old members back but isn't likely. We have gotten used to newer forums with those filters in place and is rare I mean like once ever 25 years to see spam now.


Then to be told to F off when you complain or be kicked off. Why bother?

Today only because I see I am not the only one tired of the spam here.


Al
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Old 06-21-2018, 08:16 AM
  #12  
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I haven't been signing on much and rarely post these days. I always feel that if it is fun and people get along then more people post which attracts others. When I was a mod the biggest part of my job was spam elimination. The software used by the site owners doesn't appear to do enough filtering to keep it clean of spam...at least to the level I have seen on other similar web sites. I enjoyed my moderator job but the continuous spam kind of wore me out and complaints to the admin didn't really do enough to take care of it. I can assure everyone that the mods and admin do care about it but IMO aren't really equipped or are unwilling to make enough changes through software to provide relief. The only way to keep the site spam free right now is to have enough moderator coverage especially at both ends of the day to eliminate it before it is apparent to the general membership. I took care of the early morning stuff when I was around because I am an early riser on the east coast and CalHunter often got what was left at the end of the day. Jake often worked odd shifts and would come on during the night when he got off the clock with his job. In addition there were a few other mods who came on line from time to time which helped the cause. To eliminate spam is a big job and needs plenty of moderators to stay ahead of it or initiate software to get the desired results. The mod job is just a voluntary position therefore there aren't guarantees that enough coverage will happen. People go on vacation, are busy with work or families and sometimes just get sick of spinning their wheels. I would like to see the site get back to the fun place it was a few years ago and the reality is it isn't the admin or the mods that get there....it is the members. Making quality posts, being welcoming especially to newer members who might not know the ropes and setting a good example all contribute to a place where people go to to share stories and information. Soooooo I guess it is up to the members to determine whether the site's lights stay on or fade away.
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Old 06-21-2018, 10:41 AM
  #13  
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I can understand why the mods may have gotten bored with signing on just to deal with the spam. The site has changed a lot since sachiko and I first registered. There were, at that time, long conversations on varied topics with people agreeing and disagreeing. It seems to have become the custom now for an individual to toss up a post without responding to any other posts. And, of course that post is not responded to either. sachiko attempted to turn a post by OT into a joke thread, but no one added to it, preferring to just post a single joke separately.

The political forum does have two or three people who rant and rail at each other, but little light is generated. And the topics and responses seem to get repetitive, as do the putdowns.

I suspect being a mod must have been interesting at one time. But I can see why folks who are not being paid would be unwilling to sign on here just to police the spam.
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Old 06-21-2018, 12:21 PM
  #14  
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Since the white tail section for a very long time was the first thing you saw. It got very tireing to me a vewry early riser 3:00 AM to 5:00AM ESDST most days. I got sick of the first 4 or more post some form of spam.

I complained and complained, I didn't cdomplain the mods were not doing their job it was the unwilling ness of the sites owners refuseing to put in place the tools to stop thoise spammers. As I said I belong to other forums and they do not have that problem.
Several of the forums are way more active than this one. It is a shooting form with a little section for hunting storys.

Devate from shooting subjects will get you kicked off because you were warned when you signed on. If you want to talk about your truck then go else where, tractor same. No politics at all or you get banned.

Guns, ammo, reloading, stocks, barrels, triggers, scopes and other sighting devices.
there is a section on cooking wild game along with the hunting story on harvesting said game.

I am sure this site is dieing a slow death. But with so many other places to go along with google groups and face book groups who needs to deal with spam.


Al
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Old 06-21-2018, 03:50 PM
  #15  
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Originally Posted by Champlain Islander
..it is the members. Making quality posts, being welcoming especially to newer members who might not know the ropes and setting a good example all contribute to a place where people go to to share stories and information. Soooooo I guess it is up to the members to determine whether the site's lights stay on or fade away.
This is spot on. If you want the forum to be more active, then post more . Start more threads, reply to others . AND BE PATIENT with new members. When we run a new member off, you potentially lose a poster who could eventually have 5-10,000+ posts.

We were all new at some point. Run all the new ones off and you end up with the same few long time members being the only active participants. We need new members, they're the future of this site as well as the future of hunting....

I really do think that the more active the site is, the more posts it will draw in. So if you see something that you can reply on, instead of just reading and going to the next thread....post up your thoughts and get some conversation going.

Make HNI great again...

-Jake
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Old 06-21-2018, 06:12 PM
  #16  
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Originally Posted by Gm54-120
Well, both of those links to spammer i posted are still there. Its hard for me to believe HNI is even remotely serious about dealing with the issue. One of them i think i even reported twice.

I reported one more today which will be my last. I can see im wasting my time using features that are built into the software. I know an admin logged in Yesterday 06:28 PM. If he is too busy to deal with it then so am i.
I gotta admit, Gm54 does make a good point as does alleyyooper. It's not just if the mods are removing spam, admin can do that also. More importantly, admin can use software to make it harder for spammers to get in to begin with. Gm said he complained about 2 spam posts and both are still up almost a week later. He also said he's an admin on another hunting website. Don't know what software his other website uses but obviously there are software fixes to reduce spam. It doesn't look like huntingnet is doing that.

alleyyooper mentioned he's on other websites and they have very little spam and have a few more hoops for new members or spammers to jump through. I spend a bit of time on another hunting website like champlain islander and have noticed that it has little if any spam on it either. Based on what I've seen and what the guys above are stating, it sounds like software can be used to prevent a lot of spam before it starts. This makes me wonder why that's not happening here.
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Old 06-22-2018, 03:32 AM
  #17  
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Originally Posted by elkman30
Based on what I've seen and what the guys above are stating, it sounds like software can be used to prevent a lot of spam before it starts. This makes me wonder why that's not happening here.
Spot on......and I guess that is the question I had that was asked long ago and remained unanswered. I know that software is available because some meaningful changes did happen after I decided to stop moderating out of frustration. Since the last update it looks at least to my eyes that we are sliding right back into a spot where there are more spam members signing than regular members which definitely negatively impacts the site. When I am looking at the site I always take notice of the newest member listed at the bottom. I then click on the profile and in most instances see a new member with obvious spam intentions. This goes on all day. On my last week of moderating I deleted and banned over a hundred of them. I then determined my time was too valuable to spend trying to plug a leaking dam.
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Old 06-22-2018, 05:28 AM
  #18  
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The forum i help out uses phpBB forum software. Its open source and free but there are tons of "addons" that are sometimes called mods or modules. The correct name for these is "extensions". When you upgrade the base forum software some "mods" are not compatible with the new software. Just like some addons/extensions stopped working with newer versions of Firefox and Chrome.

HNI uses vBulletin forum software. Not just any version either, its a version only used for forums owned by Internet Brands. As far as i know they do not sell it. Internet Brands owns vBulletin and sells other software as well. There are a buttload of extensions out there for these retail versions of vBulletin. Some are open source and some cost money. It very possible that some of the extensions are not compatible with the in house version of vBulletin, at least not without a little tweaking.....So its very possible that the new software upgrade made things worse as far as spam prevention goes.



Its been my belief for a long time that the "higher ups" are very aware of the fake names and all kinds of other spam related BS. They choose not to do a thing about it because it artificially increases membership and forums hits. This in turn makes the forum appear to be more active and valuable....... When a forum has a greater value it also cost more to advertise on that forum...Thats the Fact JACK.

Years ago i started a thread called Odd Names. I listed thousands of bogus names with spam links in the profiles. I even sent a PM to the ADMIN and i got a reply so i know for sure he got the PM.....Wanna guess how many of those fake accounts have been deleted? I dont know for sure about vBulletin but i know for sure there is a way to delete accounts that have not been active with other forum software. The vast majority of those odd names never posted. They only created accounts and never even logged in again.
https://www.huntingnet.com/forum/off...hua-names.html

I know for a fact that forum software has a user search ability using all kinds of criteria. I know that admins and super mods have a better search interface for this purpose too such as by ip address and email.

This same admin deleted a post i made about adblock software. Told me he didnt want it discussed. I never got a PM about it until i PMed him first. I would think if he has enough time to log in and delete something as safe as that he could be more active removing possibly dangerous content and spammers advertising for free.

Last edited by Gm54-120; 06-22-2018 at 05:36 AM.
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Old 06-22-2018, 08:35 AM
  #19  
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Again, you make great points. I don't know what super mods can do versus admin but would guess admin has more tools at their disposal. From what champlain islander has posted, it sounds like mods could delete spammers but didn't have the ability to turn software extensions on or off. That would make sense as they are unpaid volunteers and admin actually work for the company. Since admin deleted a post Gm made about adblock software, it looks like admin is more concerned about sales and advertising than quality for members. This makes sense if you're trying to maximize your profits but it can backfire when regular members check out and just go someplace else with less advertising, popups and spammers. Kind of a catch-22 for admin but they don't seem to see it that way.
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Old 06-22-2018, 09:29 AM
  #20  
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Software changes require admin or site admin privileges although you can grant a person certain access with some forum software. Prevention is mostly a admin duty unless its something like responding to an email to get registration/post approval. Ive seen very active forums use things including email and a certain post count in a "newbie" section before they can post anywhere else. If spammers are forced to post in a "newbie zone" first they are easy to spot.

No signature line until you reach 25 posts
No posting links, photos or videos until you reach 25 posts
No access to classifieds until you reach 25 posts
All of the above can be set to where a mod or more commonly a super mod must grant permission. The person just needs to PM or email them. It pretty easy to spot some guy that claims to be from NY but his IP comes back as China or India....This aint rocket science.

First 5 posts need to be in the newbie section before you can post anywhere else. (This can be setup through a software extension) Some forums call this things like "Introduce Yourself"
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