Can the review of posts by admins before posting be turned off please? It takes so long we might as well just send postcards to each other. I’m assuming this is because it’s down to there being only one or two admins - who I also assume have lives to lead and can’t be on here all the time.
I believe it’s stifling discussion and turning people off using the site. If someone posts something that breaks the rules there is already a “report” button.
Maybe admins could give Branch secretaries or trusted users limited moderation rights to help police the site.
I believe this would make the site more active and attract more users/members.
To try and ensure we maintain a good quality of posting and the forum does not degenerate as some others have we do require that the 1st 10 posts by a new member are moderated before being allowed to appear. Once the new member has 10 approved posts the moderation ceases and posts appear immediately.
I understand that it can be a little frustrating while you are in this situation but if we did not do this the site would be swamped with spam and adverts.
You would not believe how many posts both here and as responses on the blog I have to block
Is it possible to mention this in the forum rules so users know the score and will be more inclined to continue posting. They would also be aware that they might not get a response straight away (stops them thinking they’ve been ignored).
I understand the difficulty though - have set up/programmed several forums in the past and spammers are a real pain but not insurmountable.
If you reduced the limit to just 1 or 2 you would weed out 99.9% of the spammers (they tend to be bots rather than real people so easy to spot). You also have the good practice of approving applications which also weed out a lot of spammers. You would also filter out more if you also enabled email verification - I don’t remember it sending one when I signed up. Use of a Q & A Capcha plug-in also helps. The phpBB forums also have loads of advice on just this topic.
Is it possible to link a forum account to a paying member (spammers wouldn’t pay) - could make it a perk of subscribing?
Not wanting to teach you how to suck eggs or step on toes, just want to offer friendly, helpful advice and help make the site somewhere for people to want to continue visiting.
Good idea about mentioning the process in the rules - I will update them.
Spammers are a bit of a problem but are manageable so I am fairly happy with the way we have things set up. Having said that all suggestions are worth considering.
The worst problem is people that join and make 2 or 3 reasonable posts then suddenly start advertising. The approach we have adopted tends to ensure that this does not happen as they rarely have the patience to keep going until they pass the minimum number of posts.
The suggestion about only allowing paying members to join is a valid one and we have been down that path before. The reason we have things set the way they are at present is to try and get people to see the value of the forum and through it the club so they want to join. Obviously some will not but some will. We did consider allowing 10 posts then stopping them unless they join but, whilst we obviously want as many paying members as possible, the main aim is to foster a quality forum for true Ducati lovers.
I think you misunderstood my meaning regarding members though - I just meant don’t have the restriction at all (or reduced restriction) for paying members but keep the rules as they are for non-paying members.
I’m assuming this is because it’s down to there being only one or two admins - who I also assume have lives to lead and can’t be on here all the time.
