Can nothing be done to stop the spam on our forum? I opened the general forum this morning to see what the latest discussions were and three or four of the subjects were spam.
Can nothing be done to stop the spam on our forum?
Logos is aware of the problem and they have implemented some measures, so the ones you see may only be a minimal percentage of thos who tried to spam.
I opened the general forum this morning to see what the latest discussions were and three or four of the subjects were spam.
That seems to be "normal" for the time between midnight and 6 a.m. Bellinham time. One may try to overlook those (often the title betrays them, and they tend to have a low number of views and zero or one replies), however, it's kind of annoying. Some users have asked Logos to not show abuse-reported posts, but it seems such changes require some development directed to the forum software. There are a number of threads currently and in the recent pats where users exchange ideas about how to better fight the spam.
There are a number of threads currently and in the recent pats where users exchange ideas about how to better fight the spam.
I had seen some of them in the past and so I was surprised to see that this was still a problem. You are right the title does betray them, but it is still annoying.
It sucks for those of us living east of the Atlantic, because when we log on in the mornings the most recent posts section is spammed out!
Given what a valuable resource this forum is to Logos (e.g. it's part of their "instruction manual" to help new users learn Logos - and they're not shy about advertising it as such) I wish they'd come up with something a bit more effective in terms of controlling spam. I'm sure they're working hard on this issue, but from suggestions posted on other spam-related threads on these forums, from people who are far more knowledgeable about IT matters, it seems that there's still a lot that can be done to prevent this nuisance.
This really isn't a hard problem to remedy if Logos chose to. Many good suggestions on this forum. It is getting increasingly aggravating to read 4,5, and 6 consecutive threads of spam each morning.
I think it's time to prioritize the user experience of faithful users over those who aspire to get an account only to spam. And it's not even useful information, I am willing to bet they are doing it to increase the number of hits on key words across the Internet for subjects of their choice. They don't care if any of us read them.
Hey folks, I'm kind of wondering what the hoo-haw is all about here... I mean don't get me wrong... away with the spam 'n all, but still, who here actually opens a thread called "Husky walks home a million miles..." or whatever to begin with... it's obviously spam... so I don't even click on it, so it doesn't affect my life...
That having been said, I am wondering how a spammer called NB Mick can keep appearing... can you just not ban him from the fora, or is it a bot which keeps making up a new e-mail address so it looks like a new individual?
Hey folks, I'm kind of wondering what the hoo-haw is all about here...
I am of the same opinion. The Logos forums are not sacred and we should not be surprised someone is attempting to spam them. Getting worked up about it is not going to stop it. There are much more valuable things for us to direct our energy and emotion.
That said If Logos can do some things without reducing users experience then I'm all for it as I am not suggesting it be left unchecked, Lets just keep our emotion over the issue in check.
I agree, Carmin about the obviousness of the threads (though some DO sound pretty interesting ... I'm sure Bill beat Jon in their debate but who knows).
What concerns me is it's fairly obvious either non-Logos hackers are getting into the actual forum system or the forum system is considerably broke (yesterday the Logos penquin wasn't aware what had happened over the weekend, much less Steve's problem, so I'm guessing they don't know either). That in itself doesn't bother me (who'd want to know about tags vs folders??). But putting a filter in front of the forum logon would bother me since the same logon leads to my account.
Many of us read via e-mail. We get them whether we want to or not, and we have to click them before we can delete them.
That having been said, I am wondering how a spammer called NB Mick can keep appearing...
I hope that was meant to be a joke?
It is getting increasingly aggravating to read 4,5, and 6 consecutive threads of spam each morning.
Really? I can think of a forum -- it shall remain unnamed, but some of you will know it -- that currently has something like 35-40,000 undeleted spam posts. I'd prefer 0, obviously, but I can live with 4-6. I find getting moderated far more annoying. And I still don't get how spammers can get past moderation with so many links, when there's supposed to be a limit. I counted to seventeen links in one spam yesterday or the day before.
It is getting increasingly aggravating to read 4,5, and 6 consecutive threads of spam each morning. Really?
Really?
It's aggravating because there are some simple ways to greatly eliminate this in a registered forum environment that have been suggested frequently, that don't involve moderation. They infringe on the rights of the spammers, at the expense of the users. It's an attitude of "Deal with it" so spammers can easily have their way in the forums.
Carmen - NB Mick is a very helpful forum member! I wonder if you are confused because he is often the one to report the Spam. He gets up in the morning a little earlier than the rest of us. [:)]
(If you don't open the thread, it may look like he wrote it if he created a "reported as spam" post.)
SPAM may not be all that offensive to some people but it is socially unacceptable. Flatulence in an elevator will not kill anyone but it too is socially offensive. If Logos wants their forum to be known for the stinkiness, keep ignoring the spammers.
One morning Logos discovered their forum had been hijacked and all active links had been redirected to porn sites. It took a little while to remove the bot and cancel all the redirects. Many forum users were offended by the attack. Did it kill anyone? No, but we should expect a higher level of security from Logos. They do maintain our private data in "the cloud."
Flatulence in an elevator will not kill anyone but it too is socially offensive.
It is ? [:O]
I agree it's unacceptable, I don't believe Logos should ignore it. The problem needs to be dealt with, l just don't see what getting myself personal worked up about it is going to achieve. We seem to be living in a time where taking offence at everything, taking it personally, seems to the be default position on everything. If God's name is taken in vain, the lets take offense at that, but If someone spams the forum, lets tell Logos about it, ask them what they are doing to eliminate the problem. I am sure they find it just as unacceptable as we do.
Maybe an option would be to look at just having 'membership' of the general forum remain open as it is so those who are potential customers with a genuine question have a place to engage with the Logos user community, but all other forums require an extra step for becoming a 'member' and having the permission to post to them. I won't suggest what that extra step is because I am sure there are better qualified people to consider the nuts and bolts of the process, other than to say having it locked down to your customer account is probably not going to be an acceptable solution to some users who have a strategy of using a separate 'account' for forum purposes for privacy/security concerns.
Unless the group is pre or early teen boys, then it can be seen as socially acceptable on some level. But for the majority of us, yes it is socially unacceptable, and for others still it is socially unacceptable to mention or discuss this topic. [+o(]
The spam has become like kudzu and appears to be on the verge of taking over the Forums entirely. Almost the entire opening page of topics this morning was spam (nighttime attack?). This is ridiculous.
"This really isn't a hard problem to remedy if Logos chose to........It's aggravatingbecause there are some simple ways to greatly eliminate this...."
Alright, hang on, hang logos, I got this: Oh yeah why don't u enlighten us with your simple ways since u think u know better? Why doesn't logos hire u to take care of the problem or if you're so annoyed why don't u give logos the answer to this problem for free? LOL I thought so u, like spammers, just like to run your mouth off and pretend u know something when u know nothing! It's easier to criticize logos right?
Here are some pretty simple ways for u to solve the problem; in fact only 3:
1. Ignore the spam instead of getting "aggravated over something u have no control of" or
2. Tell logos the solution instead of saying it's simple to solve it (I bet you're just flapping your tongue saying it's simple).
OR 3. Don't come to the forum again if you're so annoyed...
There, 3 simple ways to take care of the problem...NEXT!!!
Only looney christians get angry at some stupidity like this. It shows just how mature u r mr. sela...LOL ok, NEXT (u can report me as spam if u like, is not gonna solve the problem anyway...;-) oh but way, it's so simple right? yeah i forgot u know it all....bye now!
Giovanni, I'm just fascinated with your spelling (which of course is fairly common these days). I'm back in the Ugarit and quite frankly, your writing looks very similar. I wonder if the early writing had to do with economies of effort (and limited baking-clay).
Not agreeing with your view of Mr Sela, but I do remember one of the Logos staff mentioning they thought the bulk of forum entries qualified as spam. So probably they don't view the issue in the same light as forum participants.
Giovanni, I'm just fascinated with your spelling (which of course is fairly common these days). I'm back in the Ugarit and quite frankly, your writing looks very similar. I wonder if the early writing had to do with economies of effort (and limited baking-clay). Not agreeing with your view of Mr Sela, but I do remember one of the Logos staff mentioning they thought the bulk of forum entries qualified as spam. So probably they don't view the issue in the same light as forum participants.
[:D] [:P]
Thanks DMB the early writing and my writing had to do with "green efforts" to save baking clay and in my case cyber ink, hence: u instead of "you" ;-) Think green!
seems you could get some volunteers administrative privileges to delete spam as soon as it shows up.
I like the idea Josh. Logos, put my name on the list. Should we add Giovanni to the top of the list? [:D]
If the wrong post is accidentally deleted, Logos can always reinstate it.
I had thought the same thing. I second your motion.
Made the suggestions to a Logos employee.
I wonder if Logos has employees who read the user forums in order to keep up with the thoughts of users.
Hi Kevin,
In answer to your question regarding whether or not Logos employees read the forums I can tell you that yes we do indeed read the forums. There are a couple of CS/Tech support reps who go through them. We try to everyday, but occasionally our duties on the phone or elsewhere can limit our interactions here. In addition to us, the Testing department will often engage customers in the forums. They are more active in the beta forums as testing new versions of the software is their primary job. Developers, other employees and Bob himself also come to the forums and interact with customers using Logos software.
We've taken steps in the recent past to limit the amount of spam the boards get without increasing the amount of work it takes to actually use the forums for legitimate users. If you ever see spam you can "Report Abuse" which will notify the proper individuals of the offending post/thread.
Tommy,
Thanks for responding. I figured there were Logos employees that read the forums. Glad to hear that Logos is taking steps to fix the problem. It's only an annoyance, not a major problem. And unlike some other users, I'm not all worked up about it, just knowing that you are working on a solution is enough for me. Overall on a scale of 1 - 10 my Logos experience has been an 11. I've been using it for a little over a year now and I am thrilled with both the product and the ongoing support. Keep up the good work.
If some of Logos' staff want to belittle the forum posts, so be it. But the flatulence in the elevator analogy still stands. The vast majority of Logos' staff does not frequent the forums. Those who may come to the forums have low post counts and don't "ride the elevator" as often as some of us do. I really don't care if a guy 4 streets away has a roach infestation. But if my next-door neighbour has a roach problem, I care.
I care about how the Logos forums look because I have vouched for the goodness of the product and company. If people see a poorly managed website when they come to visit they may doubt my high praise and my trustworthiness. So, you see, I do have a dog in this fight. Better forums for all!
Not agreeing with your view of Mr Sela, but I do remember one of the Logos staff mentioning they thought the bulk of forum entries qualified as spam. So probably they don't view the issue in the same light as forum participants. If some of Logos' staff want to belittle the forum posts, so be it. But my flatulence in the elevator analogy still stands. The vast majority of Logos' staff does not frequent the forums. Those who may come to the forums have low post counts and don't "ride the elevator" as often as some of us do. I really don't care if a guy 4 streets away has a roach infestation. But if my next-door neighbour has a roach problem, I care. I care about how the Logos forums look because I have vouched for the goodness of the product and company. If people see a poorly managed website when they come to visit they may doubt my high praise and my trustworthiness. So, you see, I do have a dog in this fight. Better forums for all!
If some of Logos' staff want to belittle the forum posts, so be it. But my flatulence in the elevator analogy still stands. The vast majority of Logos' staff does not frequent the forums. Those who may come to the forums have low post counts and don't "ride the elevator" as often as some of us do. I really don't care if a guy 4 streets away has a roach infestation. But if my next-door neighbour has a roach problem, I care.
The forum does not make the sales for Logos. Logos keeps selling in spite of the spam in the forum. Cyber forums will always be plagued with spam. So sorry bambi-no but you have no dog in this fight and if you had one he'd pee on you for posting such a ridiculous post you tramp...LOL so there good night boy! Now go and report me as "spam" LOL
