Why do my posts have to be approved by a moderator?

[Neverfly]

Getting queued seems to be happening more frequently now. The last couple had no links in them whatsoever.

Kudos to Tiassa, however, for still managing to sift out my ugly replies in the abortion thread that got queued and making sure they post when they easily could have gotten lost in the enormous tangle of spam. Those claiming that the queue is a conspiracy tool of oppression may be hard pressed to confront that kind of honesty.

 

[Bowser]

Hmm, I was just queued and all I had was a link to Wiki. Is that what triggers it...links?

 

[Neverfly]

Used to think so until lately, I've been getting queued without any links and others have said the same.

 

[Enmos]

Those claiming that the queue is a conspiracy tool of oppression may be hard pressed to confront that kind of honesty.

Indeed. One just has to take look at the ban list to get an idea of how much spam there really is to clean up each day.
The spammers are what's listed, not the actual deleted spam threads and posts. Many post more than one thread or post before they are banned.

- Spammers already banned today:112
- Spammers banned yesterday: 183
- Spammers banned last sunday: 64
- Spammer banned last saturday: 255
- Last friday: 31
- Last thursday: 133
- Last wednesday: 118

Differences per day may result from soft-deleted post being hard-deleted a day later, which means the spammers are banned again and show up having been banned at a different date.
So, anyway, that's about 900 spammer-accounts in less than one week. Not to mention the amount of threads and posts that were deleted.

[Edit]
Just for kicks: About 4600 spammer-accounts were banned between october 6th and now.

 

[Neverfly]

If I post without a link, it appears to happen most often if I take too long to type a post out. If I post quickly, it goes through. If I take too long, it goes into the queue.
Workaround- Copy the post, cancel the posting, then go back into the thread, hit reply and paste your long post and submit.

 

[Enmos]

If I post without a link, it appears to happen most often if I take too long to type a post out. If I post quickly, it goes through. If I take too long, it goes into the queue.
Workaround- Copy the post, cancel the posting, then go back into the thread, hit reply and paste your long post and submit.

I take it you already tested that hypothesis? It works?
It's counter to what I would think, since we're trying to keep out bots (that, presumably, post a post or thread rather quickly).


Just now, I deleted 28 spam threads and banned 24 spammers. The forum was clean when I left less than three hours ago.

 

[Neverfly]

I take it you already tested that hypothesis? It works?
It's counter to what I would think, since we're trying to keep out bots (that, presumably, post a post or thread rather quickly).


Just now, I deleted 28 spam threads and banned 24 spammers. The forum was clean when I left two hours ago.

Complex question... I've "tested" it only by having it happen whenever I type for a long period of time before I hit submit.
SeaGypsy, yesterday complained to me that it seems like every other post she makes goes into the queue- Tiassa may notice a large number of posts from her. She made that complaint out loud, not on the forum.
If I take too long to hit submit, the forum will sign me out. I wonder if that's related. Usually, if it signs me out, then I hit submit, I'm re-directed to the sign in page- I sign in... then the post appears. But I do wonder if that is also related. As if I hit a sweet spot where I'm kinda signed out when I try to submit but not quite. Sound stupid, I know... but <shrug>

 

[ash64449]

Yes friend,it even happened to me.. i tried to post larger replies,then saying just the above words...

 

[ash64449]

If I post without a link, it appears to happen most often if I take too long to type a post out. If I post quickly, it goes through. If I take too long, it goes into the queue.
Workaround- Copy the post, cancel the posting, then go back into the thread, hit reply and paste your long post and submit.

Neverfly, I tried copy-paste way,but it gives me the same message..Did it work for you?

 

[Enmos]

Complex question... I've "tested" it only by having it happen whenever I type for a long period of time before I hit submit.
SeaGypsy, yesterday complained to me that it seems like every other post she makes goes into the queue- Tiassa may notice a large number of posts from her. She made that complaint out loud, not on the forum.
If I take too long to hit submit, the forum will sign me out. I wonder if that's related. Usually, if it signs me out, then I hit submit, I'm re-directed to the sign in page- I sign in... then the post appears. But I do wonder if that is also related. As if I hit a sweet spot where I'm kinda signed out when I try to submit but not quite. Sound stupid, I know... but <shrug>

Yes friend,it even happened to me.. i tried to post larger replies,then saying just the above words...

Hmm.. that would explain why it happens a lot to certain people and not at all, or hardly ever, to others.
Perhaps you've got something here.
By the way, I meant have you tested the copy-paste method.


For another fun fact: the first eight pages of the subforum "About the members" show only five normal threads; the rest is deleted spam. Well, that's what mods see anyway.
And that's only because Tiassa e.a. hard-delete the threads every once in a while. Otherwise it would likely be the first 100 pages or so..

 

[Neverfly]

Neverfly, I tried copy-paste way,but it gives me the same message..Did it work for you?

Yes, you must copy before you hit submit. Then close out the thread and reopen the thread again. Then hit reply, paste, click submit.

Hmm.. that would explain why it happens a lot to certain people and not at all, or hardly ever, to others.
Perhaps you've got something here.
By the way, I meant have you tested the copy-paste method.

Oh, yes. Worked like a charm (I think, but the long posts never went to the queue whenever I've done that, but if I haven't they did go to queue)- see above.
Hmm... more frequently now, I said. I've also been making longer posts and taking more time on them more frequently now... again <shrug> Dunno but if it does help, that would be a good thing...

For another fun fact: the first eight pages of the subforum "About the members" show only five normal threads; the rest is deleted spam. Well, that's what mods see anyway.

Yes, I see that, too, actually. It's a little frustrating having to either scroll down to the next real thread amidst the numerous grayed out deleted spam threads. Or even turning pages to get past them.
But it is very indicative of how bad the spam is.

And that's only because Tiassa e.a. hard-delete the threads every once in a while. Otherwise it would likely be the first 100 pages or so..

That explains why I see it clear out after a while...

 

[Enmos]

Yes, I see that, too, actually. It's a little frustrating having to either scroll down to the next real thread amidst the numerous grayed out deleted spam threads. Or even turning pages to get past them.
But it is very indicative of how bad the spam is.

Uh.. that's not good. I thought at least you guys would be spared that.
Do you guys also see the undeleted spamthreads (prefixed by "Moderated: ")?
How about deleted posts (see below)?

 

[Neverfly]

Uh.. that's not good. I thought at least you guys would be spared that.
Do you guys also see the undeleted spamthreads (prefixed by "Moderated: ")?
How about deleted posts (see below)?

I see the deleted post below. (Only now it's above mine. Must be spooky action at a distance. )
I sometimes see undeleted spamthreads prefixed.
They vanish after a time, I've assumed after Tiassa or JamesR has done some rounds.

It doesn't bother me much, actually. I kinda find it pretty cool, as I said, I can actually see the spam problem.

And a quick nix- I just got the queue on a post I typed pretty quickly... even though I took a while on the one before that. FML.

 

[Tiassa]

Haven't a clue ....

Hmm, I was just queued and all I had was a link to Wiki. Is that what triggers it...links?

In truth, I have no idea.

At one point it looked like links to Sciforums, which would suggest we've somehow managed to log our own website in spam filters.

The onsite staff are, presently, waiting for new information from above. It's not that we want to pin the slow progress on The Company; product evaluation, testing, and implementation takes a lot of time, but we're not exactly getting regular memos. I do know Plazma is quite frustrated with the software update in general. Every time I look around online at aftermarket plugins, it remains unclear whether there will ever be a magic bullet.

I did find an article from January, 2011 about vBulletin being smashed by a spambot that, apparently, can overcome reCAPTCHA. Of course, that doesn't really help much for solutions.
____________________

Notes:

Winder, Davey. "vBulletin forums hit by reCAPTCHA cracking spam bot". PC Pro. January 12, 2012. PCPro.co.uk. November 6, 2012. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2011/01/12/vbulletin-forums-hit-by-recaptcha-cracking-spam-bot/

 

[Dominic]

From the vbulletin forums

We are strongly recommending that customers consider switching to the vB Q&A Verification system for now. To do this, go into the Admin CP here:

Admin CP -> Human Verifications Options -> Image Verification -> Question & Answer -> Save

Once you do that, you can click on 'Add New Question' to add a question and answer. [Note: You can use REGEX for the answer but this is not necessary.]

For instance:

Question: What is the third word in this sentence?

Then click on 'Save'. Next click on 'Add New Answer' and enter:

Answer: the

You can add as many questions as you like and vB will choose one randomly for each registration. You can also enter multiple answers to the same question.​

It really does not get any easier than that and is absolutely worth a try.

 

[elte]

In truth, I have no idea.

At one point it looked like links to Sciforums, which would suggest we've somehow managed to log our own website in spam filters. ...

I did an Internet search from outside Sciforums for content in Sciforums and came up with what appeared to me to be a fake site. Maybe the spam filter is taking such spoofing into account.

 

[Neverfly]

I did an Internet search from outside Sciforums for content in Sciforums and came up with what appeared to me to be a fake site. Maybe the spam filter is taking such spoofing into account.

A fake site?

 

[elte]

A fake site?

I dunno. I have seen how search engines can change the appearance of a discussion forum page because of how it archives pages or some other process. Maybe it was just that.

I seem to recall hearing of how an Internet surfer can be taken to a Website with the correct address showing up and it not be the legitimate place. Not sure though.

 

[wynn]

I dunno. I have seen how search engines can change the appearance of a discussion forum page because of how it archives pages or some other process. Maybe it was just that.

I seem to recall hearing of how an Internet surfer can be taken to a Website with the correct address showing up and it not be the legitimate place. Not sure though.

I forgot the name, but there is a website that saves content from various forums, including Sciforums, along with numerous statistics. The layout is different, though, usually just plain text.
It sometimes comes up in a Google search.

 

[elte]

I forgot the name, but there is a website that saves content from various forums, including Sciforums, along with numerous statistics. The layout is different, though, usually just plain text.
It sometimes comes up in a Google search.

I seem to have heard of that and can't think of the name either.