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Web Design Support Forum Is Being Overrun!

by Steve Wells
19 replies
One thing I have noticed that has increased significantly is the amount of people who are new who post a question in the web design support forum who are couching their questions in such a way in which it allows a whole slew of others who have sig links related to that question to answer it, and get link juice and or promotion of their website/service.

It's obvious to those who care to notice, that these questions are basically set up questions, so link juice can be had from more than likely the same person or company/network who asked the original question.

I will have to say also, that some people who are legit, do end up answering the first question asked, because they fall prey to this scheme. I am amazed that this is allowed and going on....

One suggestion to stop it, would be not to allow signature links until you had xxx amount of posts in the web design forum. Which would have to be significant in order to stop it. But it might deter these companies/individuals from cluttering the forum up with useless posts, intended specifically for link juice to their clients website signature link.

Any other suggestions?

Maybe if we come up with a few good suggestions, this can be eliminated or at least a big chunk of it can be.

It just seems to be diluting that section of quality content. That section used to be a very informational section and enjoyable. Now you have to wade through all the crap posts.
#design #forum #overrun #support #web
  • Profile picture of the author tryinhere
    Thats normal where you see new member named fghyut (or some rubbish / keyword name) post a question, these are often also people with no Sig file, dear little angels they are, then in comes the supporting bot replies complete with crafted crap relies and branded Sig's.

    a common practice in many ways, in most cases if you watch them they sooner or later trip up.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve Wells
      Originally Posted by tryinhere View Post

      Thats normal where you see new member named fghyut (or some rubbish / keyword name) post a question, these are often also people with no Sig file, dear little angels they are, then in comes the supporting bot replies complete with crafted crap relies and branded Sig's.

      a common practice in many ways, in most cases if you watch them they sooner or later trip up.
      I understand that's a normal spam practice but it wasn't normal for that section 6 months ago... It has slowiy become overran with these types of posts. And I believe that there has to be a solution for it.

      It just waters that section down. I have reported lots of these types of posts in this section pointing out the obvious, and many times they get deleted, but I am only one person, and can't do that all day long.

      I think that there is a solution to it, and if implemented it would cut this kind of stuff down tremendously.... so others, including myself can actually enjoy that forum area again.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
    Steve,

    Just report those threads, and be specific about what you're reporting. We get almost no reports about posts in that section, and the same low level of problems, so it may be getting ignored.


    Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve Wells
      Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

      Steve,

      Just report those threads, and be specific about what you're reporting. We get almost no reports about posts in that section, and the same low level of problems, so it may be getting ignored.


      Paul
      You might be getting about 20 reports per day........if I start doing that consistantly........
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      • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
        Steve,
        You might be getting about 20 reports per day........if I start doing that consistantly........
        I'm okay with that. If it helps take back the section for people who want to use it for what it was meant for, I'm quite happy to deal with it. I suspect the rest of the mods would be, too.

        Report once per thread, and point out the ones you think are doing it. We'll handle the rest.


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  • Profile picture of the author ebusinesstutor
    Yes, I am noticing that this is happening more and more.

    And the original poster never comes back to the thread to carry on the conversation. When I see these, I try to avoid the thread. I am looking to help real people so I don't waste my time replying to bots.

    I do hope that the forum moderators pick up on this and finds ways to stop it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Garland,
      I do hope that the forum moderators pick up on this and finds ways to stop it.
      If you don't report it, we probably won't see it. I don't think I personally see more than 1% or 2% of the posts made in any given day.


      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Yup, that little triangle doohickey works wonders in the main forum. Bet it would work just as well in the subforums...
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      • Profile picture of the author Rus Sells
        I've found myself using the report feature a lot lately! It does help keep the forums clean of spam!

        Guys, don't be afraid to report a post.

        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        Garland,If you don't report it, we probably won't see it. I don't think I personally see more than 1% or 2% of the posts made in any given day.


        Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author Bruce NewMedia
      Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor View Post

      Yes, I am noticing that this is happening more and more.

      And the original poster never comes back to the thread to carry on the conversation. When I see these, I try to avoid the thread. I am looking to help real people so I don't waste my time replying to bots.

      I do hope that the forum moderators pick up on this and finds ways to stop it.
      That's a shame, as that is a subforum loaded with great talent and very helpful members...I know I have always gotten fast and accurate answers there...for non-tech types like me, it's a blessing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    I used to go a lot into that subforum - trying to help members struggling with html/css and related design issues.

    Those type of questions/threads are less and less; that forum was really taken over by the spammy threads described above. Plus, a few posters offering endless "free" themes for download (with encrypted code in their footer or functions.php) and a few eager beavers to reply to any questions with "I just happen to have a blog post about this > here is the link".

    To monitor and report all the crap showing up there would be almost like a full time job

    No, I don't have a solution...
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  • Profile picture of the author frankl
    On my forums I always create separate usergroups for the newly registered users and severely restrict their rights. It's also a good idea to indicate this on the registration page so if they are not bots, they might change their minds whether to register or not.
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  • Profile picture of the author ebusinesstutor
    I am at the point where I don't reply to topics that are posted by people with no picture, location or post history.

    Many of them look like they are just posting to get past the limit so they can post links for SEO and affiliate marketing purposes.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Mayo
    Paul, I have one system that has the WF loaded in tabs and would be willing to devote
    some time to patrolling the section if it will help.

    The WF has section Mods if I remember correctly. I'm pretty good at detecting BS posts.
    If Allen would allow it, I'll give it a shot. Hell, I'm on the forum 10-12 hours
    a day anyway so I may as well do something to lend a hand.

    Anyway the 60 second wait between reporting threads drives me nuts...lol

    It would allow you and the other Mods to continue with the jobs you do
    now with out adding to your work loads.

    Someone dedicated to tackling the problem as soon as it happens would
    help to stop the BS. They would see that it is futile and eventually give up.

    Just a thought.
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    Michael
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    Same thing seems to be going on in the Off Topic forum. I've reported a few threads. Commented in others hoping to encourage the regulars not to reply, but there's always a bunch of new people at the ready to reply. The replies are usually useless one line comments.

    Report them folks! It can result in the perpatrator being banned, which obviously helps clean up the problem.
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael Mayo
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      • Profile picture of the author ronc0011
        I read the web design section often an often reply to questions there I generally try to give detailed and informative replies of course I take advantage of the sig options you can see in this post. Web design is something I do know a bit about and am able to provide informative answers to many questions I have even posted rather long post on a specific topic i.e. CSS and it was not posted as a reply to anyones question but simply because it's a topic that is often raised in that section. after seeing so many questions about CSS I just decided to create a post that covered the basics o CSS that I thought and hoped would b ehelpfull to others. Oh crap now I'v gone and done it again , I'posted and there's my sig link I suppose I must be stealing or hijacking someone's link juice I'm not sure I get the point about link juice. Links back to my site from a single site no doubt are helpful but I don't know that 20 links from the same site help that much, Of course I'm probably wrong about that, always learning.

        What really does amaze me is the number of people on this forum who are always crying about the practices of others. Seems to me your time would be better spent advancing your own promotions than obsessing over how others work theirs.
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        • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
          Banned
          Originally Posted by ronc0011 View Post

          What really does amaze me is the number of people on this forum who are always crying about the practices of others. Seems to me your time would be better spent advancing your own promotions than obsessing over how others work theirs.
          Who says we obsess or cry over the "practices" of others. I saw this thread so took a look in the design forum and spent over an hour reporting link spam. If it weren't for members who do give a crap about about a spam free forum, this place would be useless to most people. Overrun with spammers.

          So you sit back and let others do the work. I don't mind donating a bit of my time to keep the forum useful.
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          • Profile picture of the author ronc0011
            OK I'll grant there is obvious spamming where it's clear it was done by something like scrapebox or similar software or maybe even something simple like comment kahuna where you actually have to craft some sort of comment. And no as a rule I won't take the time to run down even those post simply because there are so many folks here that for all appearances don't have anything else to do with their time. There have been occasions where I have considered making an issue of some post but then I realize there's no way the post in question will survive very long.
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            • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
              Banned
              Originally Posted by ronc0011 View Post

              OK I'll grant there is obvious spamming where it's clear it was done by something like scrapebox or similar software or maybe even something simple like comment kahuna where you actually have to craft some sort of comment. And no as a rule I won't take the time to run down even those post simply because there are so many folks here that for all appearances don't have anything else to do with their time. There have been occasions where I have considered making an issue of some post but then I realize there's no way the post in question will survive very long.
              There's actually more spamming done by assmonkeys rather than scrapbox or similar software.

              Appearances can be deceiving. Some of us are better at multi-tasking than you are I gather. My time in this forum is well spent.
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