What does this do?

[Nothing to See Here]

Note that this is @Brother Tyler posting using one of our test accounts.

 

This test account is exploring the viability of one of the options we're considering in our efforts to prevent spammers/spambots/bad actors from posting inappropriate content. We have tried other options in the past, including a manual approval process (requires an Administrator to approve each account), COPPA, etc. Every method has its pros and cons. The new software provided us with a new option that might come in handy. What's new? Well, look at the user group in the profile card at left. You'll see that this new member is not a + FRATER DOMUS + but is instead a + FRATER NOVUS +. The concept is that new members would be in this new user group. They would have limited access to the site - they can't create albums, blogs, clubs, or events; they can't upload files (or articles when we bring that function online); they can't upload profile photos or cover photos (cover photos are the big pictures that appear on your profile page); they can't start PMs; they can't create signatures. Most importantly, any content they submit (e.g., discussion topics and posts) must be reviewed and approved by staff members before they will be public. In this way, spammers/spambots/bad actors might be caught and deleted before they post any inappropriate content that is visible to the wider membership. Once the new account reaches some threshold, they will automatically promote into the + FRATER DOMUS + group and have full access, just like everyone else.

 

The pros to this are:

+ spammers/spambots/bad actors are more likely to be caught before any content they submit becomes public

 

The cons to this are:

+ more work for the staff as we review and approve submissions by new members

+ legitimate new members have limited access until we are confident that they're not spammers/spambots/bad actors

 

We're looking at a low threshold for approved content, giving us confidence that new members aren't spammers/spambots/bad actors and getting new members full access in a reasonable time. We haven't decided on that threshold yet. Since the promotion to + FRATER DOMUS + depends upon approved content, we don't need to be overly cautious.

 

If you're reading this post and you're not a staff member, that means that the post has been approved by a staff member. <<DANGIT! The post was automatically visible without going through the approval process. Obviously I screwed something up.

 

If you're reading this post and the user group at left isn't + FRATER NOVUS +, this account has 5 or more approved content submissions and the automatic promotion rule works (we're starting at 5 as our threshold, but this may change based on our evaluation).

Edited September 24 by Brother Tyler

[Brother Tyler]

Problem found: I forgot to check a button.

 

5 minutes in the pain glove for me!

[Brother Tyler]

Okay, it worked that time. There's a reply from @Nothing to See Here that you can't see right now, but which will become visible shortly once it is approved. Here's a screenshot:

 

[Brother Tyler]

Observation: When I'm posting as @Nothing to See Here, the formatting toolbar doesn't appear. That's kind of annoying and not a limitation that is intended or necessary. I'll have to look at the settings to see what's going on there.

 

At this point I'm assuming that everyone else can see the formatting toolbar when they are composing content in this forum. If you can't, please reply here or in the Bug Reports forum so that I can look into it.

 

Some background on another option we explored. For a while, all accounts had to be manually approved. We've gone through cycles where spammers/spambots/bad actors created accounts to post their content here, whether it's adult content, kitchen remodeling, or whatever. The admins have blocked some methods (generally email addresses and domain names) and I regularly go through the pending accounts queue and delete those accounts that fall into recognizable patterns. When the incidence of spammers/spambots/bad actors gets too high, such as happened about a year ago, we take more drastic measures. In this case, new members could register accounts, but I wouldn't approve them until they sent me an email. There's a hidden forum that you can only see when you're not logged in. It provided instructions to registering members. In addition, I occasionally sent out batch emails BCCing all of the pending accounts, asking them to reply so that I could approve them. I typically received responses from a number of the accounts and approved them right away (aiming to approve them as soon as I saw their emails, ideally within 24 hours). I worried, though, that people weren't seeing the instructions or the emails sent by the site and me were going into their spam folders, preventing legitimate members from being approved. So I turned the manual approval step off. The result of this, however, was that some spammers/spambots/bad actors got through, including one that posted some adult material yesterday. The mods took care of that content very quickly and I deleted the account. This prompted us to consider other alternatives, leading to this current method - the + FRATER NOVUS + group.

 

The goal is to mitigate the risk of spammers/spambots/bad actors so that members of the community can focus on the WH40K hobby.

[Brother Tyler]

Okay, the screening and promotion processes worked properly and I don't have to go back into the pain glove. Yet.

 

We're now looking at the restrictions on the + FRATER NOVUS + user group. I started with the settings that the + FRATER DOMUS + group has, then removed things in order to limit the areas in which spammers/spambots/bad actors might submit objectionable content. They can't upload any images, either to the Gallery, their profile photo, their cover photo, or directly into content. They can't use signatures. They can't join clubs or start blogs, and when the Pages function goes online, they won't be able to submit articles (but they can join clubs and comment on other people's content such as blog posts, galleries, articles, etc.). All they can really do is edit their profile and About Me page and submit topics/posts. Once they are promoted to the + FRATER DOMUS + group, they will have all of the permissions that you enjoy.

 

Now I just have to figure out how to make the + FRATER NOVUS + group the default group for new accounts (without screwing up the members of the + FRATER DOMUS + group). Nothing will happen until I crack that code.

[Emperor Ming]

Ah you must be new, welcome

 

[Nothing to See Here]

Testing the + FRATER NOVUS + permissions (i.e., requirement for staff review/approval) and promotion rule.

[Nothing to See Here]

Yet another test. This one will give me 3 approved content items when it is approved.

[Nothing to See Here]

Last one. If everything is working correctly, I'll still be a + FRATER NOVUS + after this is approved.

[Nothing to See Here]

Okay, the staff can delete a post, which won't really do anything. Alternately, the staff can hide the post, providing a reason that will appear at the top (for the other staff members to see). The staff also have the option to send a message to the member, and if they do, can allow/require the member to send a response.

 

When this post is approved, I should be promoted to the + FRATER DOMUS + group automatically.