Jump to content

Forum problems?


Recommended Posts

Is it just me or is anybody else experiencing some problems with the forums lately? It's quite slow usually ever since about a week or so, sometimes giving internal server errors etc. So, is this a known issue or am I the only one with this problem (I'm on DSL 16k so that shouldn't be the problem).
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 333
  • Created
  • Last Reply

<p>I've been getting internal server errors for a couple of weeks now. Seems more frequent now (and coincedentally while I wastrying to access this thread).</p><p> </p><p>

Put it this way, I don't attempt posting a large message on these forums without copying it to the clipboard first (if I'm not using a browser with a decent caching system at the time anyway)</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="crayon" data-cite="crayon" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="31333" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> Put it this way, I don't attempt posting a large message on these forums without copying it to the clipboard first (if I'm not using a browser with a decent caching system at the time anyway)</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> So I'm not the only one who does this <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> Edit - got it on this very post <img alt=":mad:" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/mad.png.69834f23b9a8bf290d98375f56f1c794.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I'm posting something big I never type it on here either. I've been getting it constantly this weekend, twice just trying to look at this thread.

 

-Edit: And it took well over a minute for my post to go through after I hit post quick reply.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Genadi" data-cite="Genadi" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="31333" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>So I'm not the only one who does this <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> Edit - got it on this very post <img alt=":mad:" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/mad.png.69834f23b9a8bf290d98375f56f1c794.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I usually just press back and try to repost it</p>
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's spambots.

 

They flood the first page of this forum with new threads every 15 minutes and post all over the site too. As a mod I can see them, but thanks to the approval process very few of them ever make it through. But there are literally thousands of posts being made every day from them and they create the slowdown and error messages.

 

And I think there was a thread about it not long ago... may even be on the top page still, but for me it's so far buried that I'd never be able to find it among the spambots.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As Derek said, it's spambots, pure and simple.

 

Case in point - it's about 10am GMT on a Friday morning as I write this, so you'd expect things to be quiet quiet - there's 23 real people logged in, and 210 spambots, all of whom will be posting 1 or more posts (often involving large picture) before logging off.

 

You guys can't see their posts because they've not been validated, but they're still taking up space and time just by being posted in the first place.

 

It's almost impossible to stop them from registering without making it off-puttingly hard for real people to, so all we can do is keep tweaking the filters and try and get a balance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

so am i considered a spambot or something...cause i've been trying to post something for a week now and it never appears...i know i never posted before and just watched the forums...but still...

 

If you were posting in this forum (rather than the TEW, WMMA, CBH, Dog Pound forums) then the chances of being noticed by the mods is pretty slim. The entire first page of post fills up with spambots every 15 minutes, every day so you wouldn't be easy to see.

 

All new posters have to have a few posts approved before posts will show up automatically... but if we don't see you, we can't approve you and sadly forum power have yet to grant me omniscience. :p

 

And welcome to GDS. If you ever have a problem, feel free to send me a PM so that you aren't missed again. Lots of stuff happens and sometimes things get lost down the cracks but we do try to get everyone. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The three post approval is definitely killing me right now as i try to post for a forum draft. There's gotta be some way people could get verified maybe create a dedicated Thread that is monitored by the admins just for the purpose of getting the real people live on the boards.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The three post approval is definitely killing me right now as i try to post for a forum draft. There's gotta be some way people could get verified maybe create a dedicated Thread that is monitored by the admins just for the purpose of getting the real people live on the boards.

 

You just need to contact Arlie - there's a sticky at the top of this forum on this matter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From the forum mod side of things there have barely been any spambots getting through the sign up process, meaning few spam threads or posts to deal with. The site has generally been better for me today but I imagine that things might still be slightly slower then ideal still due to the number of bots trying to sign up to the site. :)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Arlie Rahn" data-cite="Arlie Rahn" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="31333" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>You may be asked at times (esp when registering) to answer a simple question (ie, does a green light mean stop or go?). This should really reduce the traffic bots have been having on the forum.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> What if the person is color blind:rolleyes:</p><p> </p><p> Sorry just had to your doing a great job Arlie</p>
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Luckily this site is probably not a high profile target so until spam bots get linked to text analytic software we should be good.

 

Once spambots have the intelligence of Watson, we're in deep doodoo :(

 

edit: Any analysis on the profiles of the spam bots? Could you disable posting until they fill out "additional information" even if it's just "I AM NOT A SPAMBOT."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The spambots regularly do fill in additional information, such as setting their homepage as one of the links they're sharing and a little bio like this one...

 

Biography:

Man

Location:

Belgium

Interests:

maseIsofs

Occupation:

Belgium

 

They really are crafty little blighters, but there's a LOT less of them after the latest tweaks. Previously this top forum was filling up with spam thread every 10 minutes... now I can actually see real threads on the top page, almost exclusively so! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...