Banned?

**BoldHighlander** · 4th January 11, 01:30 AM

Hi Steve,

I just sent a message, but now everything seems back to normal (whew!).

For some reason after reading a thread, when I went to check new messages, I got a message saying my IP address was banned by the administrator!?

However, everything is back to normal. Not sure what happened, or why, but wanted you to be aware of it.

Thanks,
Terry

**Taygrd** · 4th January 11, 07:12 AM

Glad to have you back outlaw!

**Steve Ashton** · 4th January 11, 10:30 AM

Terry,

I am very sorry you got caught in the activities of the last 24 hours.

For some reason we had at least 35 spammers and hackers hit the forum in the last 24 hours.
If you look at the "Who has visited the forum" cloud at the bottom of the Forum page you will see quite a few names in red. Those are the spammers we have caught and banned.

Everything should be fine now. If you experience any further problems please contact me immediatly.

**Burly Brute** · 4th January 11, 12:38 PM

I have tried running a forum or two in times past and it is a tough job, I never realized how many bots, spammers, and hackers there were out there trying to ruin good stuff. It's a true shame, but I am glad you guys are on the ball!

Let us members know if we can help in any way!

Slainte,

Zach

**Steve Ashton** · 4th January 11, 02:02 PM

Actually Burly Brute, we rely heavily on our members to help look after the forum.

If any member sees a post that they feel may be from a spammer, we ask that you let our staff know immediately.

To do this you use the "Report a Post" feature of the forum. In the upper right corner of each post is a small red flag. Hovering your pointer over it for a moment should bring up the "Report Post" title.

Clicking on the flag will open a new tab or window where you can type in the reason for your report. Clicking "send report" sends a message to all of our staff alerting them to the post.

These messages are seen by all our staff. They will review the reported post, notify you by PM that they have received the report and thank you for the report.

You will also be kept informed about what the staff does with the post.

Because no one can be everywhere or on the forum all the time it is our members that alert us to most of the activities of spammers. It is you, our members who have taken the responsibility to keep this forum the polite and clean place you want it to be.

So, thank you to all who have reported a post in the past and a thankful "well done".

**BoldHighlander** · 4th January 11, 02:51 PM

Originally Posted by Steve Ashton

Terry,

I am very sorry you got caught in the activities of the last 24 hours.

For some reason we had at least 35 spammers and hackers hit the forum in the last 24 hours.
If you look at the "Who has visited the forum" cloud at the bottom of the Forum page you will see quite a few names in red. Those are the spammers we have caught and banned.

Everything should be fine now. If you experience any further problems please contact me immediatly.

No worries Steve, I was in panic mode for a couple of minutes & then I was back on & posting

Thanks for explaining what happened. I did notice right after I was back on that there were at least two names in red in the "who visited". I really appreciate the job you & the Mods do on here, its got to be a monumental task!

Thanks again!

Originally Posted by Taygrd

Glad to have you back outlaw!

:mrgreen:

**Burly Brute** · 4th January 11, 03:07 PM

Originally Posted by Steve Ashton

Actually Burly Brute, we rely heavily on our members to help look after the forum.

If any member sees a post that they feel may be from a spammer, we ask that you let our staff know immediately.

To do this you use the "Report a Post" feature of the forum. In the upper right corner of each post is a small red flag. Hovering your pointer over it for a moment should bring up the "Report Post" title.

Clicking on the flag will open a new tab or window where you can type in the reason for your report. Clicking "send report" sends a message to all of our staff alerting them to the post.

These messages are seen by all our staff. They will review the reported post, notify you by PM that they have received the report and thank you for the report.

You will also be kept informed about what the staff does with the post.

Because no one can be everywhere or on the forum all the time it is our members that alert us to most of the activities of spammers. It is you, our members who have taken the responsibility to keep this forum the polite and clean place you want it to be.

So, thank you to all who have reported a post in the past and a thankful "well done".

Never noticed the feature! Thanks!

I guess all the members and mods get to stuff pretty quick, I have never noticed a post out-of-place.

**piperdbh** · 4th January 11, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by BoldHighlander

...
For some reason after reading a thread, when I went to check new messages, I got a message saying my IP address was banned by the administrator!?

Maybe there's a cuteness filter and your new grandson's picture was deemed too cute to be allowed through it.

**BoldHighlander** · 5th January 11, 01:32 AM

Originally Posted by piperdbh

Maybe there's a cuteness filter and your new grandson's picture was deemed too cute to be allowed through it.

Yeah, that must be it! :mrgreen:

**Gingerpose** · 23rd January 11, 07:50 AM

As an aside to this, I notice that in the message which appears regarding the recent spam flood, there should be a red "X" appearing to turn the message off - however I am not getting this option. Perhaps this is due to my choice of browser. The only problem I now have is the amount of space taken up by this (albeit important) message - how can I turn it off?

Regards
Ainslie