New user registrations turned off for now

[mattadams]

I know what you might be thinking... *GASP* not allowing new users to register? Well I need a sanity break. I spent about 4-5 hours straight last night doing nothing but deleting spam users and banning their emails/IP Addresses. I think I removed around 200-250 users. Then I woke up this morning and saw about 15 more had registered overnight.

If anyone is truly interested in registering, and you aren't registered yet, please email me at mattadams@rmftc.com and I will set it up for you. I need to figure out another way of doing it, whether it means upgrading or something else, but don't have the time to spend hours each week just removing spam users.

[rwmorrisonjr]

Matt, since you have a new gig that takes a lot of your time, have you thought about having another admin or moderator? There are also some new Captcha devices that are phrase or "pick the correct picture" based that might also help. Just some suggestions to help take the load off of you.

[Heath]

Yeah, I've seen all sorts of devices on other boards to use...

And AGAIN... I don't mind putting in 15-30 min per night helping bump these for you...

[mattadams]

yeah I do have the mods... I might start having them do it more, but I'd rather figure out another way, because its a waste of time.
I was wanting to do this part myself because I do the maxfund volunteer forums, and they'd get a bunch of spam users as well so if I banned from one I could ban from the other... but I upgraded those forums to the latest version of phpbb (it's free, and that site isn't as customized/integrated as this one) and that site no longer has any spam users (I think I've had one or two since I upgraded it over a month ago), so may be able to have admins just update this side of it now.

[mattadams]

It looks like an upgrade runs $60 so i guess I should get around to doing that at some point. I know the upgrade has several new recognition programs and so forth to keep spam users out, plus probably more features. I need to make sure it interfaces with the gallery software and so forth before I do it though.

[rwmorrisonjr]

Sounds like its time to "pass the hat" gentlemen...

[Hypoid]

Sounds like its time to "pass the hat" gentlemen...Agree!

[mattadams]

I'm happy to just have you guys as members :). Happy to have you help but nobody should feel obligated or anything... I haven't purchased it yet anyways, gotta look into it to make sure everything will still work, yada yada.

[thesoundmaster]

Just say the word, and I'll throw something your way Matt. I may be tight on cash, but ya know, I can work something out!

[foxfire]

let me know what you need and i'll take care of it.

[Heath]

Yeah, whats the paypal so we can send a bit of cash...

[RayLCC]

I see what this is all about! Its a move by the Ranger Elitists to try and take over the site and make it just another High-Falutin' Ranger country-club site! First they don't allow anyone to join unless they are approved (and own Rangers) then pretty soon us non-elitists will be bumped off the site for infractions like, swearing, or personal attacks, or not being Ranger-y enough!
Yup! We're on to you Elitists! :)

Let us know when you need the money and I'll paypal some to you.

[thesoundmaster]

I see what this is all about! Its a move by the Ranger Elitists to try and take over the site and make it just another High-Falutin' Ranger country-club site! First they don't allow anyone to join unless they are approved (and own Rangers) then pretty soon us non-elitists will be bumped off the site for infractions like, swearing, or personal attacks, or not being Ranger-y enough!
Yup! We're on to you Elitists! :)

Dang it, who let the cat out of the bag?

[mattadams]

I have purchased the upgrade, but need to do a dry run or two before I implement it. If I have time this weekend I'll do it then. I couldn't find if the gallery software is going to be compatable with the new vbulletin... if not, I'll have to upgrade that as well, but we'll see.

[Heath]

Whats your paypal addy there big boy...

[mattadams]

Well if anyone wants to help they can...
mattadams@rmftc.com
not like it's required to be a member or anything, LOL...

[Heath]

We know, but this is like home... If it needs new paint those that live there the most should chip in with the help to get it done!

[Heath]

I sent you a wee bit o'cash this morning...

[mattadams]

The software should now be updated. I'm working on updating some of the things still but most things should be usable. Let me know if you don't see it though :).

[mattadams]

New user registrations are turned back on. I had a few options for ensuring humans are actually registering and not robot spam users, so we will see how this works, I can change it if it seems like a bunch fo spambots are still getting through. For now, when users register it'll use a two-word confirmation similiar to what craigslist uses, if people can't see well or are having problems reading it, they can request a new image, or they can receive an audio prompt.

[Heath]

Nifty...

[rwmorrisonjr]

I think that should work for now.

[mattadams]

Bleh, well I'm already getting spam users that must be able to figure out the program. Maybe I'll make it tougher, or do the question/answer format... for example "which club are you trying to join right now?" and so forth. Simple questions, just enough to throw off the bots.