I just wanted to post some thoughts on it while Magna and I continue to do what we can to prevent it from becoming a distraction and also let you know what you can do as well.1. There is nothing we can do to prevent them from posting. We can only ban the user name and delete the posts after they have already posted their stuff. So basically it is just a process of playing "whack-a-troll" with them. Usually they get tired of it and leave, but this individual seems to have a lot of stamina!
(It's OK, so do I! ) This is a pretty wide open board and anyone can automatically sign up and start posting. We used to have a 10 post rule for posting URL links, but with the board software upgrade a while back we seem to have lost that functionality and I have never gotten a response to the board owner from months ago to try to reinstate that. (The mods only moderate with limited functionality, we can't change any settings or work how the board or database actually operates.) In any event I don't think it would make much of a difference as the primary offender seems to like to post in groups of 20, 40 or 60, so only the first 10 would be the text/code version and the rest would be as they are now anyway. I don't think it would discourage this particular individual anyway.2. This may seem obvious, but don't click on any of the posted links. They do this to generate click through revenue. If it doesn't do that for them here then maybe they will move on. In addition, the likelihood of importing a virus, spyware, malware or other nasties to your PC increase tremendously so you do this at your own risk anyway.
3. They do have the ability to post porn images as embedded photos. If you see one of these and notice similar posts, take note of their screen name and then don't open up any of their other posts.
4. Don't respond to them in any posts. They typically like the attention. It is best to simply ignore them and let the mods catch up with them and do their job.
5. Along the top line of every post there is an upside down triangle with a red exclamation point in it. You can click on this and report the post. Visually the mods see the topic title/box in red/pink when we go into a forum and it helps us find them a bit easier. (We can run searches from their user name too so it's not essential.) If the same user has multiple posts, then you really only need to report the first one.
6. We can only do so much to keep up with them and there will be times when their stuff sits around for longer than we would like. We can't be here 24/7 and they typically operate from overseas so are often on while we are sleeping in the USA anyway. So just bear with us if you see some of their spam and know that we will get to it when we can.
Finally, I would rather not have to make this kind of announcement, but it is the reality of the current situation, so felt I should respond to it in some way publicly and provide some info. I don't really want or need any posts to follow this so I will lock this as well. In the meantime just enjoy the board and keep on keepin' on!!
