Some user called AddisonNichol just posted 22 threads over in the Movie forum. They're all one word title and I haven't even bothered to click them because I doubt they are anything but spam.

I decided to check a couple. It seems they all just say "helo".

Saw them too. Seems like some troll trying to get attention. They all just are different titles with the only posts (so far at least) in each thread saying hello. Dumbass

They'll be gone in the morn, as will the troll.

Building up a post count so he could post advertising pictures and links.

He's been busy.

Ugh, you're telling me.

I think I got all 69 (!!!) of the threads he started this morning.

I blame all this for 'Mallet demotin himself and taking his finger out of the dyke.

Yeah, nearly two whole pages worth when I saw it this morning.

... and I blame 'Mallet as well.

Who was he fingering?

Good job.

Sunday morning is another favorite time for the spammers lately. They think everyone is sleeping.

Saw someone else doing the same thing a few days ago.

Is there a way to limit the number of posts per day for newbies? That might slow them down.

That was a quite prolific but rather baffling spam attack.

Don't some forums have it set up where you can only start threads after a certain amount of posts? Seems like this guy just registered and started spamming right away without posting in any actual threads.

I hope the forum software allows some sort of control over new members posting.

I'm not sure if preventing newbies from starting threads altogether is necessary, but I'd be ok in limiting them to one thread per day. Heck, that limit would be best for most of us.

I'll ask IBobi if he has any info on your suggestions. Keep in mind that (if it's possible software-wise) it would not stop spammers from posting in existing threads or bumping 2 year old threads, which also can be annoying. It would stop a spammer from wrecking the 1st page of a forum with spam threads.

I don't mind random bumps as much but yeah spamming the whole first page of Movie Talk the other day was annoying.

Yeah, bumps can be fun, but multiple new threads is just spam. What about limiting new members to a handful of posts a day until they prove they're really here for discussion?

I don't know about all these restrictions. Seems like limitations on new members could end up frustrating someone actually trying to come in and contribute, which would be less than ideal as well. There's always going to be spammers. The mods, who do a decent job staying on of it as it is, will have to continue to fight the good fight.

Regarding "mod coverage" -- is there an effort to make sure mods are on watch 24 hours a day? Not literally perhaps, but having close to around the clock coverage to address the "RTPs" that come in? Just curious. I don't know how much spam might pop up during the super-late hours when forum activity is low. I post a great deal then, but haven't noticed tons of spam. That could be because the mods are on it, or because the spammers are sleeping as well.

^ I understand your point cardsfan, but I'm not sure if limiting someone to starting one thread a day is much of a restriction. How many of us even "forum vets" ever start more than one a day?

You don't want to place many restrictions on new members when the forum is starved for new blood.

I've asked for a moderation queue for new members. Simply put, if your a new member anything you post has to be approved by a moderator first. Not sure if it's possible/feasible with this software but it's better than being in reactive mode.

Another thing that would be helpful is to give the mods the ability to suspend members with less than a certain amount of posts. A lot of times I see the spam, delete it from the forums I happen to monitor, but I have to wait for an admin to actual remove the user. Sometimes the spammer is posting faster than I can delete their messages!

I can see your point and I don't really know about placing restrictions on actual posts but maybe have a certain number of posts before a new member is able to create a new thread or at least limit the number of new threads they can create per day. Pretty sure other forums I've been to have something like this set up where you have to reach a certain number before you're able to actually start up a new thread which makes sense to me. Otherwise it's too easy for spammers to just go to town like evidenced. If a poster has been around a while and is contributing it's less likely they're going to start randomly spamming.

That seems like it would be extremely annoying for mods.

There's no usable thread throttling tool. Even if you made them able to post new threads after making 5-10 posts, they'll just make the 10 posts & then start thread spamming. The solution is moderation. Delete, warn, ban, etc.

We have a new spammer over at the Movie Talk forum. A user by the name of JhonnyKarley. He/She/It has flooded the forum with numerous spam posts.