If you know anyone who was recently banned from the board...

[BootsMcGraw]

Howdy, y'all.

In my haste to help rid the constant influx of spammers that have intruded into our little oasis-on-the-Net, I used my newly appointed powers as Site Admin to initiate a ban on some of the offending bozos.

It turns out that these spammers have ways of disguising their IP addresses. While I thought I had knocked out some of the worst offenders, I managed to ban two huge blocks of America Online subscribers.

Several of our membership were in those blocks, and were inadvertantly banned. I believe have restored access to all our legitimate members who were banned; but I'm sure not everyone who got kicked out has contacted one of the Admins or Moderators to be re-instated.

If you know of anyone who has been banned from the site in the last few days, please tell them to contact me at the e-mail address in my signature line, and I will get them re-instated.

My apologies to anyone who was inconvenienced by my actions. I'm having growing pains as a new Admin.

http://www.bubbafeet.com/06061101a.jpg
Back in the saddle, again!

[Shale]

Is there any way to put a spam button on the posts to alert you? I sometimes come on and see spam posts (like those very large multiple porn vids) but there is no quick easy way to ref it to the mods.

[BootsMcGraw]

Is there any way to put a spam button on the posts to alert you? I sometimes come on and see spam posts (like those very large multiple porn vids) but there is no quick easy way to ref it to the mods.
There is none. They post as guests, so the only way I can see 'em coming is when I am in Admin mode, and I suddenly see twenty log-ins with the same IP address.

Rodney and the Webmaster and I shoot these pigeons down as soon as we see 'em. We hope to upgrade to a newer version of phpBB (what runs these boards) soon, that has better spam controls.

http://www.bubbafeet.com/06061101a.jpg
Back in the saddle, again!

[mossy69]

yeah i was on that got banned list. i came back tonight and found i could get back on. i enjoy the site so i hope it will be ok from now on thanks

May I make a suggestion?

The robots seem to have seized upon the "shoes, boots, socks" message board.

What might help is to close that board to posts, and to open a fresh message board for the specialized subject matter of shoes, boots and socks.

I don't see the floods of advertisements going up in the other divisions of this board at all, which may be because you're eliminating them before I see them; but if, indeed, it's because the robots only are attacking that one section of the message board, it might be simpler to just move it to an address they aren't anticipating.

[BootsMcGraw]

May I make a suggestion?...The robots seem to have seized upon the "shoes, boots, socks" message board....
I haven't figured out why that is happening. Maybe chance, maybe not. It appears the configuration of all six boards is the same. But some spammers are now hitting all the boards at once.

There's really no point in closing a board and opening another one. However they got to the now open board, they'll find a way into a new one. There are precious few humans involved here. Why on earth would a human in his right mind want to peddle pussy porn on a (mostly) gay men's message board?

The solution is to upgrade these message boards to the latest version of phpBB, and to install additional anti-spam "mods" offered by phpBB people. But the choice as to when to implement that option is totally in the hands of the site owner, since he is paying for the space and the bandwidth.

http://www.bubbafeet.com/06061101a.jpg
Back in the saddle, again!

[frace11]

Just sent you a pm Boots. Problem today with signing in but then I've noticed goblins messing with my computer over the past several months so maybe they've been tampering with my FB system. :? Thanks for your help.

[FootBuddiesModerator]

Hang tight guys. There's going to be a major update VERY soon that will eliate all if not most fo these problems.... Give me a week at most to put the finishing touches on!

Thanks!

[TinkBash]

Thanks Webby for the update; we wish you the best. Also, thanks to you and crew for your efforts to keep things running. It's a great fun place for us foot guys to visit. :)

[piccolopal]

I can't see the pictures anymore !! What happened?

[fruityfoot]

There is none. They post as guests, so the only way I can see 'em coming is when I am in Admin mode, and I suddenly see twenty log-ins with the same IP address.


why not make it a requirement to be a member with an email validation to post in this forum ? I see no downside to that.

also, I saw a feature in other boards where can configure a member needs at least 10 or so posts before he is allowed to post links - that could be another idea.

[BootsMcGraw]

why not make it a requirement to be a member with an email validation to post in this forum ? I see no downside to that.

also, I saw a feature in other boards where can configure a member needs at least 10 or so posts before he is allowed to post links - that could be another idea.

Nice idea... but the spammers have already learned how to defeat both those safeguards. We had the e-mail verification in place for new subscribers; and the spammers learned how to tweak the actual program code to bypass that part of the registration process.

The site owner did one better than simply upgrading the site to the newest version of phpBB. He replaced it with what we're reading, now. I'm not familiar with it; but I can tell you that I've seen zero spammers on this site since the change.

[TinkBash]

I've been visiting FB since about 2004 but I was returned after the changes as TinkBash, not as tinkbash and as a "Junior" member. Getting signed in and trying to navigate the new maze has not been easy. I've received no replies or comments for previous entries like this one. When I open FB I get a pic of a left bare foot with no caption. This new system seems user unfriendly to me. Maybe I'm just not up to date on navigating yet. Any comments welcomed. Hit me back at solefrush9@yahoo.com thanks "tinkbash"

[BootsMcGraw]

...Maybe I'm just not up to date on navigating yet. Any comments welcomed. Hit me back at solefrush9@yahoo.com thanks "tinkbash"
Tink,

Do you have Yahoo Instant Messenger? We can chat, live; and I can help walk you through any problems you are having. My screen name there is boots_mcgraw.