[Netherrealmer]

So I was checking out my forum (It's not monetized , I don't pay members, its just a community of a certain fanbase) When I saw a new post.



Base from this post, this is a one shot spammer, this member is not coming back. I kind of want to encourage my members to make new threads. So to motivate them I decided to edit the post of the spammer into a real post. In paid forums people cheat by making multiple accounts but my forum is not a paid forum . I realize as an admin I have the power to edit posts of members so instead of deleting the post of the spammer. I just turned it into a real post.



So yes this is what the UI of a forum admin looks like. You are able to ban members and edit their posts as well. I wonder if the members of the forum will be participating on the discussion that is originally a spam.

Did you know if an admin abandoned a forum for a whole year. It will be flooded by a spammer bot.

I will check if the spammer is going to comeback and how will he react to see his spam is turned into a legit post.

[mrki444]

It can be good if your spamer is real person but often they are just bots. One person using bot send thousands messages so often real person never check forum. Later if bot don't see message, it will post it again.

[MysticMoons]

There was some punk admin who was editing my posts making me say things I did not say on one forum.
Just because I was trolling. He is lucky I don't have time anymore. Or i would troll that forum to hell.
But it's dead forum anyways. So i rather not even post on there at it makes them money.

But it's a great idea what you did that is the way to edit a post to keep a forum going.
You should put adsense on your forums to earn some money.

[Netherrealmer]

I do have adsense for myself but yeah I dont pay Members. Since its not a paying forum, its suppose to be a regular forum.

The spammer didn't come back. I knew it, it's a hit and run spammer. His edited post is now being commented by members.

------

The spammer came back and logs in, so I banned the spammer before it makes a new post.

[Yugocean]

Are non paying forums active by real members? Why they should be there when there are paid forums?
Admin editing posts are welcomed by me as many times I have to edit, previously I used to request Mr B in BMF to edit for me.

[Netherrealmer]

Non paying forums exists even before Paying forums, People go there to find a community of people with the same interest.

Duck and Chicken farmers go to backyardchicken.com to talk with fellow farmers.
Lesbians go to the L word forums. ( I go there for the pictures )
Gamers go to Gamespot.com

Geeks go to IGN

Cooking enthusiast go to irecipes

Teens and young adults mostly are not interested on making money online via forums. They post in forums to find a community.

[MysticMoons]

That is good that you banned him. I think a lot of them are just bots. Because I used to see spammer posts nonsense then some strange links to buy pills or something lol
I am not sure why but i guess the bots just go spam the links whoever wrote the bots I suppose.

[CyberFreak]

@fergus1234, make sure the user can not re-edit their post though? Not sure about the software you use but here we have a check box we can mark which will prevent a specific post from being edited by the user despite them usually being able to edit their posts. If not, the spammer could just re-edit their post.

While most spam is posted by bots, there is alot of human spammers around. These are just users signing up to complete "tasks". Not every spammer is a bot. The bigger the forum, the more humans that will target it. We have had human spammers here spam and then try and return. We have users that sign up and post legit replies to topics and then return and add spam links at a later date.

[mrki444]

make sure the user can not re-edit their post though? Not sure about the software you use but here we have a check box we can mark which will prevent a specific post from being edited by the user despite them usually being able to edit their posts. If not, the spammer could just re-edit their post.

I think this option should be available for few minutes after posting because of real users. If some do mistakes, so they can edit it.

[MysticMoons]

Some forums also make it so you have to have like 50 or 100 good posts before you can even post links.
This helped cut down the spam on forums in the past as I do remember.

[Happyland]

That was a smart idea. It is refreshing to know that something meant for evil was turned around into something good. I hope he sees it and has a change of heart.

[CyberFreak]

Some forums also make it so you have to have like 50 or 100 good posts before you can even post links.
This helped cut down the spam on forums in the past as I do remember.

That is effective but it can be very frustrating for legitimate users. Sometime it is better to focus on less intrusive measures and accept a little extra spam in exchange for all users having a more enjoyable experience overall.

[Netherrealmer]

I think 10 good post is enough. That can be achieved on a single day

[RalphK123]

What you did there is very clinical and essential and will also possibly warn any other spammers to beware of the strict actions taken by the admin.

[Netherrealmer]

There is a Spammer I didnt ban, he kept spamming , I decided to keep editing his posts into real post. He doesnt care I edit his post. He just keep on spamming and I keep on editing. it increased the clickrate of my forum.

[ptrikha21]

This looks like a unique idea. It is like taking the T of SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) and turning that into a O - Opportunity.
But that would also mean a lot more work for Admin, and if there are even 50/60 such posts on a Forum, it would be a gigantic task!

[Netherrealmer]

A spammer finally fought back to me, He deleted the edited post and posted his spams again then reported real posts from real members as spam. I banned changed the email and password of his account.

[Abigael]

This looks like a unique idea. It is like taking the T of SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) and turning that into a O - Opportunity.
But that would also mean a lot more work for Admin, and if there are even 50/60 such posts on a Forum, it would be a gigantic task!

Yes, that's what I was thinking too. It will take the admin alot of time and effort to edit. So it is better to make strict rules against spamming and ban those who break them.

[JASPREET]

It's like playing with the Scammer but it's good to give him or her a taste of their own medicine. I don't see many admins do that but it's good you are doing it

[Bookwormlux]

You are funny. Why not just ban the spammer and have peace? The spammer really wasted your time. That idea of admin being able to edit a spammer's posts is an awesome one, at least to help other users know your site isn't some thrashy one.