Members email, and IP

[Maiden]

If people don't log in after a week on our forum we like to send them an inactivity email (Which we used to do by copying their email and sending it from our admin gmail account) to remind them we exist before deleting them three weeks later if they still don't log on. Are we still going to be able to do this?

[Kami]

It looks like you can now email certain users without having to email everyone, so there is no need to copypaste emails.

If you want all emails to come from the global gmail, then then there are a few options, but all of them pose security risks to staff accounts. EG: the main admin can handle all the emails, for instance, and set their email as the staff email acct -- but if other staff have access, that might not be secure.

[bluebayou]

Very interesting articles, Patrick!

[fredtransit]

WHOA!! I am obviously not on V5 as l can see the info but will my forum eventually be converted?
This worries me as on a previous board l was approving new members and to do this l needed this info. As my forum gets busier (and attractive to spammers) l may wish to switch to Admin Approval but cant check new members without the info. Will I be obliged to have V5 at some stage in the futuer?

[moonbeam]

Yes. At some point after v5 release every forum will be upgraded automatically. If you read the history of the thread, and the other links within it, you will see that you will still be able to check things. It just won't be in exactly the same manner as before.

[Ryan Roos]

Nov 12, 2012 3:38:20 GMT -8 Maiden said:

If people don't log in after a week on our forum we like to send them an inactivity email (Which we used to do by copying their email and sending it from our admin gmail account) to remind them we exist before deleting them three weeks later if they still don't log on. Are we still going to be able to do this?

Currently what you're doing could be seen as violating the TOS. Just a heads up. You aren't supposed to use member information (including emails) for personal use.

However in v5 we have provided you the Email Members tool. This replaces the Mass Email of v4. You can still email you whole forum if you need to, but now you can also send emails directly to members as well. Keep in mind this tool isn't meant for spamming your members. But your inactivity emails would be possible.

everyone else. There seems to be a lot of panic over something that really isn't that big of a deal. As explained numerous times. You have all the functionality you're supposed to have in v5 (more than you had in v4). We are also increasing our privacy and security. Please wait for v5 and see how it actually works before panicking about it. These are things we put lots of thought, time and effort into. IF v5 is launched and IF you do have a problem, then you can come to us and we can work out a solution.That's why we're here. But panicking about all these potential hypothetical spammers is not doing anyone any good. We already put a lot of effort into making v5 great. Trust us and if there's a problem I promise we will work with you on a solution.

[fredtransit]

I am panicking on two fronts with good reason. Firstly, my previous forum was set to amin approva duel to the large amount of spammers signing up. It was simple to google the email addresses before approval and to delete those already reported as spammers. At one stage I could delete up to 60 a day! Can you imagine what damage they could do if left to post? Aside from this, eventually the spambots stopped being sent. In 5 yesrs I had 2 spammers and 600 genuine members.
Also, if anything should happen to the forum (as happene to me, 3 servers of forums were deleted) without being able to keep an email list outside the forum I would have no way of contacting members if the forum goes down
Secondly I am conserned there will be a conversion of the softwear my new forum is on. I have experience of this too with my previous service provider. They tried to convert phpB2 to phpB3 and it was a disaster. So much so the forums had to be reverted.
Can I ask when the change is planned for?

[VS Admin]

fred,

The entire point of BetaZone (which is going on right now) is to ensure that there are no problems converting your forum from the old version to the new one. We have spent months testing our conversion process, and are finding any last bugs with the help of ProBoards members that are testing BetaZone.

We actually have vastly improve our anti-spammer technology by integrating our service with StopForumSpam.com. You've probably noticed a steep decrease in spammers because we're blocking them from your forums automatically. We will continue to take even more proactive action to ensure spammers are dealt on all forums.

With v5, we actually provide you some new features you didn't have before for helping you approve new accounts. When someone registers, you can ask them to leave you an additional note with their registration. This note will be displayed to you in the admin area which can help you determine whether or not you should approve their account. You could also use our Email Members feature to contact them if you had a question before approving their account.

In regards to the forum going down, we keep backups of all forums in an off-site location completely separate from where our main servers are. You do not need to worry about losing your member data.

[Martyn Dale]

We are continually increasing spam detection and protection from our end. While your actions may have been a factor, another factor will have been our actions across all of ProBoards.

You only have the ability to see spam on one particular forum, we can see it over many and can block it before it even reaches your forum.


The date for compulsory moving has not yet been determined. It will be into next year before that happens, once we are sure there will not be situations such as the one you described.

[Patrick [ASE]]

Nov 12, 2012 10:50:09 GMT -8 fredtransit said:

I am panicking on two fronts with good reason. Firstly, my previous forum was set to amin approva duel to the large amount of spammers signing up. It was simple to google the email addresses before approval and to delete those already reported as spammers. At one stage I could delete up to 60 a day! Can you imagine what damage they could do if left to post? Aside from this, eventually the spambots stopped being sent. In 5 yesrs I had 2 spammers and 600 genuine members.
Also, if anything should happen to the forum (as happene to me, 3 servers of forums were deleted) without being able to keep an email list outside the forum I would have no way of contacting members if the forum goes down
Secondly I am conserned there will be a conversion of the softwear my new forum is on. I have experience of this too with my previous service provider. They tried to convert phpB2 to phpB3 and it was a disaster. So much so the forums had to be reverted.
Can I ask when the change is planned for?

As Ryan said, holding members emails on a personal database without their consent may be breaking TOS, maybe a way would be to provide a separate email account and let members know what it is so they can contact you if (in the unlikely event) the forum is taken offline.

What i would suggest (if you have a beta forum) is to set it for approved members only, and get some of your mebers to register an account, that way you will see how the system works.
in betazone you can convert a new forum (you have up to 5) for testing.

[VS Admin]

One thought I'm having, based on the discussion here, is maybe the ability for us to query the StopForumSpam database on the pending registrations page, and display the results for you on the page? This may be possible and may alleviate some concerns, while allowing us to still protect member privacy.

[Patrick [ASE]]

Nov 12, 2012 11:06:46 GMT -8 VS Admin said:

One thought I'm having, based on the discussion here, is maybe the ability for us to query the StopForumSpam database on the pending registrations page, and display the results for you on the page? This may be possible and may alleviate some concerns, while allowing us to still protect member privacy.

I would second that

EDIT: Only thing is, the current stopforumspam code takes you to their site where the IP is displayed
Unless there's a way to return their reults as a 'This IP has not been reported' message on the forum.

[Maiden]

Thank you Ryan. I'd read the ToS, and again when the forum ownership was given to me (and the previous owner was a big believer in sticking strictly to the ToS as well) and hadn't considered it personal use so always good to hear an official interpretation.

I'm glad there will be a email specific members feature. I think that will be a lot easier to use and better than the current system! (We're certainly not attached to sending them from the Gmail account, it's clunky)

Thanks!

Sent from phone, please forgive typos!

[moonbeam]

Nov 12, 2012 11:06:46 GMT -8 VS Admin said:

One thought I'm having, based on the discussion here, is maybe the ability for us to query the StopForumSpam database on the pending registrations page, and display the results for you on the page? This may be possible and may alleviate some concerns, while allowing us to still protect member privacy.

Patrick, I think this would be a great compromise. And if everyone would take the time to report the spammers they encounter NOW to stopforumspam - even if the spammer is already on there- it would probably help a lot. It's not hard to do and it keeps the data current. Become a part of the solution, in other words.

[Misaka]

while we are discussing this
will the member who joined be able to see their own e-mail/IP address
or just the e-mail ?