A.D.A. Amiga Demoscene Archive

Since 99% of the registrations on this forum were fake, i took some measurements to cure that problem.

However, since there were thousands of fake users, obviously i couldn't check which ones were valid and which ones weren't (probably a 2% to 98% ratio). In the end, i decided to delete all the users who were registered but didn't make a post yet. That was the only way to clean up this mess.

So if you have registered but didn't post anything yet and you want to do so now, please re-register to the site.

Sorry for the inconvenience. I should have tackled the problem of fake registrations long ago but well... it's fixed now, i hope.

Hi!
I tried to register an account (prowler) here, since my GFX-work is mentionen now and then. But my password is never accepted?
Could an admin mail me a solution to this problem? (obviously, I to keep my handle in this community as well)

/prowler

You could remove this post after looking into it...

@prowler:

let's recap:
- you registered under prowler, probably before the clean-up, but never posted
- that would mean that i deleted your account (for reasons explained above)
- checked the db and there is no user with the name of prowler

So you should just re-register with prowler. What do you mean with password not excepted? Did you try re-registering with the nick prowler? Should work.

Hi z5_ :-)

I've got a question - my account lets me log in OK to the forums and post (see - I'm posting now! :-D)

But it doesn't let me log in on the main ADA page so I can't vote on prods. :-(

If I sign in on the main page with my username and password like I do for the forum it tellls me its a bad username and if I try to sign up as a new member but still using pmc as my username it tells me I can't cos that user already exists!

Is there a problem with my account somewhere...?

@pmc: nope, the forum and ADA main page use a different account. So you need to register on the ada website if you want to vote/comment.

It seems ADA and other forums have big problems with spam accounts. It may be a good idea to get in contact with other forums and together find a solution for the problem. Until then z5, you could disable new accounts for a time.

@blakkhar: You are absolutely right and i'm glad you're bringing this up. The last months, all i have been doing is clearing this forum from spam. And to be honest, i'm sick and tired of it. It's draining all my enthusiasm for the site and i have been thinking about taking down the site completely. It just isn't fun anymore. It has been a good 11 years and i'd rather stop now than continue like this.

What this site urgently needs is an active www developer, not only for the spam issue but also for various things on the site itself (like a proper admin interface). Development has been in limbo for way too long. Without a developer, there is not much point anymore in keeping it online.

I think everybody will agree that ADA will go offline is a no go. So I hope a solution will come.

ADA looks miserable at the moment and it hurts to see it like that. For sure we want to keep it! But since the site currently lacks the developer for the aforementioned makeover, why not just stop taking on new users in the meantime and let it all cool down a little? Just my 2 cents. And seasonal greets!

I visit regularly to browse around in the prods/logo section. So seeing this site go offline would be sad. Noname's suggestion sounds pretty good as a interrim solution.

In fact, spam is very annoying here. My suggestion is also the same - turn off the registering of the new accounts/users (for a "moment").

And then let's describe the assumptions for the new site engine (good spam protection, group news module, adding more detailed information about the scene artists, the ability to update (add production, news) by the greater number of admins, youtube links, etc.) and then let's make some fund-raising together using crowdfunding sites / bounty / etc for writting a completely new ada code.

Thanks for the feedback.

The site doesn't really need big changes, at least not right away. Some sort of www admin interface to add prods would be welcome though since the updating process is not ideal at the momentl.

But a decent spam filter on the forum seems essential (i can't keep cleaning it up manually like i did during the last months) and would make the site/forum usable and presentable again. There is certainly no need for fund-raising as i like to keep this a money-free website.

The site just needs a bit of attention from a www developer but Todi has been busy with other things (last time we spoke and i assume this hasn't changed). In the end, it's up to him since i'm not an experienced www developer.

Also, i'd like to see the traditional ada Revision 2013 thread (which is always a great thread to read) so hopefully the spam issue will be fixed soon'ish.

I think it could be a good idea to distribute the maintenance to more people. For instance, I check in here regularly and wouldn't mind cleaning out some spam now and then. This way, you can focus on the content part of the site.

Indeed, I also have a look at the site at least once a day, and would be happy to help clean up spam.

I'll be happy to post some spam for Blueberry and britelite to clean up! I mean.. I'd love to help as well!

No way are you cleaning up spam in a forum while you could use that time to create the next kick-ass amiga demo.

Forum needs a better spam filter. Maybe the ada anti-spam quiz could be integrated into the forum? I'm no expert but i assume that this can't be solved by spam bots (should check the database to see if there are a lot of spam registrations on the ada site itself).

You should ask Todi though. This discussion has no use if the www developer isn't joining in.

We also use MiniBB on Amigaspirit.hu. MiniBB has the possibility to integrate its account system with almost any other system. Since we had our own registration system for the news and vote engine, which is custom made and not used elsewhere, we simply integrated MiniBB's account system into it, and there we go, 99,999% of spam, and all spambot problems solved, because from then on it was using our custom registration and login forms.

It also has the advantage of using a single login through the whole site. However, on ADA it's not that easy, as you have two user databases, and pairing the accounts might not be trivial...

One system for both the site and forum would definately have been the best solution. It's confusing for users that they need two logins and it would have meant less spam/better spam filter. But i guess it's too late now. Unless we start from scratch and loose all previous content, which would be a shame.

I have disabled user registration for the time being.

Just a quick note. While the registration is closed for the time being (which makes the forum usable again), if you are reall keen to get an account, you can always drop me a note and i'll open up the registration.

Just want to conclude this topic: forum and ada users have been merged and there is only one registration for both. Which also means the forum is open for all visitors. Also, password can be reset now if you have forgotten it. So good news all around.

And conclude by doing a little test

Not sure if this is the right topic to post this bug in, but here goes:

1. Reply to a message, quoting original message/comment.
2. Click 'Edit' to correct typo's (or in this case view the bug)
3. Note how the ending quote tag has magically turned into a ending url tag!
4. Click 'Post Message' to see that 'edited' message now doesn't quote properly!


Any chance of this being fixed sometime in the future?

Should be fast thing to do. Ill try to remember to look into that tomorrow!

Should be fixed now. Thanks for reporting!

Unfortunately, it seems that spam bots are able to register an account for some time past. I hope it doesn't make too much work fighting against.

New account creation now uses captcha which might help a little bit with spam. There seems to be still some spam every now and then coming mostly from old accounts, which were registered few years ago.. hope it settles down with time..