Thanks everyone for the support and kind words.
But I believe that some administrative tools exist that could serve to reduce to something the undesired thing
Yes, it is possible to ban IP addresses, e-mails, and so forth to block some spammers from trying to register. We have already banned
293 IPs and
288 e-mail addresses. Many of the e-mails banned are blocks on entire extensions such as *@cashette.com. This blocks any user trying to register with an address ending in that extension and is much more effective than banning specific e-mail addresses.
We have proof that this method is definitely working to some extent. By checking the ban log, it shows that one banned e-mail address (*@*.ru) has had 553 hits to date! Unfortunately, the choice of e-mail and IP is pretty much endless for spammers, so the only way to eradicate them completely is to regularly visit the forum and keep an eye on new members and posts. Both
Richard and I check several times a day, but even we have to sleep occasionally!
I think it would be much more helpful if we had some sort of visual verification process included on the registration form. I believe this feature is included on later versions of SMF (the program used by GW-PC), so perhaps we will see a bigger reduction in spam when the forum eventually gets updated to the newest version.
