Getting a "Post needs to be Moderated" message? Please read this.

[FiestaFaction-1]

We are running a new anti-spam software in the forums that looks for certain triggers in a post that may mean the user is a spammer. Which means that some of you may be getting a message that says your post needs to be moderated before it will be seen.

If you are getting one of these messages, it could be caused by several issues, among them:

1. If it's your first post on the forum. Which is a core feature of the system. It allows us to manual check all new users.
2. If you post a link that the service interprets as spam. Unfortunately links can easily look spammy.
3. Your IP address is somehow flagged as being suspicious. If your ISP has some IPs that are used by spammers, you may look 'guilty by association'.

When you post something and it goes into moderation, the admins still see it on the backend. All the legit ones we 'OK', and they are posted onto the forum. When we do this, it is suppose to 'trust' your account going forward.

If the post is not legit, it allows us to intervene, and ban that user, before the post ever goes live.

The system works pretty well. But, there seems to be an issue where there are a small number of users that keep getting re-added to the moderation queue, even though we've OK'd them.
We are currently looking into why this is happening.

In the long run, this will help the forum by keeping spammers and other baddies as far away from the forums as possible. We've had to go to using this software because things have changed in the past few months, and the amount of spamming and unsavory activity have escalated. It's not just here on FJ, but all forums are seeing this trend.

In the meantime, please realize that if you are a legit user and are getting moderated, it's not anything you've done. It's just a glitch that we are trying to sort out. We apologize for the inconveinnce and will try to get things running smooth asap.

Thanks!

[petraman]

It seems to me that this new feature is more trouble than its worth... I haven't been affected by it, but I'd imagine it would be pretty annoying if I had. The way I see it is the report button is much more effective... you have real people identifying real spam, instead of a program using an imperfect algorithm to "guess" if it's spam. So, you have a bunch of false alarms, which are legitimate posts by legitimate users, that will take even more time to sort through than with the current system. Just saying.... my two cents.

[Rummager]

*Raises his hand and stands in the guilty corner*

I didn't do anything... Honest!

I think its my yellow blaze you guys are hating on! Damn discrimination I say!

[GapBoyPCS]

Originally Posted by Rummager

*Raises his hand and stands in the guilty corner*

I didn't do anything... Honest!

I think its my yellow blaze you guys are hating on! Damn discrimination I say!

Just out of curiosity, are you posting from work or at home?

[Squirrel]

I only have gotten errors when I'm at work, which does not surprise me. So many computers on one network+our own internet+some of the things I see my coworkers looking at.

[GapBoyPCS]

Originally Posted by petraman

It seems to me that this new feature is more trouble than its worth... I haven't been affected by it, but I'd imagine it would be pretty annoying if I had. The way I see it is the report button is much more effective... you have real people identifying real spam, instead of a program using an imperfect algorithm to "guess" if it's spam. So, you have a bunch of false alarms, which are legitimate posts by legitimate users, that will take even more time to sort through than with the current system. Just saying.... my two cents.

The software we have in place serves to supplement the Report button. It is not meant to do away with it. People can still report unsavory posts or those they believe are spam.

But as FiestaFaction-1 wrote, a lot of forums are being hit with spam and unsavory content. Things have significantly changed over the last few months. It's not a perfect system, but it offers some protection against malicious content that could end up on people's computers and systems. Luckily, the sorting time of legitimate and illegitimate posts is pretty good, so there isn't much hassle there. Hopefully everyone also practices safe web-browsing.

[Rummager]

The last two days I have been posting from home.

Before that I was posting at Work for 2-3 days.

/Sadface

[jimkberry]

I've pretty much given up. 33 posts in the past year and every one has required moderation. It kinda makes it pointless to answer questions or try to get into a discussion.

'nuff whining. Maybe #34 will be the charm...

-jim

[jimkberry]

Originally Posted by jimkberry

Maybe #34 will be the charm...

Woo! Woo! It worked!

[FiestaFaction-1]

Actually, it's a very good system. It just took us a while to dial it in, probably longer than it should have, which is my fault.

But, I think we've found the correct settings. Many that were having problems are now reporting that they no longer are.