Errant Heart Discussion Forum

Okay, so, the spambots are driving me nuts. I've turned on a really aggressive CAPTCHA system, but they keep trickling in.

One of the options for "spambot countermeasures" that can be enabled is a question and answer test. So, I was thinking of turning that on, and then place the "answer" to the question in a an obvious, conspicuous sticky post in the General section with a title along the lines of, "IF YOU WANT TO REGISTER AN ACCOUNT, YOU NEED TO READ THIS FIRST!".

The content of the post would have the question and answer posted in it. I'd probably also outline the fact that if you happen to be a human who is registering a spam account, I'll know shortly thereafter. I have no compunction of deleting said account and banning your entire IP range, name and email, with or without any proof.

I think it's a good idea. But then again, I might just be blinded with spambot rage, and can't see the obvious problems with this setup—aside from the fact that it doesn't stop human spammers (but then again, neither does the CAPTCHA system). So, can anyone think of potential problems with this solution?

That's a good idea, Jake. In fact, consider it done. Er...with some caveats.

It looks like the "Q&A" spambot countermeasure doesn't work when the "Skyblue" theme is enabled. So, I've had to "un-lock-down" the Skyblue theme. That way, when folks register, they will be looking at the default theme, which will then present them with the registration question of what does the "V" in EVN stand for.

Well...about a week after turning on the Q&A anti-spambot countermeasures, there hasn't been a single spambot registration. Um, or any new members...or any conversations...

I still stand by my opinion: don't worry about the lack of traffic or posts for quite a while. I joined LS when it was already picking up and there weren't all that many posts still. You had a few over the arc of a week, even.
To that, add that at least for the moment your purpose can be seen as to create a community without all the fluff that is allowed at Lemma, and if one wants to abide to that it's actually harder to come here and talk about something relevant, say, until you have some material to show or anything of interest to say. :-)