People Registering just for signatures

[RichieBoy67]

Hey all,

I was just wondering how you guys handle this.

it seems that daily this one client's site is getting numerous registrations from people just creating a signature and leaving. most never post. They create a profile and a signature and leave..

I am not sure what else I can do now. I have permissions that require a certain amount of posts before allowing signatures. i have url's turned off in profiles. I have the signature warning mod as well that informs me which is how I finally became aware of this problem. I have the permissions mods etc and I require members to confirm emails upon registration.

I also have a simple rules table mod that displays a warning above the signature box while people are creating signatures.

Is this just something everyone lives with? Some may see the larger numbers as a benefit but I just see it as a waste of resources that means sending newsletters out too people that have no desire to visit the site etc..

Instead of not allowing members to display signatures or instead of creating an elaborate promotion set up is there any other way to disable new users from actually creating a signature in the first place?

I was also thinking of a check box that makes users read a rule before creating a signature.. What do you guys think? Are there any other mods I haven't seen or would anyone be willing to help me write one??

Thanks much..

[preemz10314]

Well, I have a minimum of a 3 post count before they can see signatures. This does increase activity. And to be honest, every forum will have leachers. Every single one in the world will have a good amount of leachers, thats the uphill battle with creating a successfull forum. Eventually over some time, active members will stumble in, encouraging more activity then you may even notice one or two of the signature leachers start to post here and there.

Let me say this, it seems you have the member part under control, which is what counts when making a forum, I mean what is a forum with no members, leachers. It's a fail. Thats half the battle, getting members. If users are creating signatures then its a matter of time before they want to show them off in posts on your forum... fight thru it. You have activity even if they make sigs and leave it is still activity most forums when created just die off... be gratefull you have at least that. Now just work on creating quality posts and topics.

Instead of trying to sever the activity to force posts. Encourage it, embrace it, use it to your advantage, say..by creating a "signature of the week or month" thread where users can just make a post saying anything like "MY sig is the best vote for me"...this will break the ice for them and maybe they will be more willing to post, it may even spark debate among others wihich is great let them fight over eachothers signature.. dont try to ever block activty on a forum, use it to your advantage, would you rather they just hit your page and instantly X out never returning? OR make a sig, then leave....think about it..

[Lynne]

I work to try to stop the spammers from registering in the first place. And, besides which, profile pages aren't visible to bots, so the signature would only get seen by the bots if they post. And spam posts are removed real quick since my mods love the One-Touch Spam Bam mod (can't remember the exact name). They fight over who zaps the spammer... when we get them which isn't too often lately since I made some changes in our Q&A.

[RichieBoy67]

Thanks,

Yeah, these guys may be trying to spam but it doesn't happen much. They just register, create a profile with a signature and then leave. I know the signatures cannot be viewed or anything but I just wish there were some way to stop these people from even registering if their only intention is to leave..

Yes, all the anti spam mods are installed and the problem is one of those things that just annoys me. I believe these people are doing this thinking either they will create a spam post which gets blocked or they think their url will be viewable in their profile which isn't..

I would be willing to bet they are trying to create a post with a url in it and it is getting blocked because of the permissions I have set up..

Thanks again for the replies..

Rich

[8thos]

Recaptcha.

[RichieBoy67]

Recaptcha does not stop people from joining etc.. It only stops automated registrations..