Greg

Ok, just to review the new rules relating to signatures: New members can only edit/add a signature after they have posted a minimum of 10 postings No images are allowed in signatures Only 1 URL is allowed in a signature Only 6 lines MAX are allowed in a signature No YouTube videos are allowed in a signature Please review your current signature, and ensure your signature does not conflict with these rules.

I'm always looking for ways to improve things, and with the new upgrade and skin, there will be additional features added when time allows. Feel free to post a new thread in the Support and Questions section if you see an issue or would like to suggest a new feature. Thanks!

It is available here: http://community.invisionpower.com/index.php?app=core&module=search

I manually removed it.

I'm addressing this issue as we speak!

Images in signatures is a no go for me, and I will update the rules to reflect this.

That's a good idea. I'll look into the logistics of this feature. However, I would prefer if the points just expired after a certain amount of time. But remember, only you and the moderators can see the points and as I stated earlier, the points mean less in the long run as compared to the severity of a specific infraction.

No one, as that would be next to impossible to do in real time. There would be rules, and if someone was present (and I could confirm the infraction) then normal suspensions and or bannings would be issued. That is an option, I can set the forums to be open during specific times/dates. That's not a difficult thing to do.

Can you be more specific of the problem? What are you trying to undo, something that you've written? There is an undo button in the text editor above -- is the little arrow that points backwards...

A great deal of changes were made to the database yesterday, which might have something to do with the slow response. If you continue to experience this issues, update this thread and I will investigate further.

There is an upper threshold, but I wouldn't try to hit it - too see how far it goes. Also, the severity of the infraction has a great deal of impact on whether an actual disciplinary action is taken. The warning levels help me and the mods see a posters "trend" but the levels do not dictate 100% what disciplinary actions are taken. The fact that you can see all of your warnings, is for transparency - no one can accuse myself or the mods of not being fair and unbiased if they can see the flow and trend of the warnings.

It's not related to a thread or posting - it's simply a chat function/plugin provided by IPB. Implementing this functionality came up before in the past, and I always nixed the idea. However, I am considering it now -- but I have to first get the plugin to work and do some testing before I make any definitive decisions.

It should! Possibly, if people what a chat function, I will activate it.

That is one of the new features implemented into the new forums.

Be aware that the forum software will be undergoing a major upgrade and a new skin/theme will be applied shortly. In the next few days, we will be preforming the update and applying the new skin, so at some point the forum will be unavailable. Once the upgrade is complete and the skin is applied, things will look similar to what you see now, but with a few subtle changes (and a few new features). After the upgrade, if you have any questions or you see an error, please report the issue in the support section of the forums. Do not attempt to PM me the issue, post a new thread in the support forums and I will address the issues based on priority. Charles and Michael will also be available, if you have any questions -- but ask via the Support forum, NOT PM! Thanks

That can be fairly subjective, and I would rather not have the moderators or facilitators (or myself) making a judgement on whether a post is high quality or not. We do have a rule relating to type of postings: and another on trolling/flaming If you believe a posting or a topic falls within these two rules, send in a report. Otherwise, if its just someone who is being intellectually lazy in their argument or seem to be playing the devil's advocate, then take them to task and point out the flaws in the argument. If everyone took the high road and choose not to feed the trolls, they would all get bored and leave. Likewise, if someone is just being lazy, the quickest way to get them to respond intelligently is to counter their argument with an intelligent debate.

Just to give everyone a heads up, I am going to start the process of upgrading the forums and redesigning the skins next week. We estimate it to take about 2 weeks to get everything done, but I hope it will be shortly. In the mean time, i am going to personally select a few members to act as spam cops - whose sole administrative responsibilities (other than contributing to the forums, as they would normally) will be to flag spammers for removal. Their member title will be changed to SPAM COP and they will hold this responsibility until the upgrade is complete. I will then determine whether this new role will need to continue -- a lot will depend on whether the Invision Spam Monitoring system is a reliable counter to the spammers. If you have any questions or comments, please post them below. Thanks!

Thanks Teddy, we should be good for now, but I will keep your offer in mind.

No one is to blame except the spammers. Right now we're getting hit hard by spammers - I'm not sure why, but i know a lot of them are on the run because of the crack down on the email botnets. The rats are simply fleeing to a new avenue for their garbage. However, I have identified what I think is a pattern in their behaviour, which I am going to try to exploit between now and when we get the upgrade completed -- the upgrade comes with a ne2 Spam Monitoring Service, which should help with the elimination of the spam. More info on the upgrade will be given shortly. Thanks

The report feature will be improved when we upgrade the forum software. See this thread for more information.

I am aware of this situation, and we will be dealing with it as soon as possible. However, in order to effectively deal with the spam, we need to upgrade the forums to the latest version. Doing this will break the forum theme/templates, which will mean the whole forum will have to be defaulted to the standard look for Invision Forums. This obviously isn't ideal, and I am trying to find a solution that i will impact the forum community the least. However, I do realize that dealing with the forum templates is probably easier than dealing with the onslaught of spammers. So you can expect a solution before the end of the week (possibly sooner). Thanks!

stopstaaron has been banned. If he returns, please report it and I'll deal with him swiftly. Thanks

Micheal is right, the forum software does NOT have a spellchecker activated. Most modern browsers already have spell checkers built right into the browser, so it would be pointless to even provide such a functionality directly in the forum. So any incorrect spellings you might encounter are the result of your browser, not the MLW forums. Thanks,

The measure of success is different for everyone and personally, I never wanted the forums at Mapleleafweb to be the most popular or have the largest membership. A successful forum, in my opinion, is one that is full of diverse opinions and individuals who treat each other with respect. Charles and I never do anything in secret, we just don't respond to individual complaints or reports in public -- there is a big difference. If you request a explanation for an action (or perceived inaction), Charles and I will always respond to your request personally. We will not however, discuss any specific moderation action publicly. Plenty of reports are made everyday, and every single one of them is reviewed and an action (if deemed necessary) is taken. Not all reports result in a banning or suspension (very few, actually), but we do stay on top of all the reports that are made. As Micheal points out above - constant and unending groveling and belly-aching over every single moderator action. Anyone who is banned has their membership group changed to Banned. You can see this by viewing their profile. In my opinion, the proof is in the pudding... The fact that the forums is still operating and producing a high level of debate is the true measure of success. As volunteers, you have to understand that our time is valuable and SHORT. Moderation time is better spent reviewing and acting upon the reports and reviewing the existing forum threads and postings, not necessarily responding to every submitter of those reports.