Social Network Marketing Tycoon

**jamestl2** · 05-18-2008, 10:22 PM

Seriously, I have a few members on my forum that go through the entire registration process and stop at that point.

They didn't have their post or thread deleted, they didn't PM anyone, and some don't even seem to stay for very long, so......

**andrei155** · 05-18-2008, 10:24 PM

These are probably BOT registrations.

**jamestl2** · 05-18-2008, 10:26 PM

Well if they are, then why haven't they spammed me yet? (Not that I actually want the spam though.)

**andrei155** · 05-18-2008, 10:28 PM

maybe they can't get through the posting process, but could get throguh the registration process. Try enabling somekind of human skill testing question field upon registrration.

Something like 2+ = __________

most bots won't recognize this. could you link me to the forum that your experiencing this in?

**jamestl2** · 05-18-2008, 10:30 PM

I've always had a captcha enabled for guests to fill out before registering.

The link to my conspiracy forums is in my signature.

**andrei155** · 05-18-2008, 10:35 PM

The captcha upon reigstration is not enough. Most bots are now smart enough to get by this, somehow

.

**jamestl2** · 05-18-2008, 10:37 PM

So you still think that those mostly bots that register? What else is there to do?

**andrei155** · 05-18-2008, 10:46 PM

Well, if you are getting loads of these users that aren't posting, It's probably bots, but if it's only one or two then its proabably okay.

Enabling email verification, will decrease the ammounts of bots. Also, further human identification fields wouldn't hurt.

**joder** · 05-18-2008, 11:32 PM

Some people may sign up and then get busy and forget or just decide it's not for them. It's hard to tell but I'm sure there are many reasons.

**jamestl2** · 05-19-2008, 12:06 AM

I understand that some people may forget or what not, but many places have TONS of people who sign up and don't register, just look at WT for example:
http://www.webmaster-talk.com/member...rt=posts&pp=30

**usearchme** · 05-19-2008, 06:39 AM

Hi there

I dont think there is anything sinister going on, people do this a lot register have a look around and leave, it just a form of browsing, just keep trimming ur forum members for people who dont confirm their email address and people who dont post.

Its pretty normal if you ask me.

Woc

**fattony** · 05-19-2008, 06:24 PM

Please dont take this as a hijack thread but I'm experiencing the same problem, however I have email verification enabled, they sign up but dont post weird isnt it

**jamestl2** · 05-19-2008, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fattony

Please dont take this as a hijack thread but I'm experiencing the same problem, however I have email verification enabled, they sign up but dont post weird isnt it

Don't worry, it sounds on-topic

.

I have email verification and a captcha enabled, so I don't know what else would be useful for stopping the bots.

But some may be humans that register and don't post too (which ones I'm not sure), and why such a high number don't remains a mystery to me.

**willcode4beer** · 05-19-2008, 09:44 PM

I think you'll find this is very common for most sites (even dzone and digg).
They all find it frustrating that the overwhelming majority of members do little more than read posts.

**northbeach23** · 05-20-2008, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrei155

The captcha upon reigstration is not enough. Most bots are now smart enough to get by this, somehow

.

Really!

Bots can read captcha?

**fattony** · 05-20-2008, 02:06 PM

considering my forum is fairly new 2 weeks old in fact I've had about 35 members join 5 of which are posting. Arghh

**Moxxnixx** · 05-20-2008, 02:47 PM

Some people sign up on forums to see if there are any sections visible only
to registered members; I do this myself. I'm sure that's not the case for all
signups, but some.

**jamestl2** · 05-20-2008, 04:51 PM

Maybe a way to deal with this sort of problem (if it persists) is to have a rule that if you register but don't post, you reserve the right to delete them from the forum database after a set amount of time.

Not exactly the "nicest" form of solutions, but it'll help keep the DB clean and potentially catch bots more.

**indieover** · 05-20-2008, 09:28 PM

well most probably they don't have that much time to post every day. but i am willing to join your forum. what is your forum.

**jamestl2** · 05-20-2008, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by indieover

well most probably they don't have that much time to post every day. but i am willing to join your forum. what is your forum.

The forum I've been referring to is the one in my signature (Conspiracy Forums). Like I said, it doesn't have that many members ATM, but still a fair amount who have joined and not posted.