Hidden User ??

Inactive · Feb 23, 2007, 11:17:41

Somebody is logged in as a " Hidden User "...now that is a first.

What is going on? .. surely nobody needs to hide their identity on here.

Strange things going on in this forum in the last few days.

Nerval · Feb 23, 2007, 11:19:07

spooky
if we all go hidden, then that will be fair.

DorsetBoy · Feb 23, 2007, 11:21:49

It's not a first at all.

The board owners often look at what is going on.

Inactive · Feb 23, 2007, 11:23:52

Quote from: DorsetBoy on Feb 23, 2007, 11:21:49
It's not a first at all.

The board owners often look at what is going on.

Yes I know they do, but using their ID's. not Hidden.

I often see Simon logged in.

DorsetBoy · Feb 23, 2007, 11:26:43

No as hidden.

They do so on a regular basis.

Inactive · Feb 23, 2007, 11:30:47

Quote from: DorsetBoy on Feb 23, 2007, 11:26:43
No as hidden.

They do so on a regular basis.

Fair enough DorsetBoy, you are obviously better informed about such things than I am.

I don't recall reading about that on open forum.

Adam · Feb 23, 2007, 11:36:45

The hidden user is in fact a search bot, I am planning on installing a mod to the forum which identifies search bots in the near future. On a semi-related note, I believe the mystery guest who keeps "printing" is also GoogleBot.

Adam

Inactive · Feb 23, 2007, 11:40:12

Thanks for clearing that up Adam, I have to confess that I don't know what a " Bot " is, nor do I know what GoogleBot is.

Adam · Feb 23, 2007, 11:44:22

A bot (aka spider) in this case is simply a program which is automated to crawl the internet; they crawl the internet to find information on web pages to include in search engines indexes (Live Search, Yahoo, etc). GoogleBot is Google's version of a search bot, it will effectively crawl through these forums to include them in users' Google searches.

Adam

Inactive · Feb 23, 2007, 11:47:28

Many thanks for that Adam, we learn something new every day..

I always thought a " Bot " was what you sat on..

Lance · Feb 23, 2007, 13:21:00

Quote from: Inactive on Feb 23, 2007, 11:30:47
Fair enough DorsetBoy, you are obviously better informed about such things than I am.

Or obviously not...

maxping · Feb 24, 2007, 11:19:48

Quote from: Adam on Feb 23, 2007, 11:36:45
I am planning on installing a mod to the forum which identifies search bots in the near future.

Adam

We will have to get used to seeing bots permanently in the users list,i use a CoD2 forum where they list the bots by name and they are there all the time,they will probably be showing as guests at the moment.

sallyandjames · Mar 05, 2007, 16:11:52

Why not just exclude the bots?
Do you really need these boards to be indexed by search engines?

Rik · Mar 05, 2007, 16:19:37

Quote from: sallyandjames on Mar 05, 2007, 16:11:52
Why not just exclude the bots?

'Cos that would stop me getting in?