New iPhone

[pctech]

So do myself and the mods on the other forum but alas we are fighting a losing battle.

[Rik]

Shall we show them how it's done.

[pctech]

If you can get them to take notice which despite trying to message them and placing threads in the mods area threatening to quit en masse then good luck to you.

I hardly log in there now as there are only a handful of genuine posters.

[Rik]

Get me an admin flag, we'll soon change all that.

[Simon]

What forum software are they using, Mitch?  If it's PhpBB, I'm not surprised they are being spammed. 

[Rik]

VBulletin.

[Simon]

I think they offer their own support, but not sure if they charge extra for it.

[Rik]

Probably.

[Simon]

You used to be able to purchase it with different levels of support package, ranging from zero, to full phone support, I believe.  We once looked into it for Pals, then we found Sam. 

[Rik]

And they all lived happily ever after...

[Simon]

Yeah, right. 

[Tacitus]

I think they offer their own support, but not sure if they charge extra for it.

I used to run a small VB forum for the Graduate School here and I think VB sold out to an investment company a while back.  There was a huge uproar on the users forums over the changes in the T&Cs and, if memory serves me, one of the original founders of VB left acrimoniously. 

Not clear what's happening now since the Uni introduced some super whizzy 'do-it-all' software which incorporated forums and I bowed out.  Since this effectively meant that the forum was controlled by the University - which proceeded to stamp on any criticism - rather than by the postgrads, the forum fizzled out. 

[Simon]

Well, that shows how long ago it was that I looked into vB. 

[pctech]

Bet it was Moodle

[Steve]

Looks like O2 are scrubbing unlimited data on smartphones from the 1st of October.
http://shop.o2.co.uk/new-iphone/tariffs.html

[pctech]

They've realised they cant sustain it (as no mobile network can)

[Rik]

Unlimited has always been a misnomer, imo.

[pctech]

It has as every network has finite capacity and unfortunately there are those that will abuse facilities but then moan because its slow so am not surprised O2 are dropping it.

[Rik]

I just wish the ASA would stop companies using the term when it isn't true.

[zappaDPJ]

I've been running vBulletin based forums for many years and I've never had a problem with spam. The simplest way to deal with most of it is to add a new user profile field like so:

AdminCP > User Profile Fields > Add New User Profile Field

    Title: Human Verification Question
    Description: The opposite of north is?
    Default Value: (null)
    Field Required: Yes, at registration and profile updating
    Field Editable by User: Only at registration
    Private Field: Yes
    Field Searchable on Members List: No
    Show on Members List: No
    Regular Expression: ^[south|SOUTH]$

You should also check that reCAPTCHA is either installed if it's an old version of the forum software or active if it's more recent.

[pctech]

Thanks for the suggestion Zap but I have no admin access to implement and the admins don't listen and I'm beginning to think don't have a clue how to operate the software correctly.

[zappaDPJ]

Ah well, it's up to them I guess. It would take admin 30 seconds to implement that. Tell them I'll do it for a plate of sausages 

[Rik]

Great idea, Zap.

[pctech]

Admin has started reversing legitimate bans on spammers I and other mods have imposed so I've decided enough is enough.

[Rik]

Sounds wise, Mitch, you're just going to fight a frustrating, but losing, battle.