[TessUnsonia]

The site is much cleaner now, which is terrific. I used to shy away from this forum due to the insane amounts of irrelevant spam, but it's great to know that it's shaping up now.

[MP+4]

The site is much cleaner now, which is terrific. I used to shy away from this forum due to the insane amounts of irrelevant spam, but it's great to know that it's shaping up now.

Thanks for the comments.

It's not perfect yet, but we're working on it. We're continuing to identify the main perpetrators and are removing their posts on a regular basis. Several posters are borderline and we have to give them the benefit of the doubt. We realise that some people are happy to read other opinions, leave shorter messages and still get something from the forum.

So far, it looks as if we've been 100% accurate on those we've targetted. The door is open for these posters to get back to me and raise issue. So far, nobody has bothered. I'm guessing this is because they've never come back to post again after creating their backlinks. I'm just looking forward to the day when the poor schmucks who are paying for these services relaise they have no backlinks anywhere and start demanding refunds.

Thanks for the feedback and I hope the improvements encourage you to get involved a little more now.

[MP+4]

As TKG has already noted, I've now been granted moderator status around here. I've explained why I'm taking the role in another thread and I'm not going to type out the entire thing again so here's a C&P of what's going on.

My constant moans regarding spamming on the forum caught the attention of Amanda and I received a PM asking if I'd really be able to clearly identify persistent offenders. Being considerably smarter than most on this forum, I told her that I could and that I'd also be happy to take her out for a drink. She refused my offer for the drink but said that she'd like to use overflowing supply of panache and élan to make AT a better place. Considering the fact that she's got really, really great legs, how could I refuse?

I'm not a mod with a view to changing anything else about the forum. I'm just on spamwatch. Amanda and the other mods call the shots. I'm here to tidy up those that come here purely to backlink without adding value to the site. EVERYBODY has the right to promote their products and services with signatures and posts in the appropriate sections of the forum. As long as the content is relevant, nobody isgoing to get whacked.

We've had an influx of high quality members on here recently (Hi Dana - Not seen your legs yet but I've got you on ice!) and we don't want to lose them. This forum is a potential minefield of great information as long as it's used properly. We understand that not everybody will be as eloquent as I am, and that we also have a sizeable number of second-language English speakers on AT who aren't going to be crystal clear all the time. We're here to help them, not to whack them. Everybody that stays within the rules won't see or hear anything else from me. I've been warned not to resort to type without good reason and I won't. The poster and the moderator that is OnefortheMoney will be two entirely different people.

A huge word of warning, however, for at least one AT user who has been opening multiple accounts just to create backlinks. You are now in my sights and the spamming stops here. You are welcome here, but your current tactics of 5 posts and backlinks with no input into the AT community won't be tolerated. This is a friendly warning. We want you here as a valued member so please stick to the rules.

There is an amnesty, of course. Everything on the forum to date that hasn't been removed by Amanda and the AT team stays. We're happy to give everybody the benefit of the doubt. We can, and we will, make AT a website that everybody gains from. The spammers, however, are on very limited time.

That's about it. As mentioned above, the existing AT team are your first port of call for anything else. If you have issues regarding spamming, come to me first and I'll look into things for you.

Thanks!

[MP+4]

Bringing this up again as the last two days has seen some of our old favourites popping up again. Obviously, we're relying on your help to weed out the spammers and get rid of them for good so PLEASE keep reporting names back to either me (Amanda is due to leave us for yet another short break soon so get them over to me for the next fortnight or so).

We've had an influx of quality posters joining here recently and they're starting to make really strong contributions. We've also seen some old faces returning and that's the way we want to keep it. This forum has the potential to be a business goldmine. Everybody is welcome to join, and everybody is entitled to backlink or promote their own services. We're just not prepared to tolerate those who abuse and devalue the forum. 99% of you are using this forum correctly. A tiny minority aren't, and we want them out of here for good.

You guys are our eyes and ears and we want you to be happy here. We can only see so much and appreciate it when you help us out or point out the things you aren't happy with. If we can carry on giving help to each, I like to think it'll make our world a better place.

Or something like that.

[Leczyslaw]

Its good to have you keeping the forums clean! I've noticed sometimes there are posts which are suspiciously spammy, but they have vaguely responded to what the thread is about first to show they have read it. You have to give them the benefit of the doubt because it's kind of hard to accuse them of spamming, but their comments add no contribution whatsoever (please don't ask me to come up with examples off the top of my head)

Do we report them to you so you can keep an eye on them and make sure they don't keep doing it?

[MP+4]

Its good to have you keeping the forums clean! I've noticed sometimes there are posts which are suspiciously spammy, but they have vaguely responded to what the thread is about first to show they have read it. You have to give them the benefit of the doubt because it's kind of hard to accuse them of spamming, but their comments add no contribution whatsoever (please don't ask me to come up with examples off the top of my head)

Do we report them to you so you can keep an eye on them and make sure they don't keep doing it?

As you've rightly pointed out, we have to give some posters a little bit of slack. There's a close line between 'suspiciously spammy' and "I'm actually the real deal as a forum poster but English is a second language".

We have a couple of main perpetrators who open multiple accounts and mask their IP addresses. However, they are incredibly consistent in the way they post and backlink, and this makes them easy to identify. I personally make a point of deleting the posts but I don't ban the poster. That way, anybody that has a problem with over-zealous moderation has a chance of redress and if they want to talk to us, we'll always be happy to restore those posts at a later stage and offer an apology.

Not everybody is going to be amazingly articulate. We understand that and we make allowances for it. Most posters and the mods here can spot genuine spam a mile off but the recent glut of deletions has led to less new accounts being opened by the main suspects. That hopefully means we're getting there.

Even if you're not sure of a potential spammer, drop me a PM anyway. It only takes a few seconds to check these things out and it gives my otherwise meaningless life a sense of value. We want to welcome as many posters from as diverse a range of business and ethnical backgrounds as possible without having to endure some of the crap we've had on here in recent months. It's definitely improving, and we're getting more sign-ups since we came down on spamming a couple of weeks ago.

We eventually want to see everybody posting. We know that we'll never get 100% of the membership joining in but all ideas, opinions, stories and thoughts are welcome here, however small and insignificant the poster might believe them to be. One tiny snippet of information to one person could be informational gold to another.

[ErubTiereedig]

Well I guess it is a good thing. As long as the power doesn't go to your head.

Spam sucks.

Then again, so do you. LOL!

[MP+4]

The time where I listen to anything that King has to say will be a cold day in Hell, Pete. Some people just love to hear the sound of their own voices. Unfortunately, King has absolutely nothing to say yet he still says it too loud.

It's just one of the reasons why I love him!

[Prererularl]

Only ever really been a lurker here although I do post sometimes. The site is much cleaner at the moment but there is a strong leaning to web based work and that means you will always get lots of foreign posters. Must be hard sorting out the real ones from the rest.

[mikelangr]

Don't listen to King's crap. You will do great in the role. Congratulations.

[MP+4]

A further word on this - If new posters choose to paste in good information from other sites to build posts counts, we don't have a specific problem with it. However, can we please ask that the original author is credited for their work and a link back to the original website is provided on all new threads and posts. As well as proving your own validity, it stops Aussie Tycoon becoming a plagiarist playground and gives people the recognition they deserve for their hard work.

Thanks!