kudzurunner
213 posts
Dec 28, 2008
9:28 AM
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We had a spam problem on the "gapping question" thread. A board member alerted me; I tried to delete the spam in question--and mighty spam it was!--but I seem to have deleted the entire thread, which was not my intention. Sorry about that.
Notice to spammers: don't be evil. You MUST have something better to do than pick on a community of blues harmonica players. Really. That's just pitiful.
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Chris Michalek
Guest
Dec 28, 2008
9:43 AM
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it's a Spam bot adam...it happens to all boards.
You can prevent it by making people register and not be allowed to post without having a login.
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SteveL
3 posts
Dec 28, 2008
8:45 PM
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Maybe we could have a competition to write the best "A Bot Keeps Spammin' Me" blues.
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GermanHarpist
39 posts
Dec 29, 2008
12:17 AM
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I just noticed a new thread of a pharmaceutical company. Maybe Chris is right: Only registered users should be allowed to post.. Who else believes Adam should change this setting?
Btw.: SteveL, thats a great idea (put it on harpfriends)!
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http://www.youtube.com/germanharpist
Last Edited by on Dec 29, 2008 12:35 AM
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RyanMortos
22 posts
Dec 29, 2008
6:18 AM
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I third that notion. Its hard enough to find what youre looking for without the spam. As someone with plenty of webdesign experience I really wonder if re-evaluation of the forums altogether might be desirable considering how many people use them and the total number of threads. I doubt the original expectancy was this many users.
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~Ryan
PA
Ryan's Tube
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kudzurunner
214 posts
Dec 29, 2008
8:48 AM
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Ryan:
Re: a possible forum redesign: you're right that this forum has expanded beyond anybody's imagination. Have you used the forum search engine on the final page of this website? It should be able to bring up whatever you're looking for.
Unfortunately, there's no way of subdividing this forum into different topic areas. Macwebsitebuilder.com, my webhost, doesn't enable that sort of thing. The only way to subdivide would be to create a series of different forums; you'd have to log into each, and each would have an entirely separate index and homepage. That doesn't seem any more workable than the present arrangement.
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Zhin
89 posts
Dec 29, 2008
6:12 PM
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Adam, there is a way.
Your limitations with your webhost is a common one.
So what most people do is register to a different host that specializes in web forums. I think some of them may be free as well (with a few banner ads of course). Unfortunately I'm a little out of date and not sure which ones are good right now. Try asking around, I'm sure you have enough contacts. ;)
So from there you just put a link on your main website that points out to the forums. I don't believe keeping the same domain name is important at all since any web forum is usually considered an entity of it's own. And of course you can link back to your main website on the forums too.
2 other related factor you may want to consider is how much are you paying for your current web host. If it's a fix fee then it's all good. But if you're being charged for the amount of data that is being downloaded/uploaded from your website (in this case the forum pages which are constantly active), you may be paying more than you should. Specialized hosts for forums generally have better deals for that kind of thing.
The second factor is that lately (since a few months ago) your website is starting to lag terribly... especially the forums. Not just from here in Malaysia.. but when I was in on a pretty fast connection in Australia it was just as laggy. I've asked a few online American friends to visit your site and they said the same thing. I'm not sure if everyone has this problem but it's very apparent to me. If you divide your website and forums this may help free up net-traffic and cut down the lag considerably.
Hope this helps.
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Zhin
90 posts
Dec 29, 2008
6:52 PM
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I forgot to conclude.... that if you go with another host for web forums, you'll definately have organized topics and a whole lot more features.
Like e-mail notifications. Love those.
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oldwailer
404 posts
Dec 29, 2008
7:30 PM
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Here is a service that does what Zhin is suggesting:
http://www.phpbb.com/
I don't know a thing about them--except that they do the Big Road Blues Discussion forum and the interface for that is very cool--you can embed YT clips, do smileys--etc--all the usual stuff--all without having to write HTML code.
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SilasJackson
4 posts
Dec 29, 2008
11:08 PM
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I agree with spamming elimination, like I agree with eliminating corporate greed such as $4.50 a gallon gas. But, My methodology on eliminating these things are too radical for most people. Thankful it's only $1.50 a gallon here in Georgia (that's in the U.S.A.--not Russia.) I don't know what Zhin is talking about the "lagging" problem though. I have a dial up connection here which ain't much better than tin cans and string, and the pages on the forum open up very quickly for me. Going to registration only for posting seems like a good idea, and it would cut down on some of the pissing contests I have witnessed in the last few months, especially the ones some people have considered "advertisements". It would be nice to be able to physically catch the spammers and flatten their pills with a sledge hammer--that's what I mean about methodology too radical for most people.
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Zhin
92 posts
Dec 30, 2008
6:37 AM
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Silas I'm not quite sure what you're implying by putting inverted commas for the word lagging.
I hope you're not calling me a liar or that I'm making up the word itself.
I already said I'm not so sure about how bad the lag is in America since it wasn't me surfing.
But I can vouch for the fact that it takes anything between a minute to 5 minutes for anything to load on MBH here in Malaysia. And during my 1 week stay in Perth, Australia it was also exactly the same. If I'm lucky, every once in a while it'll be super fast... like... 30 seconds per page to load which is still bad. Half the time the pages don't even load at all. This is what us computer nerds call a "timeout".
Perhaps I should have mentioned the timeouts... those are very very bad. And they happen at least a few times each day regardless of what hour it is.
All other websites I frequent (most of it from America) have no problems at all and load within 3 to 10 seconds (here in Malaysia and at Perth too). So it's definately not the internet here or my computer for that matter since I've tried several different ISP's (internet service providers) on different computers at different places (I'm a net addict).
I wouldn't be saying anything about the lag and timeouts unless I'm absolutely certain. I've been a net-nerd for about 13 years now (nothing to be proud of though) and have even designed a few dozen websites over the years as a career path (this includes working with web hosts of course). In that time I've also built at least a hundred PC's for some pocket money. All this is pretty easy stuff which isn't terribly technical if you take your time to learn though... My point is, I KNOW what I'm talking about when it comes to these kind of things.
Just because you're not experiencing some pretty mean lag in America doesn't mean it isn't true for other parts of the world.
I'm assuming that the whole point of this website is to reach out to as many people as possible from all over the world. I don't think it's a coincidence that Adam is so well received in places like Europe and that he has a website and his youtube videos.
I'm sure that he would at least like to know if he's getting his word out effectively or when it's not...
Also, take note that I didn't even suggest upgrading the current host which will cost more. All I suggested was finding a host that specializes in forums since that can be pretty affordable or cost next to nothing at all.
Last Edited by on Dec 30, 2008 6:45 AM
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MrVerylongusername
80 posts
Dec 30, 2008
8:45 AM
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I know what Zhin is talking about. I'm the UK on a high speed cable connection, but often the forum pages just don't load or timeout. I have to hit refresh sometimes to get things to load. Other times it's there in a flash as with most webpages. I don't have this recurring problem with any other sites; having said that it's worth the wait!
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Preston
Guest
Dec 30, 2008
9:12 AM
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Don't have any problems here in Kansas, USA!
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2draw
45 posts
Dec 30, 2008
11:19 AM
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I do more reading than posting but I wouldn t mind having posting for registerd users
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SilasJackson
6 posts
Dec 30, 2008
10:34 PM
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Hey Zhin,
Chill Mate, I meant no disrespect at all. My internet connection here is crap! My F'ing Yahoo e-mail crashes about every 4 mails I open. Plus this great new OS Vista likes to crash all the time. You sound like you know a hell of a lot of knowledge about the net and computers and systems and stuff--I don't. So sorry if you misunderstood what I meant. I DO know what you mean when you say lag. I still have that problem with many, many other sites that I try to access. I quess you are right about the whole thing working differently in different parts of the world. Wish I knew enough to be a help. Sorry for any misunderstanding.
Happy New Year,
SJ
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oldwailer
405 posts
Dec 31, 2008
3:26 AM
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Hey Zhin,
Just for the record--here in NW America I have had frequent timeouts with MBH--and that was at times when other sites were coming up fine. I have a DSL connection which is usually pretty good--but I can't get cable here yet.
I am a bit of a net freak too--I've been on the net since the days when you had to speak Unix to operate it. . .
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kudzurunner
223 posts
Dec 31, 2008
4:42 AM
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I have no timeouts at all. The site loads speedily for me--assuming I load it at home or at work, using high-speed connections. I'm sorry if people are having trouble. I've deleted about 15 early threads, the ones that used to occupy page 30. Maybe that will help. I assume that the problem is the slow steady accumulation of old threads. This board is a victim of its own success. Much as I love it--and this website--I just can't afford to spend any more time as an administrator.
I'm going to ask Macwebsitebuilder, my hosting service, to take a look at this thread and see if they can troubleshoot the problems people are having.
--Adam
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kudzurunner
224 posts
Dec 31, 2008
4:58 AM
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Guys:
I've just written to the support folks at Macwebsitebuilder.com and asked them to help with the current problems, if they're able to.
I've also taken a look at http://www.phpbb.com/ , which is oldwailers suggestion. It does indeed look like a possible solution. I'm quite sure that I am NOT the one to try to implement that particular solution, however. Savvy as I've become in the course of webmastering this site, I lack five or six competencies required to effect such a link-up. I'm not sure that Macwebsitebuilder even enables such things.
In order to serve this community, though, I'd be quite willing to consider letting somebody else--oldwailer or zhin, for example--investigating this further and perhaps serving as an administrator. I said "willing to consider." I'm not making any promises. But I'm willing to consider--assuming that my webhost allows this sort of thing.
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Zhin
95 posts
Dec 31, 2008
6:23 PM
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Adam,
Your webhost won't have any problems with you linking out to a forum on a different host.
I have some buddies who are phpbb nerds and can find out some stuff from them. Will need some time. Have a post new year party gig in 2 days and will be in the woodshed.
Serving as an admin is quite a responsibility and honor. I'll do it if you'd like that. Though perhaps having more than 1 admin might be better.
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oldwailer
408 posts
Dec 31, 2008
9:09 PM
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Well, Adam, Zhin is right--it would be an honor to serve as admin--I just don't think my computer skills or my time would allow for me to do a good job of that.
Once it is set up, I think it should be fairly automatic--if the service it is set up with is doing it's job. . .
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Buddha
1 post
Jan 02, 2009
7:01 PM
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I have space and the software that is already set up. I used to run my own harmonica forum but quit doing it about a year ago. If Adam wants it, he can have it.
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Miles Dewar
140 posts
Jan 02, 2009
7:07 PM
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That is pretty pitiful
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---Be Positive---
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Buddha
2 posts
Jan 02, 2009
8:04 PM
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Zhin,
all due respect, you wouldn't be a good admin. There is a lot more to being an admin than having mad computer skills. My board was for psychics and harmonica players. Dealing with daily hacks and attacks became too much. You learn quickly that nobody can be trusted.
Zhin, you may have great computer skills but you're far too emotional to be an administrator who will also be forced to deal with other ego, attitudes and BS.
Adam should be the only admin.
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bitterbug
14 posts
Jan 02, 2009
10:53 PM
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I work for a free web host, and while we do disable some PHP functions for security purposes I believe a number of our users are running phpBB.
If hosting is needed for a forum, can't do much better than free :) I'll refrain from posting the company name here as it would then make this thread an advert thread as well :)
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kudzurunner
226 posts
Jan 03, 2009
12:05 PM
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Buddha (CM), Zhin, Oldwailer, all:
Thanks for your feedback. I really appreciate it. For the time being, I'm going to leave things as they are. I am the sole administrator. The registration-required thing is working quite well--which is to say, I'm fielding a remarkable number of registration requests from folks who are plainly spammers, or spambots. Getting rid of them is quick work.
I've spoken with the folks at my webhost, Macwebsitebuilder. They insist that my website loads rapidly for them--as it does for me, and for a significant number of users--and they also insist that deleting posts, as I thought to do, won't have any appreciable effect on the loading time of my site.
Look, everybody: although I believe very much in the importance of optimizing--i.e., I want to make my site the best it can be--and I also believe in serving my users, I also know that I'm a musician first, in need of practice time, and a family man with a full-time job to boot, and that sometimes I'll need to make self-preserving decisions in which I'll accept something less than 100% optimization on every front.
I don't want to deal with other administrators. I'm my own webmaster, too. This is a one-man shop--and a part-time thing, at that.
At this point, I'm going to leave the thing alone. The board is what it is. No more, no less. It came from nothing, because I responded to several requests. Perhaps it'll return to nothing somewhere down the line. Worse things have happened. In the meantime, it's the best I can do. There are other harmonica boards that surely load more quickly for some people, and I'll have no hard feelings if some of you decide to end up spending more time there. I'm not trying to drive you away; I just can't be what 450 very different individuals would each like me to be. Life ain't like that. God knows, the blues ain't like that.
I need some free time to practice, and write my book. I'll continue to respond quickly to emails, to the extent that I'm able to. But I'm at my limit right now on the website. If MY website creates the blues for you--in you, I mean--well........you're welcome! I do my best to spread the blues.
Last Edited by on Jan 03, 2009 12:10 PM
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MrVerylongusername
83 posts
Jan 03, 2009
4:40 PM
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Adam - your efforts and generosity are more than appreciated here. I do have timeouts on pages, but I can live with that, maybe it's some kind of transatlantic lag, I dunno, I'm not an expert. Bottom line, waiting a few extra seconds or forcing a reload every now and then is a small price to pay to be part of this community.
Thanks, and a happy, harpy new year to one and all.
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Oliver
41 posts
Jan 03, 2009
5:24 PM
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Yeah, everyone relax! Spammers will spam, and the interweb is what it is.
This forum is a wonderful resource, noone would (or should) ask anymore of you than you already provide Adam.
Thanks!
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Zhin
96 posts
Jan 04, 2009
3:39 AM
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Buddha I only said what I said on this thread because I was justifying I know lag when there's lag.
Please don't twist what I said.
I also never suggested to be an admin. I'm actually glad that I don't have to.
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Zhin
97 posts
Jan 04, 2009
3:46 AM
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Adam, totally respect your choices.
It makes sense.
Personally the lag and timeouts never kept me away.
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oldwailer
417 posts
Jan 04, 2009
8:59 AM
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I never meant to imply that the timeouts were a problem to me--I just mentioned that I sometimes get them--hell, sometimes I don't get internet at all--stuff happens.
It will take a lot more than a timeout now and then to send me packing. I like it here.
By whatever accidental route it might have taken, you have made a great site and board here, Adam--and I appreciate it very much.
All I ever meant to do in this thread is suggest that there might be alternatives if the spam became a big deal. So far the spam thing, while annoying, has been way less than I see in my inbox every day. . .
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gene
98 posts
Jan 04, 2009
3:18 PM
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Oh, no. No, no, no!
Don't back down, guys. This sight must be rebuilt from the ground-up. In order to consider EVERYBODY's suggestions carefully and to maintain a new, complex forum, Adam must quit his job and cut his harmonica time by at least half.
DON'T SHOOT!!!! I'M JUST KIDDING!!!!
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SilasJackson
13 posts
Jan 04, 2009
8:51 PM
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Buddha--You hit the Nail on the head! Thanks.
Gettin' kinda touchy around these here parts, but golly, maybe I'm just being too sensitive. Be careful what you say to some persons here, about some persons here, or in response to some things these persons say here, or you may be accused of some sort of "sickness fantasy". And unlike gene, I'M NOT KIDDING!!! Apparently, a sense of humor will not be tolerated, or at least tolerated only on a limited basis, assuming no misunderstanding, or nobody got their toes stepped on, or some other crap.
Have an ordinary day,
SJ
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