So many shills lately...

[Dan Hintz]

I've flagged several post(ers) lately for being shills... flogging their webpage for no reason other than to get their ranking higher on Google. One way to identify them is to look at the date of the thread they're posting on. It's quite common for a 5+ year old thread to be bumped just so their post seems relevant, but the attached link is only tied to the subject in a very tangential form. The poster is almost always a newbie with 0 posts before the linking began. Similar posts will also be made in multiple threads and multiple forums.

Be on the lookout for such junk and PLEASE flag it so the mods can remove not only the offending post, but the poster's account as well.

Help keep The Creek a clean place to swim!

[David Weaver]

Yeah, one just south of here. I flagged it. Not a big fan of that stuff!

[Dan Hintz]

Oh, the wiring one? Yeah, I flagged it, too, which is what prompted me to write this post. I got rid of some guy a couple of days ago posting in the Corian threads.

[Keith Outten]

We certainly appreciate the help. During our Tenth Anniversary Celebration new registrations were exceptionally high which means we also allowed some to register whose intentions were to simply acquire free advertising and web site promotion.

Over the course of the average day I review new registrations at least three times. Over the last three months I have been deleting at least 30% during each review so its a big job when literally thousands of people are registering every month. Currently we are averaging about 150 new registrations per day so activity is getting close to normal again.

I would love to share some of the email we receive from Mickey Mouse, Wood Butcher and a host of other usernames that are X rated but it would violate our Terms of Service. Keeping bad people away from this Community is a very big job :(
.

[Michael Weber]

Well I have to say I've been ignorant of the amount of work that is necessary to keep the forum going. So just want to extend a big THANKS to Keith and others that put in the work to keep SMC the best woodworking site around.

[Pat Barry]

Dan, I guess its OK for you to link your webpage?? Isn't that the same thing?

[David Weaver]

He pays the creek to do that.

[Pat Barry]

Thanks David, now I see. Sorry Dan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKBRtdp2e98

[Patrick McCarthy]

Keith, please know your efforts are vastly appreciated. Patrick

[Dan Hintz]

Pat,

The major difference between them and others here is this... we're here to share ideas, they're here strictly to pawn goods (that often times have nothing to do with the subject at hand). If I wanted random ads for things I don't care about, I'd buy a Sunday newspaper.

[David Weaver]

I love The Jerk!!

[Joe Kieve]

Dan...thanks for sharing that info. I rarely pay attention to the date a thread was started, but I will from now on and will try to remember to flag it.

And...Keith, thanks for your tireless efforts. Although we don't say it often enough, you are appreciated!

joe

[Mike Cozad]

I've flagged several post(ers) lately for being shills... flogging their webpage for no reason other than to get their ranking higher on Google. One way to identify them is to look at the date of the thread they're posting on. It's quite common for a 5+ year old thread to be bumped just so their post seems relevant, but the attached link is only tied to the subject in a very tangential form. The poster is almost always a newbie with 0 posts before the linking began. Similar posts will also be made in multiple threads and multiple forums.

Be on the lookout for such junk and PLEASE flag it so the mods can remove not only the offending post, but the poster's account as well.

Help keep The Creek a clean place to swim!

I have to admit I am not very forum savvy and don't know how to flag a post. I immediately catch the dates on the posts but didn't realize it was for nefarious reasons. Can anyone help educate me on how to identify that they are promoting themselves somehow? And then how to flag the post?

[Stephen Cherry]

I'm flagging this thread; the original poster only has 8500 posts, so obviously he's up to sumpin.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Stephen.........a link to commercial website.....the website doesn't add to the main topic of discussion.....the member posting it is an extremely new member and often has a foreign IP provider in a place like Pakistan...it's generally a spammer.

In the lower left corner of any post is a triangular icon....click on it to report a post...fill out the form and submit it. The appropriate Moderators wil be informed and the report will start a thread in the Moderator's Forum.

[Stephen Cherry]

Stephen.........a link to commercial website.....the website doesn't add to the main topic of discussion.....the member posting it is an extremely new member and often has a foreign IP provider in a place like Pakistan...it's generally a spammer.

In the lower left corner of any post is a triangular icon....click on it to report a post...fill out the form and submit it. The appropriate Moderators wil be informed and the report will start a thread in the Moderator's Forum.

Thanks Ken- I was just making a little joke- It would be an awful long game to post 8500 times.

[Dan Hintz]

Can anyone help educate me on how to identify that they are promoting themselves somehow?

Ask yourself the following questions to anyone who posts links to other sites:
1) Do they have more than a few posts? If not, that's a red flag to look more closely.
2) Is the thread more than a few weeks / months old? If so, that's another red flag.
3) Does the linked site really add anything new to the discussion? Sometimes the connection is tenuous, at best... other times, it looks plausible, but that's when #4 comes into play.

I'm a little more tenacious than some, so I look at what they've posted in the "past":
4) Have they posted the same link in other threads? If so, that's a huge red flag.
5) Copy the link (right-click and copy, don't left-click and go straight to the site) and go to the site in a new window / tab... does the site show anything useful? In the most recent case (Corian threads), the link was nothing more than a bid aggregator for kitchen installers... hardly a useful link to a thread about Corian properties when all it does is provide work bids.

If it smells fishy but I can't be sure, I'll let it ride but watch the person closely for any new posts. If they start adding to other discussions appropriately, I'll usually let it go. If they link again, they're flagged immediately. Quite often, though, it stinks to high heaven right from the get-go.

I like a pollution-free Creek...

[Mike Cozad]

Thanks for the tips. I'll be more aware going forward...

[Dennis Peacock]

Thanks for the help Dan...and good tips as well. :)

[Harold Burrell]

I love The Jerk!!

Thank you, Dave. I love you too. :o