What's Happening?

arizona-hermit · Post by **arizona-hermit** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:21 pm

I have noticed recently that GTO has many, many new members (from around the world) whose posted interests and hobbies have nothing whatsoever to do with the subject of this forum. While the zero post count 'could' mean they prefer to lurk and browse the immense knowledge base we have here, it seems very few (if any) actually return after creating an account.

Is something going on that I am unaware of? No funny comments please... I already know I am almost totally in the dark about most things.

It just seems odd to me that what seems like a majority of forum members seem to only be creating accounts but never using them.

Is a general house cleaning in order or is this simply a trend that I have only recently been exposed to?

Medicine Hat · Post by **Medicine Hat** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:37 pm

A-H,
When I first hooked up here, my initial goal was to learn. I've been shooting since the '50s, but there is always something new to learn. I admit to lurking more than posting. Not sure I have anything (usually) to offer to the group. However, the active folks seem to be great people, and I pretty much check in daily.
I appreciate the forum. Some of the other forums seem to be mostly folks bragging "my gun is bigger than your gun" type stuff. Folks here are much more 'down home' folks, and I appreciate that.

arizona-hermit · Post by **arizona-hermit** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:59 pm

I totally understand and agree MH... whenever I am on, I check to see the latest member and nearly all the time, they have either posted no interests or hobbies (could be a private individual - true) or they post interests and hobbies totally unrelated to the forum content.

While this is fine by me, I was surprised by how many members have zero posts (dating back to the beginning BTW) and I cannot even imagine being a lurker for that long without having anything to share with the group.

Yes, the active members are a great bunch - granted... we (IMHO) are not a load of snobbish elitists who enjoy running down anyone for their points of view or quality of input, I was simply curious why so many (and by many I mean over 50% of the membership) would take the time to join this forum, but never participate.

Just seems odd to me and I was wondering if I missed the email about free beer and hotdogs over at... wherever...

No idea if I am making myself clear, but it just seems odd...

Medicine Hat · Post by **Medicine Hat** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:31 pm

I think you are clear enough. The only thing I can think of is that maybe some decide this isn't the forum for them. ie; just not what they were looking for, then just don't bother to "un-subscribe: I don't know.
It would probably make the administrators job easier though, if there was a way to just delete subscribers who haven't participated for ...say 5 years?
I don't know it that is feasable or not either. I barely know enough about computers to get on-line.

ruger22 · Post by **ruger22** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 4:46 pm

Sorry to say they could be lurking for financial information, or a location to steal some guns from. The criminal types have ruined the internet, compared to how useful and productive it could be.

My preference would be that internet criminals, whether they ran a scam, stole information to empty your savings account, or spread a virus, should have their fingers smashed by an eight pound sledge hammer.

blue68f100 · Post by **blue68f100** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 6:50 pm

Hard to say... Them probably joined because they needed help but found the search function answered there question(s). If I recall Bullseye has a screening process for new members. It could be that they were planing on spamming and by the time they were approved they had already changed the email address. Normally they change on a weekly basis.

With the information age we are in, cutting off the hands and fingers will to no good, with voice commands. I had someone from china trying to hack my servers years back. I ended up setting up a firewall rule to reject all incoming from that part of the world. Un-till punishment gets where it really hurts them it will not stop. With just a slap on the wrist and weak fine will not come close to the damage they do. I think the punishment need to take in account that they ones hurt will spend $$$ and take 7+ years to recover from. So lock them up and throw away the key. Fine equal to 2-3 times $ damage and jail time = to 2-3 times what it takes the victim to get his life back together. And if the person dies before he does get every thing back they get a life sentence without parole.

I'm a moderator on another forum. Recently the owner had to add a 7day holding pattern for new members. All it was getting was spammers. Bullseye does an excellent job on screening members. My hat's are off to you on that task, that's not easy to do.

I slow down during the summer but it's mainly because I'm on a dial-up service with the best speed being around 24kbps. And this is coming off a system that is 25/10mbps FIOS service. When person post hires graphics I normally have to back out. The good side is that I get to shoot more.

The plus side is that I shot my best grouping with my new Kimber Ultra TLE II last week. I guess I should have posted the results of the ammo that functions good in this little 3" gun.

I still think this is the best gun forum on the www. Has the best members, with a good mix of age groups. Not just old farts like me

Post by **Bullseye** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:37 pm

Good Question. Currently I am on a road trip so I'm a little behind on my forum maintenance. I get 15-20 membership requests per day but only one or two are legitimate user requests the others are spammers. I spend a lot of time each day sorting through the spammers membership applications to verify and sort them out. This is why I have everyone on a Admin approval required status for new registrations.

Like someone already mentioned they use fake or harmful email addresses, so I go through and ban all the invalid email ISPs that they use (this is why so many folks have problems with their email addresses showing up as banned) It's not their email addresses but the email providers that are banned. I probably get one or two folks a week who write me asking why are they banned since they've never even been to the website before. I write back and politely explain and then help them get registered.

I also have learned my free (i.e. cheap) forum software doesn't send out confirmation messages when I've approved someone for membership, only when they first register do they get messages. This means that some folks may believe that I haven't approved their registration and then decide to go elsewhere because they believe I haven't approved them. I get plenty of emails asking when will I be approved and I had already activated their accounts, usually the following day from when they registered. They just hadn't gone in and tried to log in to GTOL because they never received a messages saying they were approved (activated).

Some folks decide just to register and never bother to submit a message - OK with me there's no compulsory membership requirements here.

Since I'm out on a roadtrip, I'm using a temporary computer to access the forum. Because of this I'm behind on my daily forum maintenance work. I have also noticed something that is bothering me but it just may be this particular computer. I do not have any advertising on this forum. I pay for everything myself. I'm seeing keywords that are highlighted and then opening up advertisement windows. I use several different computers at home and in the shop to access the forum's website and have never seen anything like this. If you are seeing this type of thing on my website let me know. I will go after anyone who is spamming on my personal property like the forum. It could just be a malware, spyware, or adware bug on this machine but I'm not positive. I typically use Mozilla and not IE which is what this machine is using for an ISP. If you are having pop-up ads let me know which Internet provider software you are running so I can check it out.

I know many of you get frustrated that we are not a big posting website like some of the others. Believe me I spend a lot of time maintaining this forum so it is free from all the goofballs and spammers. So much so that many may have noticed I don't post much on other forums, like I used to and help out others with their problems. I don't mind if folks are sparing with their posts. Posting just to post and not writing anything helpful can be annoying sometimes too. (this comment doesn't include anybody here on GTOL but I do see it on other forums) We have a great little group of regular posters who all get along. I don't see topics about mall ninjas or zombie apocalypses like I do on other websites. You guys keep posting whenever you feel and I'll do my very best to keep the website free of the detritus found on some of the other forums so we can all enjoy folks who are in tune with firearms marksmanship.

R,
Bullseye

arizona-hermit · Post by **arizona-hermit** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:28 pm

Understood Bullseye,

I for one really appreciate all the time and effort you expend to keep this forum squared away. So many forums are completely saturated with garbage, spam, ads, nonsense these days.

I was simply curious why some many folks would sign up for a forum, never post, and then list their interests, hobbies, etc are something totally non-gun related.

Just struck me as a bit odd.

Post by **Bullseye** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:42 pm

Normally I delete all of those before you guys ever see them. I typically clean them out twice a day - in the morning and evening. It's just that I've been away and not near a computer so they've backed up to where you can see them. The volume is quite overwhelming sometimes but that's what happens when your website has a good SEO ranking. The interestes part is where the spammers plant their links to try and lure folks away to potentially harmful websites. I've deleted some of the fields for registration to reduce some of that but I cannot delete all of them.

When ever someone registers for the forum their user name appears on the memberslist but they're not active until I review and activate their accounts. If they are not active they cannot post any messages. If you look at the forum's memberslist now you'll see I've done some house cleaning.

Every now and then I'll accidentally delete a legitimate membership request. This happens every few months and someone will write and ask about their account. I just manually add them in when this happens and get them all set up and registered. I have some target points I look at for verifying registrations and sometimes folks add in things in jest which makes me look at their account applications in a very critical way. I'm an easy going person, so I get jokes and I want all of the legitimate shooter's to have access to our forum, it is just difficult sometimes to make that happen without a few mistakes.

I know how much everyone appreciates all the things that happen on the forum - many of you have written and said it a multitude of times. I just want everyone to have a good place to converse and swap information (tall tales for some) and enjoy like-minded folks opinions from time to time. Many people have found out useful info that helped them through a problem with one of their firearms here from the membership. I'm all about promoting shooting and firearms owership, this is why I do it. I like to see many happy smiling faces out at the range enjoying what they've brought. btw- If you're around the Lake Erie area you may see me this time of year - It is really smoking out in the sunshine on the range!

R,
Bullseye

stork · Post by **stork** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 10:50 am

Bullseye,
Were you by chance up around Port Clinton on your road trip???

I've heard there were a couple/three trigger haulers up there last week.

Have a great trip.
Stork

ruger22 · Post by **ruger22** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 12:03 pm

Bullseye wrote:I'm a little behind on my forum maintenance.... I spend a lot of time each day.... I pay for everything myself.... I typically clean them out twice a day -..... The volume is quite overwhelming sometimes....

Bullseye

Are we really worth all this? We really do appreciate all you do, I know I've learned a lot, and hopefully helped someone else a time or two. A belated "Thank you" for running GTOL, and further thanks to everyone for the help and friendship I've found here.

Post by **Bullseye** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:40 pm

Stork wrote:Bullseye,
Were you by chance up around Port Clinton on your road trip???

Yeah, and then spent some time visiting the folks near Cleveland.

R,
Bullseye

Post by **Bullseye** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:46 pm

ruger22 wrote:Are we really worth all this? We really do appreciate all you do, I know I've learned a lot, and hopefully helped someone else a time or two. A belated "Thank you" for running GTOL, and further thanks to everyone for the help and friendship I've found here.

I think so. I'm not complaining, it isn't overwhelming for me to run the forum. I try to keep things transparent for you folks. It only became visible when I wasn't around to take care of business. I enjoy the friendship and camaraderie you all share too.

R,
Bullseye

Gatmandu · Post by **Gatmandu** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 5:54 pm

Hi Bullseye,

As the founder and administrator of another site/forum (completely different interest/subject) I have watched several spammers register here in the short time I've been a member. Fortunately, they haven't blasted the forum with a bunch of crap. Perhaps you security settings won't let them.

You do what you like, but I would look carefully and delete those who don't share the same interests. Their "user names" can tell you a lot (most of the time).

Just trying to help.

Don

Coach1 · Post by **Coach1** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 8:36 pm

Wow! This thread is a real eye opener for me. I am new to shooting and new to forums (only on 2). It was clear to me early that Bullseye and the others here are a great group and willing to share your expertise and experiences.

I like to check in here on average once a day. We will keep the forum positive, informative, entertaining and welcoming. Thanks Bullseye!

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