Again, the forum is failing !

[Carib Mark]

This forum is again failing quickly. Perhaps the magazine is focused on sales in this economy but the amount of spam is getting to be off the hook and no one is doing anything that could possibly stop it. Emails to the website masters are returned as undeliverable. Much like the mighty ships of the Wndjammer fleet, the site has apparently been abandoned by its owners and laid to rot in the seas. Sounds rough? Then I challenge you CT&L...fix it!

Spam can be easily stopped by: a) requiring registration to post on the blog b) requiring that registration be confirmed by an acknowledgement to an email after registration c) requiring that all posts be followed by the poster inputting a 5 letter/number code in a box. All of this would correct the situation.

Can it be done? Yes? Will it be done? As with everything Caribbean, apparently the US based publication is going to use the "It soon come" reply and do nothing. Tomorrow never comes.

If anyone has another blog in mind where ideas and advice on travel to the Caribbean can be exchanged, feel free to email me at spamalot2005@optonline.net

Peace to all the readers and coco"nuts" to CT&L if you do nothing.

[Carib Mark]

After only 5 minutes...spam bounced my post down! This stinks like a conch in the sun after 5 days. Wisen up CT & L

[Carib Mark]

and again.........

That's it for today.

[Carib Mark]

4 more spams since the last post :-(

[Carib Mark]

4 spams in this one part of the forum in 20 hours.
No reply from CT & L
Sad

[kirbychristian]

Hey Carib Mark! I sent your post over to the CT&L group. Hopefully you'll hear back from them soon regarding the spam.

[adminforum]

Hi Carib Mark,
Your post just came to my attention and I wanted to respond. First, an apology about the volume of spam that's been plaguing our forum recently. We're very aware that it's starting to happen more frequently, and we know that it's frustrating on a community page that is meant to promote fun (and family-friendly) Caribbean travel. Please be assured that we're working hard to come up with a solution to prevent this spam before it even starts.

As you may know, we're right in the middle of relaunching the CT+L site, which will include an improved community section and forum, and notably, enhanced security features for new account registrations - currently a major source of our spam troubles. The online team has been spending a great amount of time and focus on the new site, and one of our priorities is to make the new forum a simple, informative, and spam-free place for island hoppers and CT+L readers to meet and discuss their questions and comments.

But while we're focusing on the demands of the new site, we're also still trying to manage the flow of spam that's been coming through the existing site, and unfortunately it is no small task. I personally spend 8 to 10 hours per week deleting spam postings, forum accounts and IP addresses, and I'm not the only person on our team trying to combat the problem. The spammers are determined, but please know we are working on it.

I hope you will continue to frequent the forum, leaving valuable travel advice for our other members as you have been doing. We will do our best to continue removing inappropriate posts and keeping the community section clean. We will be announcing the new site and forum soon, so stay tuned! Thanks!

Reagan Johnson
Online Editor

[adminforum]

One more note...

Our account registration page actually does have all three functionalities that you mentioned, including email confirmation and the manual letter/number security confirmation. Unfortunately, we're facing a world of spammers who are willing to go through all of those steps just to post...believe it or not, at the rate of hundreds of new registrations per day.

We're definitely working on it, so I can assure you that CT+L has not abandoned the site.

I'm sorry that your emails have bounced back - what email have you been using? You can reach me directly any time at: oeditor@caribbeantravelmag.com. I hope that helps!

Reagan Johnson
Online Editor

[Carib Mark]

Thanks for your reply to my posts. The email that was bouncing back is under the "Contact Us" at the bottom of this page as contact webmaster: wm@caribbeantravelmag.com . I'll make a note of the new one you offered. I understand that your task is huge but as a long time subscriber, island land owner and poster here, it has become disappointing and frustrating to say the least. Anyway, moving ahead, one thing to keep in mind is not only the need to verify at registration but require a code before accepting a post (just like ticketmaster, you can't check for seats without inputting a code) It seems like a big pain and may be a lot of effort but would improve things I believe and let you spend less time dumping the spam.
Good luck with the new site and be sure you post news of it when it opens in the magazine.
Peace,
Carib Mark

[adminforum]

Hi Carib Mark,
That's weird that the web master email is bouncing back...I'll meet with the online producer who normally manages that account to see what's up. Sorry for the trouble, but the oeditor account I mentioned above should always come directly to me. Hopefully you won't have the same issue contacting us in the future.

Just as an update, we're looking into activating a third security measure for new registrations, so that all new accounts have to be manually approved by someone on our team before the new member can post. It won't completely eliminate the spam problem as I can't block every new person, but some accounts are obvious spammers so it should help to cut it down.

In the mean time, if you should come across any spam posts that we've missed, please feel free to report the person's account using the red and white "report" icon at the top of each post...that will help to bring it to our attention faster. Thanks!

Reagan
Online Editor