Should we be a bit more "closed"?!?

[spoRv]

Wait, let me first explain!

There are good sites around, that are invitation-only - I don't want to do it!
But some recent spam activity alerted me to the fact that maybe we are a little too "open"...

So, I thought - and talked with some members about this - maybe it's time to close us, just a bit... for example, to force the users to make a presentation before posting in other forums; to hide project forums until a new user reach a minimum post number, let's say 5 or 10 - a spammer will not lose time to post more than once or twice, so it could be a simple but effective method to get rid of such elements...

These are some ideas that, frankly, I'm not even sure it could be fully implemented in the forum, right now, but hey, there were the first things that came to my mind.

What do you think?

Brainstorming, guys (gals?), brainstorming!

In the interest of brainstorming (to just get the ball rolling), how about this:
A new user can see the project forums but cannot post before reaching, say, 4 posts. A spammer wouldn't care about content. An actual user would.
*passes ball*

[spoRv]

Yep, another good idea!

Waiting for other's opinion - I know you are lurking...

I think forcing a presentation thread is a good idea.

[spoRv]

We could start with this (technically, even now): let zero posters to be allowed to post ONLY on the presentation forum; then, after they have made their presentation - hence, start a thread, instead post on existing one; then, they will be allowed to post elsewhere.

[jerryshadoe]

Yeah, new users should have to create a presentation post first before they can post anywhere else. Once they have done this AND made a few posts in other threads (let's say 3-5 posts), THEN they can create their own threads...

IMHO this would greatly reduce any spam posts/threads being here

[Lil Brutto]

I like jerryshadoe's idea.

I second Jerry's suggestion.

[spoRv]

OK, I've done something... now the zero posters are in the group Lurker (like the name?), zero stars, and could just start a thread in the presentation forum; this will limit A LOT spam, and eventually concentrate it just in that forum; after one thread, they become Newbie, one star; they could post in some forum, but in others can't start a thread; after five posts, they become Registered, two stars, with normal limited access.

Now I'd like to create a three star group, that will contain "brave" registered users, that are not known from OT and/or AMPS, so they should earn this status... what do you think?

[jerryshadoe]

I think this is a good idea and decent implementation of the suggestion that I made. This should definitely help solve a huge portion of the SPAM problem