Yeah, I got decent info when I asked: Need a high end audio interface - I have 7,800 Naira, but I can go to 8k in a pinch"

The volunteer Mod/Spam Cop thing works well on a couple of vBulletin forums I'm involved in. You usually find they are very committed to their role, and can hit the spam way quicker than the owners can. Liberal use of IP blocks also has a very positive effect, though I've no idea whether ASPPlayground offers that facility.

As an alternative solution, I wonder if a rule could be set up to quarantine posts/threads that get reported by, say, three different members?

This forum software, as has so often been noted, sucks. There is apparently some technical reason why CW cannot update it, although explanations have been vague. Whatever the reason, it's probably best to assume that software solutions are not an option. 

That leaves only the human solution: volunteer moderators. I know that the software supports a permissions system whereby designated users may move and close threads. That's all that's needed. Create a quarantine folder and give a few users the ability to move threads there. Forum administrators would still decide which threads to delete and which users to ban, so there's little chance a volunteer mod could accidentally or maliciously censor legitimate threads. 

Volunteers' email addresses could optionally be added to the notification list when a post is flagged by another user. This, too, is a feature already supported by the forum software.

This is not a radical concept. It's been done that way for many years on KVR, and that's a very well-moderated forum despite the fact that it routinely attracts a lot of, er, "the wrong crowd". The "I got da Waves Mercury bundle so I can make my beatz but I can't get it to install" posters get run off pretty quick. And I've never seen a "buy genuine Nike shoes direct from China" post.

I purposed that idea not too long ago, Dave and it seemed to get some traction with the forum in general.  CW didn't seem impressed, though.

However it is very important that the character of the forum is not changed or otherwise harmed by such a move.   

I know a lot of people have reported the recent forum posts advertising illegal activities and even reported them to the FBI.  Has anyone attempted to contact Cakewalk by phone to report the activities.  It's pretty obvious that no one is monitoring the forum or the abuse reports?

The forum has become an embarrassment!!  Over the years  I have pointed many potential Sonar customers to this forum as another reason to buy the software.  That is certainly NOT the case now.  This is very SAD.  It's one thing not having some idiot banned because of anti-social behavior.  It's another when posts soliciting ILLEGAL activities are not removed - and appear to be multiplying.  SAD!

Don  

John: Yes, it's been proposed many times, and as you note, "CW didn't seem impressed". This impression of their lack of impression, of course, is predicated on the presumption that anyone at CW actually reads these threads.

Don: I wonder what kind of liability CW faces by hosting advertisements for criminal activity. I'd think that a defense of "we didn't know" would be a little weak in a courtroom.

I'm a moderator on trains.com and we have a way involving an approval process before the post appears...it seems to work...but I wonder if ASP works that way...

It appears that the offending posts have *finally* been removed. 

bitflipper


This forum software, as has so often been noted, sucks. There is apparently some technical reason why CW cannot update it, although explanations have been vague. Whatever the reason, it's probably best to assume that software solutions are not an option. 

That leaves only the human solution: volunteer moderators. I know that the software supports a permissions system whereby designated users may move and close threads. That's all that's needed. Create a quarantine folder and give a few users the ability to move threads there. Forum administrators would still decide which threads to delete and which users to ban, so there's little chance a volunteer mod could accidentally or maliciously censor legitimate threads. 

Volunteers' email addresses could optionally be added to the notification list when a post is flagged by another user. This, too, is a feature already supported by the forum software.

This is not a radical concept. It's been done that way for many years on KVR, and that's a very well-moderated forum despite the fact that it routinely attracts a lot of, er, "the wrong crowd". The "I got da Waves Mercury bundle so I can make my beatz but I can't get it to install" posters get run off pretty quick. And I've never seen a "buy genuine Nike shoes direct from China" post.

I don't know. I really don't forum that much except here. But I have seen on other forums which have user moderators which almost seemed like an exclusive club whom deemed what's appropriate and what's not. I like the open forums Cake has now. Yeah it does lead to some trollers and negative threads. But that's better than being censored because somebody doesn't like what I have to say. Never had that fear on this forum.


I realize you guys are initially talking about spam. But really, how hard is it to ignore it till cake gets rid of it. They usually do. At least in the past. If deleting spam is all moderators could do that would be fine. 


As for negative threads and trollers, cake usually gets them after a thousand people get suckered into the treads.

I have seen on other forums which have user moderators which almost seemed like an exclusive club whom deemed what's appropriate and what's not

That's a real concern. I've seen it happen on other forums, too. And I agree that the forum should remain open to everyone, including non-SONAR users, and that there should be as little censorship as possible. I even think you should be able to type "suspicious" if you want to!


That's why I suggest limiting the volunteer moderators' permissions to just moving a thread into another forum. It's hard to imagine anyone abusing that limited ability.