Website comments (2)

[Craig @craig Emperor]

@ All, I’m afraid we had another spammer today, Hazira. I have dealt with them. Please do not reply to their message. From the email they signed up with, Hazira is actually someone called Anthony!

[Mudlark @mudlark]

@craig   Thanks.  Consigned to oblivion as soon as spotted in my inbox, but I was wondering whether I should post an alert.

[Anonymous @]

@craig

bloomin hell man! What is going on in Who Land and with a certain lovely lady Hazira?

….shame, I was going to introduce her to my friends but sadly that’s no longer possible 🙁

Because she’s Anthony.

OK.

[Anonymous @]

@purofilion

i laughed WAY too much at that ….

[Anonymous @]

@rose2112

well thank you ma’am!

I can be funny (actually, I’m rarely funny at all. I’m pretty stern!).

Some months ago we had another person who introduced herself as a gorgeous lady from or near the Indian subcontinent and the fellas on this site were pretty interested. I don’t think her name was as romantic as Hazira, though. It certainly beats Puro which, rather boringly, means ‘fire’ (On Ilion). It’s kind of like an ancient version of “hey, my name is Mary on Smith Street”. Not exactly encouraging for any punters. 🙂 Not that I want punters, mind you.

Mr Ilion tells me that when he first moved to Australia and used the term ‘punter’ in the ’70s, nobody knew what he meant. He had to define it. Rather awkward conversations ensued.

Kindest, puro.

[Anonymous @]

@purofilion

i had to google punters of course….

🙂

[Yourmom @yourmom]

Forgive my retardisation, but how does one post a new thread?

[Anonymous @]

@yourmom

Hi and welcome to the site. I think that moderators begin new threads. One simply joins a thread and starts a conversation on  any of the existing threads and if it’s ‘unusual’ you can post ideas and theories on The Sofa or even in our pub, which is called The Cloven Hoof.

You can introduce yourself on a Doctor thread, if you like, explaining how you were introduced to the show and which Doctor is your favourite.  Or, on the Companion Thread you can also discuss your favourite ‘NuWho’ or earlier companion.

Enjoy and jump in!

Kindest, puro.

@rose2112

Yes, I bet you did! LOL.  🙂

 

[Anonymous @]

@craig

the exotically named female otherwise known as “Anthony” is back …. Received email today.  Please let me know if you need any more information from me.

Thanks

R

[Craig @craig Emperor]

HI @rose2112 I know! Arrrgh! As soon as I saw they had signed up again I blocked them again. Sorry they got to you before I got to them.

You don’t need to do anything, except delete all messages and emails from our new friend “Anthony” and don’t reply.

I will be keeping an eye on it but please let me know if you receive another message. The difficulty is that these are not bots (which are easily dealt with) but real people, signing up and sending messages.

As I have said to others, unfortunately this happens sometimes and you can’t keep it out your mail. Someone actually signs up and takes the time to send the same message to as many people as they can before they get shut down.

I have questioned shutting down the Private Message option to stop this happening but the consensus seems to be that it is nice to have it, even if it can be abused occasionally like this.

It’s called a Romance Scam, or Dating Scam. Last time it happened I found out the spammer was doing the same thing on a Doctors’ Forum (they have money but work long hours). Maybe that’s why we are sometimes a target! 🙂

The culprits try to reel in lonely men by saying they like their profile etc. If they get a bite they string them on a bit then say they would like to meet them, can they send the plane fare etc. And it then goes on and on, with excuses for more money.

I do act as soon as I know it’s happening. If you ever receive anything similar again, please just delete it.

[Anonymous @]

@craig

its no problem … Entertaining though and omg you’re right they think it’s “doctor” like rich guy and not like “the doctor” who as we know never has money…. 🙂

although I would  find it MOST entertaining to screw around with Anthony and turn his little scam on its end!  (Oh hazira you sound sooooo beautiful …..I’m a rich doctor widower with a mansion, a Mercedes, and a yacht, and no heirs and oh did I mention I’ve got a bad cough?)

does that make me evil….?

thanks again! 🙂

[Craig @craig Emperor]

@rose2112 You could never be evil! Has been done before though. You know all those emails you get saying “My Uncle is an African Prince and I have $10,000,000 in the bank but I need to put it in your bank account”. Some people started taking the p**s.

http://www.419eater.com/

Some of it is hilarious. But my one concern is when you start to demand some gangster prove himself (tattoo or whatever) he just gets some other poor soul to do it.

Unfortunately unintended consequences can sometimes kick in. So it might seem funny to engage, but (I know, I’m boring, I’m being a Dad) I would always recommend delete and ignore.

[Anonymous @]

@craig

aha! I knew my ex husband wasn’t correct!

(Breaking news!! Rose2112 voted “not evil” by the head WHOVIAN in charge!”)

oh and that’s “gangsta” per the young people in my office …. Haha

Don’t worry I wouldn’t lol and yes I’ve known an African prince or two …. Not like that mind you …. Anyway I’m also glad to be up on my Brit speak and know what “taking the p***” means as it’s completely different across the pond as I a sure you know.

thank you again for keeping our web site safe!  Hey hazira!!! Tell all your friends to stay away from this site….IT IS DEFENDED!

R

 

 

 

[Missy @missy]

@Rose2112

Oh dear! And there’s me thinking I was the chosen one! *rolls eyes*

I add my thanks.

Missy

[Anonymous @]

@missy

nah…..my yacht is bigger than yours …. 🙂

R

[Missy @missy]

@Rose2112

Oh well, if that’s your attitude. *big grin*

Missy

[Mudlark @mudlark]

@craig   I sent you an email a short while ago regarding difficulties I was having logging in.  Then it occurred to me to run a full system scan, which seems to have resolved matters.  It looks as if I had acquired a Trojan, which may have been the source of the problem.  Sorry to have bothered you.

[IAmNotAFishIAmAFreeMan @pedant]

@craig

Any chance of having the activity feed back on for the duration of the run? When things are fast moving its tricky follow multiple threads (no problem if you can’t afford it, but if there is a bit of wriggle room…)

Ta!

[Craig @craig Emperor]

@pedant Apologies for late reply, didn’t see your post until now (email playing up).

I’m afraid not. I got an email from the hosts just yesterday saying they’d noticed a jump in traffic and I was causing “server abuse”. Part of that was a bot which I have now blocked. I have also told them we’re seasonal and it’ll only last for 12 weeks so I think they’ll be kind.

The problem is that normal hosting is around £60 a year (not a problem). If I need to cope with greater than normal traffic the next package up is dedicated hosting which starts at around £200 a month (a bit of a problem).

I will look into something in between, but I am a fan of this hosting. They’ve been great so far.

[IAmNotAFishIAmAFreeMan @pedant]

@craig

Ah, that’s a shame. Sodding bots are such a pain.

FWIW I use Wordfence on the sites I manage (just the free version) at is helps a lot with erroneous traffic – it will spot and block fake Googlebots for instance); Stop Spammers Spam Control is pretty good if you want to block a whole country (China, say). Tricky with a global fan base, but sometimes the nuclear option is all that gets the job done (I have clients who will cheerfully click on any sodding link they see)

[Devilishrobby @devilishrobby]

@craig  sorry to hear that the volume of fan interaction with the site has caused you earache from the server providers. I for one if it came down to it would be happy to pay a small fee monthly or yearly if it became necessary especially if it enabled you to do all you want with the forum  and assisted in the smooth running of the site. As I for one would not want you to be out of pocket simply because of us fellow fans love of Who  and our fondness to put out our bonkers theorising out there for fellow fans.

[Whisht @whisht]

Hi @craig – I / we’ve said before if you need to pay a rate that makes life easier, then spreading the cost amongst people here can help.
Or I guess advertising (though I have zero knowledge of strings attached with that approach).

Obviously joining in the discussion is key, but helping out either as Mods or through the pocket where its possible for individuals is I’d imagine also what a community does (though I’ve never managed or been involved with a forum before, other than contributing briefly on a BBC forum).

Obviously contributing financially wouldn’t give anyone any extra rights or anything – its just a way to say “thanks, I like it here and I’d like to keep it going. But if I’m ever out of line, I get a ticking-off just like anyone else”.

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

@craig

One way some other sites have done it is to have a yearly contribution – say, through PayPal. As Whisht says, it doesn’t give people extra rights – it’s understood that it’s just to help keep the site going.

Especially if we’re eating up bandwidth.

[lisa @lisa]

@craig I’m on board with contribution 🙂

[Craig @craig Emperor]

@pedant @devilishrobby @whisht @bluesqueakpip Many thanks, and I’ll definitely look into Wordfence. The cost isn’t a problem at the mo and I would really rather cut down on server load and have a fast site than throw money at the problem. It’s an interesting, technical challenge to speed the site up and it’ll also benefit everyone. I’m working on it. I like that sort of thing 🙂

As I’ve said before, I would never want to run ads (they’re annoying and they slow page loads) but I will consider donations if it comes to it – I’ve done it in the past on other sites. But hopefully it won’t come to that. 10 weeks from now I don’t think my hosts will be bothered about the traffic.

The Activity sidebar was a problem because it was loaded on every page view and was like loading a second page’s content on top of the current page. I got away with it for a while, until we got a bit more popular. I’m working on some new ideas that should be less database intensive.

[Craig @craig Emperor]

@lisa thank you too.

[Devilishrobby @devilishrobby]

@craig If paying a subscription meant you could pick and chose the server and possibly get better support for yourself as the administrator of the site security wise along with all the reasons I stated in my previous post. I am all for going down that route. I am sure from the comments made that the true bonkerising Whovians would be in agreement.

 

[Anonymous @]

@craig

I’m with @bluesqueakpip‘s point about yearly ‘donations’  (if that’s the correct term)-helps keep the wheels running smooth.

And as has been said by others, this is a unique place. Really.

“you’re worth it.”

Yep, I forgot < no ads 🙂

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

W@craig

Just following up on @pedant‘s query. I realise, from your explanation to @pedant, that you are restricted by how much space you can use (at least, I think that is what you are saying) but the tendency when you log on is to simply look at the most recent posts that are highlighted, and only later do you realise there are posts on other threads (or you miss them entirely).

Would a solution be to structure the home page so it highlighted/began with the Activity thread? That way, it might be easier to instantly see the posts beyond the four or five most recent.

But perhaps this would result in more activity, which has resource implications…?

[ichabod @ichabod]

@blenkinsopthebrave  Good god, *more* activity?  It’s 8 pm here, and I still haven’t had my dinner!  Too busy catching up and noodling about . . .

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@craig, just realised that I am perfectly capable of looking at the activity page myself, so please ignore my earlier message.

[bloxrocks @bloxrocks]

a more clear way to post a new thread ive look for 30 minutes now

[Anonymous @]

@bloxrocks I responded to your personal message but in your PM you didn’t mention the ‘thread’ idea. Here, only mods create new threads for various reasons. I think if you read above, you’ll see mods explaining that reason(s).

I thought in your private message to me (and maybe others) that you couldn’t find the ‘submit’ button 🙂 Sorry about that.

If you have a theory (to do with anything at all!) you can post it in “The Girl who Died” thread or if you have a completely unrelated theory to that episode you could introduce yourself On The Sofa thread or go in The Pub (the Cloven Hoof), and post your new theory there. I’m sure it will fit in a variety of places and it will be most welcome. I hope my response to your Private Message was helpful in some way, at least.

Warm wishes and  just jump in….we’re always looking for new ideas and theories.

Purofilion

 

[JimTheFish @jimthefish Time Lord]

A quick style proposal for the bloggers. It’s probably best if blog titles are kept in upper and lower case. All caps headings look rather like SHOUTING and unbalance the rest of the site from a design perspective.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@craig, @jimthefish, @fatmaninabox, @phaseshift

When posting, is there a way of doing a link to a specific post (#xxxxx) that would take you directly to that post?

[PhaseShift @phaseshift Time Lord]

@blenkinsopthebrave

I find the easy way to do it is to find the post you want to link to and then click on the number on the top right. This changes the http address in your browser to that of that specific post. Copy that address (ctrl + c) and use the link function in the text box as usual when you format the post, pasting (ctrl + v) when directed to input a web address. It takes you directly to that post.

Hope that helps.

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@phaseshift thanks for the advice in #47107

Has this worked? I’ll find out when I hit submit.

Yes!

 

 

 

[Anonymous @]

@wangkiky

As you’re blatantly ignoring my requests to stop spamming, I’ve asked @craig to delete your account.

I suggest you make the most of what time you have left with us but be warned, I can delete your spam quicker than you can post it.

[IAmNotAFishIAmAFreeMan @pedant]

@craig

A little wrinkle I just noticed. If you use the search function at t’top of the page, results from the Spoiler forums are not spoiler protected.

That it has taken this long to notice is maybe a sing that it is no biggee, but if it is easy to fix it might be worth it.

[todeledo @todeledo]

<span style=”line-height: 1.5;”>Can you upload pictures to a coment? Like with the profile pictures?</span>

How does the smileysystem work? What words and symbols do you use for the yellow non-phone-generated ones?

Thank you in advance

Todeledo

[Craig @craig Emperor]

@todeledo Everything is detailed on the “Help” page.

If you have any problems after following the instructions there then please email me.

[Emeralds @theemeralddoctor]

Why can’t we make out own Threads, like any other Forum. I get the Doctors Part. but having one thread for general stuff, Seriously? why can’t why have individual thread for Doctors episodes. so like: For example I pick The Eleventh Doctor. can I talk about him generally or go into an episode (Say the big bang) and people have different theories, it not just craig who Makes them and we have to comment, half of people will see this message.

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

@emeralds

Why can’t we make out own Threads, like any other Forum?

Because the rules of this site are that only moderators can create threads. If you ask, politely, they will either direct you to the appropriate thread or – if they think you’ve spotted a genuine gap – they will create one for you.

In this case, if you want to talk about the Smith (Eleventh) Doctor, the ‘general discussion about a particular Doctor’ thread is The Faces of The Doctor. You can talk about any of the Doctors there.

The list of individual episodes for Matt Smith’s Doctor is here. If there’s an episode missing, just mention it in website comments – this forum started up partway through the Smith Doctor’s run.

[Craig @craig Emperor]

@ all. I’ve posted this on the Home page but just for the record, apologies for the site being down almost all of Sunday. I had some issues with the renewal of the domain name (it having to be renewed on our December 30 birthday) and it didn’t go as planned. After many emails and leaving many phone messages, all is now right with the world again.

Thank you all for being what makes this site so much fun. Hopefully it won’t happen again.

[Whisht @whisht]

hey @craig – no worries!

If whoever you had to convince needed confirmation of ‘this domain being kinda important to a few people’ then simply set up a poll!

As ever, I (and I think I speak for many here) am truly grateful for what you did and do – this ain’t your job, you make no money from it (in fact it costs you!) yet you do it with good grace.

And you know – as soon as you need a donation, you’ll have whatever you need within a day.

Hope you’re over the stress and getting into a more relaxing 2016!

;¬)

[blenkinsopthebrave @blenkinsopthebrave]

@whisht

Yes, indeed.

All hail our wise and benevolent Emperor!

 

[Bluesqueakpip @bluesqueakpip]

@craig and @whisht

Yup. If you ever need donations, please just ask. And good on you for managing to sort it out within the day. 🙂

[janetteB @janetteb]

Thank-you @craig once again and as the others have said, if you never need some donations to help cover the cost just let us know.

Cheers

Janette

[Missy @missy]

@craig
Emperor
Blimey! That’s a relief! I couldn’t believe it – black page, people I didn’t know.
The most scary bit, was when I Googled us, some of your names were up there? Jannette was one and I think ichabod was another – for all to see?

So glad to be back.

Cheers,

Missy

ps, What Jannette said.

[Craig @craig Emperor]

@ Everyone. Many thanks. But it’s not a problem re money. We’re not big enough for that yet. It was just me doing things a few days before the renewal date rather than a month before, and then my domain name company going dark (it was the holidays after all) and not replying to my emails for three days!

I was worried they’d maybe gone bust and was searching the internet on how to reclaim a domain name when your domain name company disappears when they finally replied. Phew!

I consider this a hobby, and a pretty cheap one at that. If I enjoyed renovating motorcycles, or gardening, I’m sure it would cost me a lot more.

And the joy it brings me is worth every penny. Once again, thanks for just being you.

[Author]

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