If instead of making user registration contingent on mod approval, automatically kick out a poll thread for each new registrant, and once enough users had voted one way or the other, accept or reject based on the community vote.

No way in hell I'm coding this, but it would be a great way to deal with the spam problem.

Screen first posts.

You mean suspend them automatically after one post, and then approve them?

i thought
you were
going to say
more emoticons

and
i was
gonna be all like
"right on bro!"

we have a very liberal stance on new emoticons here. if there's something you want to see in the stable, you just let me know.

Cool, witch trials!

That sounds weird. I'm suggesting all users with no posts (new and existing users) are able to write posts, but the post will be redirected to a 'pending approval' list. There, mods, or users with 100+ posts, can flag them as spam or legit. Posts won't be visible in threads until approved.

I assume this is what some blogs do when they screen comments. Except blogs usually only have one person moderating, and all comments would have to be screened. Here, we can have dozens of users watching the list, and users only have to be approved once.

these are ones i think might come in handy
but i dont know about their copyright or anything like that

Ok, so basically the same thing. There might actually be a mod out there for this. Maybe I'll take a look.

That's easy enough to do. Then again, approving people is also easy.

I don't understand how this is different than the spam just showing up, except now users with under 100 posts will be spared. I mean, we'll all see the spam, but then vote on it? Isn't that more work?

And why the hell would we need more emoticons?

So clumsy words and phrases can be replaced with a shiny, flashy things.

The posts won't show up in the thread for anyone. They'll be in limbo until they're either set free or deleted.

so it's time to haze Bloor?

let's just all quit the board.

solves the spam and emoticon and sensitive crybaby problems all at once.
and, oh yeah, those pet* photo threads.
*and kid

ass

But who sets them free or deletes them? Above you said all users with 100+ posts. Doesn't that requires those users to see the posts?

Only if you click on the link that takes you to the list. It's like browsing your spam folder to check for false positives.

If you don't give a shit about new posters, then don't browse the list and you won't see spam.

Ah, I see. That makes sense. If it's possible. And if someone actually does it.

I'm not really up on current spam technology, and its been forever since I've registered--is most spam posted by a human, or by a roving machine looking on the internet, specifically targeting msgboards/email? If its a machine could you put a coded word in the registration that makes it so you must type in a series of letters to get an email? Again, if we already do this and the spammers are people sitting at computers then its a null point.

There is already an obfuscated word in the registration page that is supposed to keep machines from registering. I have no idea if it works properly. I have a hard time believing that all of these posts are from human beings, but then again, who knows what people in Russia will agree to for a few Rubles.

i like it with fried onions and hot sauce.

ooooo--look at the smart guy using the word "obfuscated".