I just finished doing another mass banning of over 600 "members," who had obviously registered with the site solely for the purpose of getting links to external sites into the forum (often through their signature blocks.) I consider this to be spamming; I don't have a major problem with members linking other sites as long as they are actually participating on the site, but I do have a problem with generic or nonsense posts made solely for getting a link displayed.
We have foiled the spammers to some extent through the posting restrictions on Porcupines (Newbies,) but because of their continued attempts through the signature blocks I had added another mod to the forum that allows me to restrict links and images in the signature blocks. Effective immediately, members with less than 20 posts will not be able to add links or images in their signature blocks. There are a handful of members with less than 20 posts who still have links in the signatures, but I consider them legitimate members and left them alone. (If any of those members change their "Forum Profile Information" before they get to 20 posts, however, they will lose the links in their signatures.)
We will continue to monitor registrations and ban any apparent spammers, and I will look for any other means to block them without inconveniencing legitimate fans of the Stooges.
