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SDAR Registration / Approval Process

Automatic or Manual Approval ?  

53 members have voted

  1. 1. Should SDAR Registration Approval Process be Automatic, or Manually approve members by asking who they are, etc. ?

    • Automatic Computer Approval
    • Manually Approve Members


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PLEASE VOTE Above.

We have been approving members manually for a few years now, after the spambots and spammers were able to join our site and get past the forum software security.

I think the security issues were resolved as far as spammers.

We like to know who is joining our forums, since we are a more localized, "personal" and club atmosphere, and there are a couple of other reasons also.

But, sometimes people lose our e-mails for validation, they don't respond, the e-mails go to their junk folder, etc. And sometimes it takes us a few days to respond.

So the questions are listed above, and I would like people's votes and opinions please.

Also, I have received e-mails from people saying weeks or months went by and they weren't approved...then I checked for their username in the membership list, and they were already registered....they just forgot, lost their usernames, etc. That has happened quite a few times. One guy actually bitched on ADVrider about this....then when he realized he was wrong, he modified his post on ADVrider.

Thanks !

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If we like to know about a member, then manual approval seems to be the most logical choice.

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I know when I tried to join the first time, I got no response for several weeks and then re-registered and was approved in a few days. If the intent is to "hand pick" members, then the current process is fine, but it is a little different than most website registrations. This is only my opinion.

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I know when I tried to join the first time, I got no response for several weeks and then re-registered and was approved in a few days.

That was 3 years ago. Things have changed, and we have been keeping up much better on validations.

Yes, our approval process is different, but so is our site, as we are more of a club atmosphere than just a site.

I'm open to making it automatic approval, if many of our members think that's the way to go.

PLEASE VOTE IN THE POLL AT THE TOP OF THIS THREAD.

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I think the manual approval process is a good idea. If it's tough to stay on top of it, enable a few more trusted members to evaluate and approve. If you had 4-5 people managing the queue, the problem may go away.

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I think the manual approval process is a good idea. If it's tough to stay on top of it, enable a few more trusted members to evaluate and approve. If you had 4-5 people managing the queue, the problem may go away.

Manual works if you have people available that can approve people in 24 hours or so. If someone has to wait 3 weeks to be approved we're shooting ourselves in the foot.

Something like, "We're sending you this email for account verification to make sure you aren't a spammer or a bot. Please take a moment to fill out this information and get back to us to get your account approved. Thanks!"

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Maybe one of those screwball text things that you have to validate?

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I think the manual approval process is a good idea. If it's tough to stay on top of it, enable a few more trusted members to evaluate and approve. If you had 4-5 people managing the queue, the problem may go away.

Bingo

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I voted for manual approval of members, but only if they can be approved within a 24 hour period. If it's longer than that, we'd have to go with automatic. I'd also make it clear to anyone going through the registration proces that we manually review each application, and realize the delay might be unusual.

I completely agree with the post elsewhere that this is more like joining a club than a website, and I like reinforcing that message from the very begining. But along with that comes a respectful initiation to the site.

With all the members we have here who contribute consistently and contentiously, it should be pretty easy to appoint several to the task of approving members in a timely fashion about which we can be proud.

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Captcha is easy to do, but I'm still for the manual process. One of the things that's good about this board is that it remains fairly local. Even though members move out of the area and stay members..

Much different from someone way out of state doing research, or just joining for the DD or something, and then having one post and never seen again. I think signal to noise ratio will eventually go up if it's an automatic approval. I value the fact that this is a great regional board, and remains that way. Pretty much due to the admin, the members, and the vetting (now where's my five bucks and the sticker?) :ph34r::heh:

I need more coffee.

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We can only have about 2 people in the approval process. Otherwise it's going to get confusing and convoluted if more people have their hands in it.

A few people have offered, and they might have more time than Carguy and I do sometimes, so I will be talking to them to see if they're interested in doing it.

Like Paul said, a quick approval within 24 - 36 hours max means someone's got to monitor the validations daily.

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Or, we can have a few more people involved in the approval process, and we all alternate by week or something like that.

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Or, we can have a few more people involved in the approval process, and we all alternate by week or something like that.

Perhaps a system could be created so other approvers are notified when one is "on it".

I don't know exactly how the process works, so that might not be practical. But we all travel, we all are away from our computers etc.

I don't think two is enough.

If it has to be two, then we could set it to automatic and increase moderator oversight to keep the club a happy place to be.

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Perhaps a system could be created so other approvers are notified when one is "on it".

I don't know exactly how the process works, so that might not be practical. But we all travel, we all are away from our computers etc.

I don't think two is enough.

It's quite a simple process....Carguy and I usually CC our e-mails to each other, so we know who we've already got in the approval queue.

If it was kept up on daily, the process would only take about 15 minutes max. Sometimes it's hard to get on the computer for those 15 minutes every day by 1 or 2 people, so agreed....we'd need 3 or 4.

We'll work it out if we stay with the Manual Approval Process.

I posted another explanation of the Approval Process in the MO Forums.

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I dont think the wait for approval should be an issue, just explain it up front how long it could take. I know of one site that you actually have to go on a ride with them before you are approved.

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Agreed....

I think the manual approval process is a good idea. If it's tough to stay on top of it, enable a few more trusted members to evaluate and approve. If you had 4-5 people managing the queue, the problem may go away.

Manual works if you have people available that can approve people in 24 hours or so. If someone has to wait 3 weeks to be approved we're shooting ourselves in the foot.

Something like, "We're sending you this email for account verification to make sure you aren't a spammer or a bot. Please take a moment to fill out this information and get back to us to get your account approved. Thanks!"

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I own a site and am VP (and moderator) on another one. On both we "auto approve" everyone for the most part, and quickly. Yes, we do have to blow a few folks out every now and then, but if we don't catch them someone else will, so not a big deal.

We quit using the "scrambled words" spam-bot verification process (Captcha?) and went to a "puzzle" type that the computers can't figure out (yet). I'll get you info if you need it.

OK, I'm off to vote......

PS Glad you guys approved me :coolio:

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I voted automatic, but have one caveat:

if they come on here and start spamming every post, start belligerent or hostile posts or PMs, or are generally an jerk, ban 'em

just go to joMomma or town square, and see how some folks talk to each other...

then go to SDAR open discussion, even in Members Only, and see how we talk to each other... we just are more pleasant...

yeah- I may be sarcastic, and a little bit abrasive at times, but since we KNOW EACH other, you KNOW I am a jerk, not just guessing from my posts...

could SDAR get "too big"? I don't think so... we are regional, but still a tourist destination, and people in canuckistan have little to no interest in our local rides, etc.

I also like to think that our "vibe" is very positive, and social... I don't want to get like some others. If the manual process helps with that, so be it...

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...

yeah- I may be sarcastic, and a little bit abrasive at times, but since we KNOW EACH other, you KNOW I am a jerk, not just guessing from my posts...

Exactly. That is what smaller sites are all about, people who know each other and have similar philosophies.

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I like the manual because it maintains more control. How about thinning out old members after a year or more of no input?

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snip... How about thinning out old members after a year or more of no input?

Ohh, sh*#.... Now I'll actually have to start thinking... about... stuff. ... once a year :ph34r:

I'm with the manual "faction"... I waited for a couple of weeks , knowing people/moderators (should)have a life too.

Then reapplied and voila, confirmed: I'm not a bot..., thank good.

---Even though girlfriend sometimes isn't sure about it.. she says.

Dan

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Some applicants have shown that they intend to be less family orientated in the discussions than the most of us. This is much easier to detect manually.

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Thank God, that's not a requirement. I hold back on this forum, but I am not a G rated person. My FB page is private for a reason. angel.png

Some applicants have shown that they intend to be less family orientated in the discussions than the most of us. This is much easier to detect manually.

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Thank God, that's not a requirement. I hold back on this forum, but I am not a G rated person. My FB page is private for a reason. angel.png

He's telling the truth, like REALLY REALLY telling the truth. Eddie has quite a bit of restraint here =)

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