The

[Admin]

It had to happen, I guess. This morning Australian time (22:02 GMT), one of our users decided it would be ‘clever’ to flood the forums with useless messages with a view to increasing the number of ‘stars’ under his name. :smiley7:

The resultant chaos caused the forum software tosuspend his USERID, but only after he caused enough damage to leave me with a 30min mopping up job to remove the offending posts. Not satisfied with his efforts, he returned shortly after, registering a new USERID and continued. That USERID/IP combination also triggered a user suspension.

The ‘star’ system is something that came bundled with the ASP forum software we are using. For what it’s worth, I’d be much happier if it wasn’t there at all – and I will discuss with Aaron the possibility of removing it. Here in Australia, we do not believe in a societal class system. ausmicro.com will be no different.I will notallow it to be come asystem ofpetty elitism and show-ponying.

If, however, people think that a merit-based system would be more appropriate, Aaron and I are always open for suggestions. You know – post”x” number oftips; mods; images of yourpride and joy; orhelpful responses and be rewarded with an extra star. I don’t know… you tell us. :smiley15:

I’m sorry to have to have to be so grumpy :smiley13:on the forums.

Aaron and I have invested our own hard-earned (painfully-earned?) money in ausmicro.com. It costs us around AUD120.00 (USD60.00) every month just in data transfer fees to the hosting company (those image gallery and tech information pages generate almost 380MB of traffic PER DAY). That money comes straight from our own pockets. We do not make a cent out of ausmicro.com (understatement of the year?)

The time it takes to run the site comes from our free time. We’re not paid to do this. The attackthis morningtook a good 30-40mins out of my day. Time I could be spending with my family – writing articles for the site – or simply enjoying the last days of Aussie sunshine before winter sets in down here.

Since I begn writing this post, the individual responsible for the attack has made a personal apology to me. I’ve never been one to hold a grudge. I have accepted his apology on behalf of the community and re-activated his member status. No – I will not say who it is or what their IP was. The member recognises the impact of his actions and I have no hard feelings.We can all just go back to enjoying what the forums and te ausmicro.com communityare about:
Information.
Friendship.
Assistance.
Thanks for your time…. now get back to your car and start racing :smiley4:

Cheers

Derek

[Admin]

For the record…

The star system is there to signify the ‘level’ of the forum member. It doesn’t change with posts. Basically there are 5 levels.

1 Star = Forum User

2-4 Stars = Forum User and Moderator

5 Stars = Forum God.

In time Derek and I may appoint moderators to sort of keep things on track, but for the moment I’m making him do all the hard work on the forums while I rebuild the website 😉

Aaron

[Admin]

So if someone has zero stars, does that make them a Forum Devil?

[Admin]

*laughs* I dunno – I’ll check the code for that! To be honest I haven’t dug much into that side of the feature set of the code. I’ve been more concerned with making it work well enough for us and preparing to integrate it into the new site design.

:smiley8:there’s a lot of behinds the scenes stuff going on with the site at the moment that show up only as things changing colour 😉

[Admin]

Well, for what it’s worth, Aaron, I’ll give you the highest praise I can think of: if you’ve had any problems, we haven’t seen ’em–things are working great on this side. Totally transparent.

THANKS!!!:smiley4:

[Admin]

Thanks. It means a lot to me to pop into the forums and read the positive posts scattered through them. Much better than the buzz I get out of seeing the traffic stats each day!

Derek & I are striving to make this place something really big and it’s guys like you who came and share the info that make it possible!

So thank you!

[Admin]

Hmmm. I dont think any type of rating system is necessary, and if its easier to maintain the forum w/o it, wouldnt it be better to chuck it? But if its already built-in, then its probably easier to leave it as it is. For the record, some of the best posts have come from brand new folks like that guy from italy w/the cool mod tip. 🙂

deejay40

[Admin]

I’d says it’s Quality over Quantity….

But this sites moniker is :

Size DOES Matter! :smiley4:

(j/K)

-Floyd

[Admin]

the star system is good because it will let the newer people know have an idea of who knows what they are talking about. also, it is not post quantity driven. b

[Admin]

Hi there,

It’s my first post :smiley15:

Just want to let both Derek and Aaron know that both of you have done an excellent job in maintaining and updating this site. :smiley10:It’s not easy to run a message board and does take alot of your time.

I’m all new to this as i only recently got my Bit Charg and without this site, I wouldn’t know anything about the modifications or other optionsavaliable for my Bit Charg.:smiley4:

Unfortunately it will only take a few to spoil it for everyone else, so please consider the other people who use this message board for it’s purpose. No one likes their pride and joy to be destroyed.

[Admin]

XrSiSt

Thank you for your feedback and encouragement.

Hope you’re having a ball with your Bit Char-G! :smiley15: Your addiction has just begun :smiley2:

Where abouts are you in Australia? I’m trying to get an idea of locations before I start planning the first Aussie Bit Char-G Grand Prix. Will try to make the location as central as (reasonably) possible so we can get a good roll-up.

Cheers

Derek

[Admin]

Hi Derek,

Yes.. u can definately say that i’m addicted….:smiley9:I feel like a little kid again…

I’m in south west Syd..

[Author]

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