STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo 2008

Lately we’ve had to spend valuable time deleting bogus posts from unregistered guests who have a particular fascination for "poker casino," pharmaceuticals from Russia, and "cheap Rolexes."
Hence we are instituting the STAPLE! Compatriot Act, a set of measures to ensure we’re all friends here and that the forum won’t harbor cranks, spammers, or jugheads.
now on, you must be a registered user to post or reply to messages on the board.[/b:f168954b5c] We’re friendly to friendly users. Anyone can read the forum, but only registered users can post.
And, since there are a couple suspicious usernames on the memberlist ever after we’ve deleted dozens and dozens of obvious fakes: [b:f168954b5c]A user profile may be deleted if an administrator considers it suspicious.[/b:f168954b5c] "Suspicious" could mean one or more of the following are true:
[list:f168954b5c]The registered user has never posted.
The username appears to have been randomly generated.
No website or personal details are included in the user profile.
The contact email or website provided in the user profile are obviously illegitimate.[/list:u:f168954b5c]
Blame the International Archie Brigade for our need to take these measures. When you register, please include a legitimate website if you have one, and be sure to include some personal info for Location, Occupation, Interests, and/or other sections.

/>[b:b167be0af5]From now on, you must be a registered user to post or reply to messages on the board.[/b:b167be0af5] We’re friendly to friendly users. Anyone can read the forum, but only registered users can post.
/> Registration of new users will now also require admin approval. Sorry for any inconvenience. We promise to be as timely and responsive as we are able with this process.

Sounds completely reasonable to me!

thanks for manning the boards

Sounds good to me.
Glad to hear you’re taking control. One board I was on a few years ago had to completely shut down because they were being overrun with Russian mail order bride ads and all such sorts. They’ve never brought the board back up since then.

addendum – It’s a good idea to use this format or something similar for your username:
Firstname_lastname
that way I know you’re probably a real human and not some evil spam-creature from beyond and can activate your account much faster.
thanks!

As Chris and I have pointed out, please include some personal information about yourself and your interest in the STAPLE! forum when you register. The less detailed your user profile, the less likely we are to activate your account.

Also, absolutely do NOT put any numbers in your screen name. You’ll be deleted immediately.