Change of User Permissions ("Why can't I edit my profile/choose an avatar?")

[Matt]

One of the things that takes up a lot of Moderator time is cleaning up spam on the forums. No one likes it. It's annoying. Spammer tactics are becoming increasingly complex and aggravating to deal with.

To help combat the perpetual assault of spam messages/spammers/spambots I'm working on a new way that Usergroups are used here at CBR. To cut a long story short;

New users will not be allowed to do the following:

• Use signatures in their posts
• Send private messages
• Post profile messages
• Possibly be unable to post links at all.

Upon reaching a certain number of posts (20), that user's account will automatically be 'promoted' so all those options become available. The change isn't instantaneous, the system needs time to update itself. So don't expect to have access the second you reach 20 posts, just be patient. It'll happen.

This step should drastically reduce the amount of Private Message spam people receive (I'm looking at you people who PM invites to a pathetic RP game) as well as SEO spammers and so forth.

I'm in the admin controls right now setting this up. It will take some time to move the existing users (that's all you wonderful folk) around so the system works, maybe a little more than an hour. If you find Private Messages not working or any other glitches, it's probable this is the cause. Wait an hour and see if it's still broken.

It's actually a tricky system to set up as I have to be careful not to screw any existing permissions up. It may be some time before it becomes active. I just hope I don't have to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow...