As many of you know I have been having quite a lot of difficulty with my comments section.
Around November I started to lose comments in moderation after one got stuck and could not be rejected or published. Anyhow earlier this month I lost the ability to moderate comments completely.
So I took the moderation off, and allowed people to post with no restrictions. We soon saw that lead to a few trolls coming by and at least one truly infantile spammer.
However I have now discovered a "work around" so I should be able to moderate comments just like I did before. As long as it works there will be NO more spammers or trolls getting through.
It also means that you will not see your comments appear until I check them and click "publish". If I am asleep or away form my computer that may take some time. I am confident that you would rather wait a few hours to read your comment than to put up with the nursery school behavior we have witnessed as of late.
And by the way I will still allow dissenting opinions as long as they are well thought out arguments, and not simply trolls trying to get a rise out of my regulars.
Thank you very much for your patience.
That's great to hear Gryphen. I'm glad you found a work around and that we no longer have to read the ramblings of the non thinking.
ReplyDeleteGryphen,
ReplyDeleteThe tro//s are such idiots that I am glad you are going back to moderating the thread. Apparently They and Sarah are very scared of you.
Those pesty little ankle-biting trolls -- don't you just love making them go "poof"?
ReplyDeleteexcellent
ReplyDeleteThank you Gryphen! I support the change.
ReplyDeleteIt is typical behaviour of Palin's brainless zombies to act just like her, and I was really beginning to think the zombie spammer was Sarah Twitty herself. I gave up wondering long ago why the dolts don't realize how much they contribute to our cause. There really is no fix for stupid.
Your hard work is much appreciated. You have my support and gratitude!
I believe that we can agree to disagree. I do not believe that people can tout the Freedom of Speech on your site while not allowing the same right on "their" site.
ReplyDeleteWe really do have a Great Country. It's too bad that the extreme right fail to see that.
Chuck Heath said that "People used to be afraid of us and respect us, (but) they're not afraid of us and don't respect us anymore."")
He was wrong to use feared and respect in the same sentence because NO ONE really respects someone that they fear.
It's like hoping that you don't get caught committing a crime because of the consequences compared to not doing the crime at all because it is just wrong.
We had lost respect with the rest of the World with President Bush but, have started to regain that respect with President Obama.
Here's wishing all of you a Very Happy New Year!
If nothing else, be thankful that McCain/Palin did not win.
Thanks, Gryph--I'm more than willing to wait for my post to appear. This is a valuable and intelligent community and we appreciate your efforts to stand guard!
ReplyDelete(Well, really, I did spend part of last night plotting a way to infiltrate the vast and turbulent Sea o' Pee with annoying and repetitive space-filled posts, but is it worth it?)
Thanks again. Looking forward to a spam-free experience!
Ah, but now I get a "site advisor" telling me there is adware or spyware trying to get through.
ReplyDeleteYikes. I'll take the chance, though.
Granny68
Sarah takes Polygraph Test!
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/yz4m53l
Thank you!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great plan to me! Hell, Gryph -- it's your bloody blog... you do what you have to do to keep it civil!
ReplyDeleteSorry you had to do this Gryphen. It means even more work for you. But I thank you for it ... and all the good work you do! Manx Mamma
ReplyDeletePS I couldn't sign in with my Google account.
Gryphen,
ReplyDeleteYou have many dedicated followers on this site. Why not solicit some help?
I am sure many would be willing to give a little time modding in order to give this site a more real time feel.
It seemed to me, when the moderation was discontinued, you received more traffic. I for one don't usually comment just b/c it takes so long to post, and then when it does, 9 times out of 10 you started another thread.
Wadda ya think?
Frank,LI,NY
Sorry you've had such a bother. The non-moderated comments were nice, but ruined by our recent infantile troll. Not sure how anyone could believe such behavior advances their cause. Sort of the internet equivalent of sticking one's fingers in one's ears and screaming "la-la-la-la."
ReplyDeleteTrolls are simpletons. Your information and informative posts do nothing but encourage civil discourse and alternate opinions and views. These infants do nothing to add to this. Posting large, blank posts with words to the effect that Mrs. Palin would be president some day are just an annoyance.
ReplyDeleteYou are NOT, by any means, limiting anyone's freedom of speech by moderating. It's just like being a bouncer at the door of a nice club. Jerks need not even attempt to enter.
I agree with Frank LI. Get some helpers. You might consider moving to a more author-friendly blog host. We'll all follow.
I'm happy waiting. It's irritating to have to zip past trolls who have nothing productive to offer. If they can't be civil, they don't belong with the grownups.
ReplyDeleteIvyfree
I've been reading and posting here for several months and for the first few months, everything was moderated and in limbo, which is not a great situation, but "okay". Then, last month, we began to see our postings immediately, which was great. I wish you could stay with that system, but I suppose that pesky "Sarahin2012" troll was a pain in the ass.
ReplyDeleteIsn't there some way that most "accepted names" of posters could go through immediately?
Oh well, I'll still stay and post. Your blog is excellent.
Good to hear things will be under control; your work is very much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteJust wondering out loud why this site attracted such a juvenile response. Are the other sites under moderation (I know AKM is)? Do the other sites edit beforehand? Just wondering why this place attracted that much attention. Could be that Gryphen is cutting very close to the truth.
Thanks---now the trolls can get back to their regularly scheduled programming:
ReplyDeletereading and re-reading Sarah's brilliant book cover to cover, marveling at what a genius the woman is
fixing their Bumpit wannabe hair
trying to keep their teens from having sex using abstinence education only
buying doublewide stretch pants
attending right-wing, evangelical church 7 days a week, since Fundamentalist Christianity is also too the only religion of real Pro-Americans, you betcha and dontcha know there
paying into SarahPAC, so Sarah can get her nails done every week, pay Todd to get lost, get some new clothes, and finish her fancy new bribe house for bristol (gotta keep that brat's mouth shut)!
I second Frank's suggestion about enlisting "mod" help, Gryphen -- especially, perhaps, someone in another time zone or even in another country whom, over these many months, you may have come to "know" and trust even if you've never met.
ReplyDelete(how do ya like that for a run-on sentence?)
I hope you consider it, anyway...
On my blog I have the ability to allow regular posters through without moderation, while holding new posters in pending waiting room, or blocking isp addresses of people I don't want to post.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that Gryphen has removed the spammer with this moderation, but it is less work to set it up like my blog. just sayin'
Been reading this site and other ones in AK for several months and just got my grand daughter to show old grandma how to sign on! Been wanting to comment for "ions"! Love you all and can't want for the BIG news and downfall. A belated Merry Christmas to you all from snowy, cold Colorado!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gryphen!
ReplyDeleteI think that one particularly moronic spammer had its own website. If you report it to blogger, it will lose its privileges -- it has certainly abused them.
As for free speech, this is Gryphen's website, not a government entity; those rules don't apply here. That said, I'm sure Gryphen would welcome anyone, even dissenters, to come actually post actual comments. Spamming is just bratty, infantile behavior. Blocking it is hardly blocking free speech. Spammers are free to get their own websites and post all the spam they want on it. It really blows me away that such a person made it to adulthood and still behaves that way. What a true moran, in the kossack sense of the word.
ltl
I like Frank's suggestion. I'd be happy to help mod, too.
ReplyDeleteltl
Thanks for working to get the trolls banished back to the Sea of Pee. The one with all the blank spaces just to be annoying was the last sraw! I do think Gryphen you have the Queen of the North rather nervous on "coming attractions"! Keep up the good work, it is most enjoyable knowing she is sweating it out.
ReplyDeleteGuess I'm a little late to the party. What happened with the trolls that caused Gryph to start moderating again?
ReplyDeleteI kind of liked being non-moderated.
Hi Gryphen, I do not say thank you often enough for writing your blog, but I am doing so now. And also would like to congratulate you on finding a way to get rid of the spam and the trolls. Sure seems like that one juvenile poster of the large white space was getting more and more threatened by this site, yet had no actual sensible statement to make.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, these Sarah drones so completely misunderstand how free speech rights work and how public versus private works. Private is this blog, this is Gryphen's online "house" and Gryphen does have a right to moderate content. Public is a publicly funded place like the Curtis Menard Memorial Sports Center, all parts except any part privately reserved. In other words, it was not just bad form to not allow Gryphen and Dennis Zaki into the public downstairs part, but they actually had their civil rights violated. Still, considering how that news got Andrew Sullivan to sit up and take notice, link to this blog, and post about topics like Todd Palin being the one who produced the banned list, I am sure it was worth the "banning", right Gryphen? :-)
I will conclude with an invitation to look at the comment rules of another great blog, the "Whatever" blog by John Skalzi. He's a guy like Gryphen, who has strong opinions, likes to hear from various points of view, but doesn't suffer fools to keep posting or hijacking the thread. Gryphen, if you do not already read this guy, his blog is worth checking out. It's a compliment to have your blog and Skalzi's both mentioned in the same paragraph :-) Mostly I am giving this info because I think it shows how a good policy on moderation can work, and helps remind people that blogs are the "house" of the blogger. Here is the web address of Skalzi's hlog comments policy for those who are interested:
http://whatever.scalzi.com/about/site-disclaimer-and-comment-policy/
Gryphen, thanks again! You are the blogger most likely to make me LOL!
Thanks for finding a workaround to deal with the trolls. As another commenter suggested, many of us would welcome the opportunity to assist with moderation to ensure dialog is timely. I personally have found the real time comments to be much more interesting and entertaining. For me, the random trolls were irritating, but the real time conversations overcame the frustration.
ReplyDeleteThe troll spewing vile language, which many of us perceived as threatening, will also soon be influenced by federal authorities. The FBI and Secret Service do not take such language lightly. So, that specific individual will not bother anyone much longer.
Gryphen- This is a great blog and 'ya do what ya gotta do!' It's all good. Clearly, not only have you hit a nerve-- I think you've struck bone!
ReplyDeleteKeep on Truckin'... We'll get there.
Don't pretend gryphen, censoring those with opposing opinions is just showing how shallow you are yourself. And in the end it will result in your blog becoming uninteresting with a few of the regulars continually complaining about Palin.
ReplyDeleteGermanGoodness,
ReplyDeleteThere were a couple of, or maybe just one troll/spammer, who apparently had no loved ones with whom to share Christmas. This seems to have filled him or them with such loneliness, anger and bitterness that he or they came here and posted the same idiotic comment many times -- it must have taken a lot of time (what an idiotic way to spend the holidays, and non-productive way to take out one's frustrations, no?). Apparently there were also threatening comments made. Those, I missed.
ltl
@ Anon 10:05
ReplyDeleteLame try! We readers asked Gryph to dump the spammers and he did. Just like Palin, you try to twist the meaning of words to suit your own agenda (unsuccessfully I might add).
You wouldn't know the definitions of censorship or blogging if they knocked you over the head with a two ton rock. Hit the road if you don't like what a blogger does with his blog.
Anon 10:0 I don't think Gryphen is censoring opposing opinions. That commenter had no opinion he was repeating the same comment day after day with lots of spaces in between, another words just being a pain in the butt.
ReplyDeleteIn your own words "censoring opposing opinions is shallow", well I guess that is exactly what the pee'ers are then. Just the same regulars repeating to themselves how great the queen is. Bend down and kiss $arah's toes or your out! No other opinions allowed!
lillibird
Martha dear, a spammer or a troll is just someone who doesn't agree with you completely. Maybe you could get Gryphen to ban all those people so you won't have to hear anything contrary to your own dogma?
ReplyDeleteI sort of liked reading the comments of the Palin supporters. There is a lot to learn from others with differing opinions. But you wouldn't want to disappoint Martha unalaska would you gryphen.
ReplyDelete"Martha dear, a spammer or a troll is just someone who doesn't agree with you completely."
ReplyDeleteWrong. The troll wasn't posting opinions so "agreement" wasn't the issue. The fact that your post made it through would show you that, if you had an ounce of sense. What Gryphen is blocking is a troll who posted the same nonsense over and over, including big empty blocks of space. Kind of like the big empty spaces in the heads of many Palin fans.
Anon @ 11:58 and 10:05
ReplyDeletePlease notice that you have not been censored. Your comments are being allowed by Gryphen.
You likely already know this, but the spammer over Christmas was Sarahin2012. Sarahin2012 posted the identical comment probably 100 times, so when you say:
"censoring those with opposing opinions is just showing how shallow you are yourself. And in the end it will result in your blog becoming uninteresting with a few of the regulars continually complaining about Palin." that seems pretty silly. The spammer was unbelievably shallow and boring, and was attempting to turn every thread into his or her same idiotic comment complaining about a problem that exists only in his own mind. It was not a dissenting opinion, it was spam, pure and simple. The threads were turning into only that and actual people attempting to get him to see what an idiot he was -- he's a particularly stupid troll, so there was no reasoning with him. At any rate, that is what makes for a particularly uninteresting blog. Gryphen is keeping us on topic and undistracted here.
Gryphen posts on many subjects, not just Palin. However, her psychosis is both interesting, and a menace to society, should she ever have political power again. Given the traffic to this and other anti-Palin blogs, it's pretty clear that the blog is in no danger of becoming boring.
If you aren't going to like it, well, the internet is a big place -- go to a site that is interesting to you.
ltl
anon 12pm:
ReplyDeleteAs I said, we can agree to disagree but, the trolls don't offer up anything to say that they can back up. They just rant (nothing to do with the thread) and spam.
The trolls are American Terrorists; worst than Al Qaeda, and Sarah is the American Bin laden.
These past days, the only comments here from the trolls have been calling our President a Kenyan and taking our country back. And you say that you enjoy reading the different opinions that the Sarah supporters have?
Ha! I suspect that you are one.
Thank you Gryphen! I never got involved at all with politics until the 2008 election. I watched appalled as Palin whipped up hate and venom during the campaign, I cannot reconcile someone with so-called Christian beliefs acting the way she has - even my Republican bible-thumping mother voted for Obama because of what her older wise eyes could see in Palin - please continue to expose Palin for what she is, this information is needed out there - Bless you and the rest of the Atlantic bloggers for the work you do..
ReplyDelete!!! The trolls are American Terrorists; worst than Al Qaeda, and Sarah is the American Bin laden. !!!
ReplyDeleteBesides the fact you are obviously illiterate (thanks liberal teachers!) you are ignorant in the extreme. Trolls are worse than Al-Qaeda? Palin is worse than the evil person that killed thousands of Americans?
I pity the people in this place.
We have a name for these kind of trolls in the Adirondacks, Gryph.
ReplyDeleteNo-See-Ums!
Weren't you the guy railing away about freedom of speech the other day>
ReplyDelete"That's different!"
Good on you Gryph..Nasty little things..
ReplyDelete"Don't pretend gryphen, censoring those with opposing opinions is just showing how shallow you are yourself. "
ReplyDeleteActually, the censoring was not of a thoughtful poster with opposing opinions. It was of some Palinbot with Evangelical OCD Palin Empty Brain Syndrome, posting the same crap over and over in an attempt to disrupt the message board--Big difference.
And LOL, Anon at 356pm. This from the party whose members have tried to equate Barack Obama with Hitler? Adjust the tinfoil hat, please--your messages from outer space are getting garbled.
Whaaaaaa - sick of the whiners! They confuse free speech with rude behavior, which I do not tolerate in fellow humans unless there is a damn good reason. Defending a twitty, nasty Palin and a bunch of arrogant liars is not a damn good reason.
ReplyDeleteThey whine, they moan, they belittle other posters and bring no interesting information or views to the table. When I worked with youth in recreation, I set up a system of fines for whines. There were weeks where we had lots of pizza from the generated fine revenue, or weeks full of of fun, conversation and games due to no or low whines.
Guess which weeks the kids loved? Yep! They started double fining their peers in no time just to weed out the crybabies as quick as can be!
Trolls, consider yourselves fined since you can't find an intelligent, compassionate or reasonable thing to say. Whaaaaa!
And you were under the impression that progressives are push overs. Guess again whackos!
Maybe they are just emulating the whining of the Iconic Quitter Queen.
ReplyDeletewaaaaaaaaa! Unfair!!! Not my fault!!! Meanies!
sarah2012 was just plain annoying. anyone who posts the same useless message time and time again with no purpose except to annoy is both spammer and troll. and deserves to be banished. and, no, it's not a 1st amendment issue.
ReplyDeleteas for johndoe and his ilk who do nothing but repetitively attack other posters for no reason except that he's in love with s'error palin, I won't miss you either. you, sir, are the picture in the dictionary next to the word "troll."