You can see the archived poll results on the Wayback Machine:
https://web.archive.org/web/20221220093741/https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/72553
U forgot appoint spammerators;)
Clarified the first choice.
I agree with Old-Lumen regarding moderators. Here is his post:
Moderators who can ONLY deal with spam (and spammers) marked as such by several (other) people. But I have no idea how feasible this actually is within the Drupal framework.
they're bombing again!!! Thanks lk
I think it needs to be software for sure ... But I'm not opposed to a temporary mod squad while software is put into place . I think the point is something needs to be done asap.Big steel gate and guards with guns for the next 20 days won't mean a thing if a good solution is introduced and the problem gets fixed .
I assume that oxy morons statement is true .. this will never end and humans can;t stand by with a mop continually mopping up after spamming computers endless attacks.
I think new members need not be treated like dirt like they are on another site ..if they understand why and what is going one and are welcomed to the forum i don't see any problem with 3 post min.
The problem i personally had at cpf was it wasn't clear to me what the hell was going on and it seemed like I was a bother to them... instead of welcome . if BLF makes Joining the forum clear and acts like they are interested in new members than The 40 or 50 people who have to have full privileges "Right now " will just have to miss out on the fun.
But like I've said repeatedly..What kind of software or how to best implement it ?? I don't know ... That's out of my league .
I wish Mr. Admin. would make a comment or ask for some help since the forum is probably ripe with talent and knowing what he has in mind might at least calm the restless natives .
This is by far the best forum I have ever taken part in. I must contribute to maybe 4/5 others but I have made more posts here, in the short time I have been a member, than anywhere else. That Is mainly due to the fact the people are not up there own arse here. You ask a question you get a bag full of answers, some humor and Kreisler!
So I thank all of you very much for that! The other reason it is so good here is the relaxed attitude to moderation, I feel like I am down the pub at times, but not any pub, the friendliest pub in the world, where the beer is cheap and everyone talks to each other and no one wants to fight (most of the time).
But we really need to tighten up and that means, unfortunately on moderation. I do feel we need to restrict the amount of posts a new member makes. I don't see the problem with 5 posts in the first 24 hours and maybe 50 in the first week. Now I am no expert when it comes to moderating a forum, so please forgive me if I offend, but why can't the moderator just remove the spammer and his post as soon as it starts. We seem to be talking about it for ages but nothing happens.
Well that's my tuppence worth, I hope I haven't offended any moderators.
Marc.
I voted for the 2nd option but I'd like 4 also implemented, they can compliment each other and no mods required :)
Dons version of a mod is also good if feasible, normal mods ruin forums
We have got to do something now! They're at it yet again! No end in sight!
All four options sound reasonable to me.
How about "all of the above"? :)
iwishiknewhowtofightevilspammersFoy
The larger a forum gets : Well , moderators become a necessary evil ....
Who - how - when = moderators ?
Perhaps they should be nominated and voted for ?
Perhaps a 3month tour of duty ? or something ... and then they get the pink slip ...
And spammers need to be banned ! , there IP blocked , for at least some time ...
There unwelcome ? , and need to be made to feel such ? [ spammers ]
Perhaps bring back the old method ... Instant block from posting when marked for spam ..
Anyone can mark you as spam (with enough posts) and moderator/s would then check to undo or perma-ban
No mods needed here. It's a slippery slope when introduced and frankly the site itself has been running fine without them for as long as it's been up.
When a spammer like that one bangs out 1000+ posts in about an hour, no mods will be able to keep up anyway. Would be pissing in the wind.
Limiting new users is a huge deterrent...to new users. Not just to spammers. It also does nothing but require a spammer to write a few innocent posts until the restriction is lifted then BAM!
We already have the second option with the "Mark as SPAM" button. This site has always been self moderated. What needs to be modified with this is that when a spammer is flagged as such by 5 seperate members then the posting rights of that spammer should be automatically suspended until Mr. Admin can review the situation.
Honestly the only practical option that everyone can understand and work with is a simple Captcha each time you post. I've seen it done on other sites I've belonged to and it works without fail. SPAMbots can't do proper captchas and guys like that one can't keep up that posting rate manually.
Johnny
Respectfully disagree with some of the above: mods don't have to be a slippery slope to cpf-ness. They can simply be Spammerators, devoted only to robot spammers that crank out 1000 ads in an hour. The site has been running fine up until now, but things have changed since BLF has gotten so popular.
Mods would be able to keep up with the robot spammers because they'd be able to nuke the robot accounts and shuffle all the posts back to normal. (Or hopefully, at least... that's how I see it implemented.)
Maybe your Mark As Spam comment is true, but I don't know what would happen to the 999 other posts that have gotten through in the time it takes 5 people to mark the same post as spam.
Agree that captcha might slow the spammers down, but it's also a bloody pain in the @rse. If that really was the only way to fix things, I'd sigh and get on with it, but I think there are other options that haven't yet been implemented.
I've mentioned it before, but if development is going to cost money, I'm up for a bit of a donation.
Remember i suggested that the mark as spam should be changed. Shouldn't be limited to 5 hits on one spammers post. It should be 5 hits on ANY posts made by a spammer. This would lock out the spammers account from posting quicker than any handful of spammerators since we already have thousands of spam moderators in place.
Having a handful of moderators still leaves a chance for only one or no moderators online at any given time. Proper use of the spam button makes spam moderators obsolete and unneeded.
This poll is too simplistic. I don't think any one option is going to fix it, rather it will take several different steps, some automated programing and some manual, such as spam mods. And I'm sure sb is working on it.
Well one thing is for sure, we need to do something soon. It makes a real mess of the recent post section. Just try one thing and let it evolve, if it doesn't work so well do something else or as well as.
Marc.
The "Mark as SPAM" feature is useful but it's after the event.
What about asking for captcha for both account creation and until a minimum threshold post count has been reached? This should cover most spambots and deter the (in)human spammer.
All of the above if it needs to keep clean!
Would not mind to captcha at every post also, if that's the ticket to pay to keep the forum the way it is.
I'm moderator on another forum, vbulletin based, and we have had some spammers too, but we rely on a good group of mods.
There's nothing evil about moderators, as long as the mod group is made of a good number of people in almost constant contact with the admin (in a private area) so that there's no chance of a mod starting to act like a dictator.
+1 to pretty much all the above.
Re the OP:
'Appoint Moderators Who's only job/duty/right is to combat spam' (my bold)
Good idea, should be no shortage of volunteers. They would also have the (perhaps password-enabled) ability to instantly block a 'user' from further posting, assuming technology allows this. I'd make the cautious suggestion that they wouldn't be called 'moderators'. Spamshooters, Guardians, 'SIMs' (Site Integrity Minders), anything else you like. Apologies if it's just me, but even the word Moderators or 'Mods' - worse still - is just too reminiscent of the other place, which we really want to avoid.
"Allow some sort of community voting system to ban a user"
For the type of spam that's prompted this thread a voting system would surely be unnecessary. It would also be cumbersome and slow. But yes, I guess for 'Milder' spam this option might be appropriate, although this type is usually quickly sent packing with a few stern words by BLF users.
"Allow users to "Ignore" a poster"
Don't quite understand this one. Most of us do that from time to time anyway, and not just with spammers. Would this help stop spam? 
" Implement restrictions on new users such as Max number of posts per day"
Another good idea, and maybe the best way to start Operation Spamkill. A new member's introduction thread would take the sting out of any temporary restrictions. It would be hard to feel offended with a dozen or more BLF-ers welcoming you with the usual friendly banter.
I voted 4; if more were needed, I'd also go with the 1st option.