Preventing Community Spam

Hi all,

You may have noticed a recent spike in spam activity in the community. This is something we take very seriously and have been working hard to solve it ever since it erupted. While we have implemented numerous methods for detecting spam behind the scenes after it comes in, today we added a new proactive solution.

Going forward, to post a discussion you will be asked to verify that you are not a robot. This is done via the well known CAPTCHA system. However, we utilized the latest method offered by Google which usually only requires a box to be checked. This is much simpler than typing characters from within an obscure image. Here's what it looks like:

Usually, checking that box is all that's required. If however the system is uncertain, you will be asked to verify via another method. That should be infrequent under normal usage patterns especially as you continue to use the site.

I hope that's welcome news and the rationale behind adding this to the site is understood. If you encounter any issues please let me know.

As always, thanks for using ELH!

Brian