There's been a lot of spam recently, which may be connected to the fact that the board software hasn't been updated for a while.

I've done the deed this afternoon. It's only a security upgrade, so don't expect to see any changes. I'm hoping it will plug the gaps that the spam bots were exploiting. If it doesn't I'll put Plan B into operation.

Do please tell me if you notice any problems.

Thanks El G. They're annoying pests to have to deal with.

As usual, I initially ignored SP's pathetic tweet, whining about there being a problem on the site. However, the more authoritative voice of MLCM chimed, so I decided to investigate.

It seems that we have been under attack from Russia. The hosting company has removed a ton of malicious code that has been seeping invisibly through the site. They also pointed me towards a warning about the forum software. MyBB, the software that runs this forum recently admitted that their last update unwittingly contained a virus which left the back door open.

This explains (I suppose) why there has been so much spam on the forum over the last few weeks. It also explains why I've been getting automated messages saying that the site was running out of space, even though things looked OK.

So we've been scrubbing the floors to get rid of this nasty Russian bug, and I have also re-installed what I'm told is the clean version of the forum software. So let's see. I hope things will get better.

(Actually, it did make me wonder - yet again - whether we should revert to the old vBulletin forum. It was more robust, but I was paying quite a lot for an annual licence, and wasn't sure it was justified. ANyone have any thoughts on this -- if you can remember it...)

Finally, thank you SP. As usual I mistook your fine eye for detail and your irrepressible willingness to assist, as being 'bloody interfering again'. I will try to remember this next time.

Seriously, thanks all, I rely on people to tell me when things are wrong, as I don't always see it.

EG

As usual, I initially ignored SP's pathetic tweet, whining about there being a problem on the site. However, the more authoritative voice of MLCM chimed, so I decided to investigate.

It seems that we have been under attack from Russia. The hosting company has removed a ton of malicious code that has been seeping invisibly through the site. They also pointed me towards a warning about the forum software. MyBB, the software that runs this forum recently admitted that their last update unwittingly contained a virus which left the back door open.

This explains (I suppose) why there has been so much spam on the forum over the last few weeks. It also explains why I've been getting automated messages saying that the site was running out of space, even though things looked OK.

So we've been scrubbing the floors to get rid of this nasty Russian bug, and I have also re-installed what I'm told is the clean version of the forum software. So let's see. I hope things will get better.

(Actually, it did make me wonder - yet again - whether we should revert to the old vBulletin forum. It was more robust, but I was paying quite a lot for an annual licence, and wasn't sure it was justified. ANyone have any thoughts on this -- if you can remember it...)

Finally, thank you SP. As usual I mistook your fine eye for detail and your irrepressible willingness to assist, as being 'bloody interfering again'. I will try to remember this next time.

Seriously, thanks all, I rely on people to tell me when things are wrong, as I don't always see it.

EG

For some reason I have a sudden urge to consume vodka.

(22-10-2011, 09:34 AM)El Gordo Wrote: (Actually, it did make me wonder - yet again - whether we should revert to the old vBulletin forum. It was more robust, but I was paying quite a lot for an annual licence, and wasn't sure it was justified. ANyone have any thoughts on this -- if you can remember it...)

I don't think the forum software itself makes that much difference to us, the 'umble users. I guess the call between maintenance of this software, migrating back to the old one, and the license cost, is yours to make EG.

If the maintenance effort is unreasonable, I'm certain there's at least a half dozen of us who would stump up for the license fee.

Although I see it seems to be $195 per year. Well, I wouldn't want to be hasty or anything. Although then again that's not a bad membership fee between us for the best running club in cyberspace.

(27-10-2011, 09:45 PM)marathondan Wrote: If the maintenance effort is unreasonable, I'm certain there's at least a half dozen of us who would stump up for the license fee.

Although I see it seems to be $195 per year. Well, I wouldn't want to be hasty or anything. Although then again that's not a bad membership fee between us for the best running club in cyberspace.

We've discussed this before with no conclusion other than EG seems happy to carry on footing the bill, as it were (pun intended, so there, what do you expect in a free club?).

Personally, I think an annual membership fee would be appropriate to cover costs. The only caveat I have is that I'd like to see the fee be large enough to include the cost of a club running T-shirt/singlet (or tech top for a bit extra perhaps).

But this all takes time and organisation, and perhaps it is just easier to leave things be.

But as to which software we use, I agree with Dan - it makes no difference to me what we use, really. If you think (EG) we'd be better off elsewhere, then by all means move us.

Oh look, a bacon sandwich.

Mid Life Easily Distracted Man

(27-10-2011, 09:56 PM)Mid Life Crisis Man Wrote:

(27-10-2011, 09:45 PM)marathondan Wrote: If the maintenance effort is unreasonable, I'm certain there's at least a half dozen of us who would stump up for the license fee.

Although I see it seems to be $195 per year. Well, I wouldn't want to be hasty or anything. Although then again that's not a bad membership fee between us for the best running club in cyberspace.

We've discussed this before with no conclusion other than EG seems happy to carry on footing the bill, as it were (pun intended, so there, what do you expect in a free club?).

Personally, I think an annual membership fee would be appropriate to cover costs. The only caveat I have is that I'd like to see the fee be large enough to include the cost of a club running T-shirt/singlet (or tech top for a bit extra perhaps).

But this all takes time and organisation, and perhaps it is just easier to leave things be.

But as to which software we use, I agree with Dan - it makes no difference to me what we use, really. If you think (EG) we'd be better off elsewhere, then by all means move us.

Oh look, a bacon sandwich.

Mid Life Easily Distracted Man

No one will ever be charged anything just for the site -- but thank you for the life-affirming comments.

It might be good to think about another generation of RC teeshirts / singlets -- but only on a non-profit basis, or perhaos like last time, when I think/hope some was creamed off for the JDRF.

Sorry all -- more problems with the forum. Apart from some missing graphics, I think we're sort of back on track.

Watching Professional Masterchef on TV, the Champions League on computer, and consuming a bottle of wine, turned out not to be ideal parallel activities while trying to reinstall the forum software. Especially as the computer I was watching the football on was the same one I was trying to do the upload with.

Gah.

If you can see this message, please reply to say so. (No need for more than one person to do so, unless you want to say something else...)

Sorry for the downtime. A couple of days ago I was contacted by the hosting company to say that there was all sorts of frantic activity going on behind the scenes of the forum, and they were temporarily closing it to protect the security of the server. They continued to give me access so I could have a look around.

I won't bore you with the details but I've spent several hours today doing stuff which I hope will help, and have asked them to turn it back on so that they can monitor it and see if things have changed.

It's conceivable that it may vanish again if the problem is not solved. If that happens I'll look at other options again. The forum database is backed up, so nothing should be lost.

(23-12-2011, 10:29 PM)El Gordo Wrote: If you can see this message, please reply to say so. (No need for more than one person to do so, unless you want to say something else...)

All green on my board EG

Hurrah! And now for those images...

Have merged a few threads as they follow the same theme.

Latest from the hosting company is that the measures I took yesterday seem to have done the trick regarding server overload. Hard to say to what extent it's spammers / bots / inefficient database maintenance, but I'll continue to monitor. Am just about to add another anti-spammer plug in.

(24-12-2011, 11:31 AM)El Gordo Wrote: Have merged a few threads as they follow the same theme.

Latest from the hosting company is that the measures I took yesterday seem to have done the trick regarding server overload. Hard to say to what extent it's spammers / bots / inefficient database maintenance, but I'll continue to monitor. Am just about to add another anti-spammer plug in.

RC forums largely unavailable as I type (more often not) due to server overload. Something still not right?!

Have dipped in and out today - seems OK from here.

(28-12-2011, 10:47 PM)Sweder Wrote: Have dipped in and out today - seems OK from here.

Yeah but you got privileges, man.

Keep up the fight Andy - appreciated as always.

I guess you wouldn't consider having the forum hosted by a third party? Although from my quick look around, it seems that it's not easy to import an existing database into a free / cheap hosted forum.

(29-12-2011, 07:51 PM)marathondan Wrote: Keep up the fight Andy - appreciated as always.

I guess you wouldn't consider having the forum hosted by a third party? Although from my quick look around, it seems that it's not easy to import an existing database into a free / cheap hosted forum.

Well, depends what you mean. The forum and the site are hosted by a third party i.e. the webserver doesn't live in my back bedroom. Or do you mean having the forum managed by someone else? Not sure if that service is available at a reasonable cost. I'll take a look.

It is actually quite feasible to import/export a forum into a different forum shell. It's what I did when I moved from vBulletin to myBB. Someone cleverer than me has to write a script to do the import to make sure that all the existing database fields end up in the right place in the new forum. No two have an identical structure.

I've been thinking that it's time to move again. I've never really liked myBB. I'm thinking of moving to phpBB. Probably should have done it last time. Will take a look and update you.

(30-12-2011, 12:46 AM)El Gordo Wrote: Well, depends what you mean. The forum and the site are hosted by a third party i.e. the webserver doesn't live in my back bedroom. Or do you mean having the forum managed by someone else? Not sure if that service is available at a reasonable cost. I'll take a look.

I meant like this. Not only do they host the forum but they do all the maintenance as well. The missus and I both use Proboards forums and they don't seem to have any spam problems - because I guess the software is always bang up to date. But I don't know how you would feel about relinquishing ownership of your code. And anyway, Proboards for one doesn't seem to have an import option - unless as you say, someone else has written a script. Great if you're setting up a new forum from scratch, though.