CyberArmy

Feedback Digest - June 2005

• Spam bots: You may have noticed that over the past few weeks spam bots were targeting CA forums. Some of you sent in some ideas for recognising these posts and stopping them. Although these suggestions were not implemented, there have been a few methods tested on the site to try and fix the problem. The solution that has worked for the current issue, is adding 'captchas', requiring guest posters to enter a randomly generated sequence before they can post.
• Edit Posts: It was proposed to add the feature to allow a user to edit posts they have made, to make corrections, add extra missed off info, etc. This will not be implemented. The main reason being that people could exploit it, using it to 'erase the past' (removing their blame in flame wars, for example). The edit feature is largely only going to be used to fix mistakes, but the 'preview' button has been made available on CA.net for checking a post over before it is submitted, and it was felt that in light of the arguments for and against, the current framework is more than adequate.
• Sticky with view by thread: When choosing the View Option 'View by Thread', a moderator cannot sticky the thread viewed! The reason you cannot sticky a thread when viewing by thread is that a thread cannot be stickied, only individual posts. A post can still be stickied in this mode, you just have to click on the specific post in order to set the option.
• How to help the noobs: When new members join CyberArmy they sometimes feel a bit lost. They don't know about various sources of information or services available. To address this issue, it has been decided that a welcoming cMS will be included soon. When a user signs up to CA they will receive a cMS welcoming them and giving links and information to help them get started.
• cMS all your brigade: Wouldn't it be nice if a C/O could message their group with just one click? Well, in fact, you can already, it's an option which is available via the command panel of a group. Above the names of the members within a group, there is a link called 'Team Management'. Clicking this will allow you to compose a cMS addressed to all members of that group.
• /logs: Following a feedback request, the logs displaying moderation actions on forum posts have now been improved. They now include thread movements, the post number, and the date/time the moved/deleted thread was originally posted. Forum logs can be viewed at http://www.cyberarmy.net/forums/FORUM-CODENAME/logs please note that FORUM-CODENAME should be replaced by the relevant codename for the forum (just see the link you visit when you normally view the forum).

• Activism: A visitor to the site expressed the need to take action and inform people about various issues and groups that stand for and/or take undesirable action. There are various ways to stand against such groups/acts, such as petitions, writing to officials, protests etc. CyberArmy has a group that looks for petitions to support, their information can be found here: http://www.cpc-net.org/petitions/ . Furthermore, CyberArmy still supports the ReadyResponse missions, which regularly include petitions and other ideas to help raise awareness and voice opinions - these are linked to via your command page, http://www.cyberarmy.net/my/ .

• Problems posting and updating profiles: There have been a few submissions coming in regarding error code 412: precondition failed when attempting to <action. If you receive this code, it is either due to not filling in necessary fields in a form (e.g. a subject when posting) or may be caused by popup blockers or similar software. Please check if all fields are entered or if a firewall, antivirus or other program could be causing such errors before using the feedback form. If you can't find the cause, then feel free to submit a report.
• Odd link: From the page http://www.cyberarmy.net/my/profile/?section=private_email, the link to CyberArmy's privacy policy was misspelled, leading users to a wiki page that had not yet been created. This link has now been fixed. CyberArmy's privacy policy can be found at http://www.cyberarmy.net/about/PrivacyPolicy.
• loss of /~nick privileges on ban: When a user from CyberArmy is banned, they also lose access to their profile. This is to prevent banned users from being able to abuse the public plan area by putting up unacceptable information or personal or organizational abuse there due to the ban. This has now been extended to the PGP key area as well. Now, if you view a banned user's profile, you will only see basic information (rank and nickname, public email, and the date they are banned until).
• /files/ and filename case: There was a problem where files could be uploaded with the same name as an existing one, if the case was different. Clicking on a file which had such a duplicate sometimes then lead to the wrong one being displayed. This has now been fixed.
• Repeated cert prompts in IE: A user noted that everytime they accessed /forum using Internet Explorer, the standard certificate warning popped up, and even after importing the certificate, the warning would again popup with each new browser session. This was due to some links on the pages having https instead of a http link - this has now been fixed.