non-registered users can post??

That.
Signatures are displayed for non-registered users, so people like Alpha Protocol can SEO his site through his link.
Somehow making it so that sigs are only displayed for registered users (Asher says it can be done) might diminish the amount of spambots we get, or at least not benefit them when they do show up.
Indifference is Bliss

non-registered users can post??

First... Alpha Protocol is a full (registered) member.
Second... non registered users can NOT post.
Keep on Civin'
RIP Baron O

I think he just means if someone isn't logged in and views the website, sigs should not be displayed.
"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "
What Asher means is that it doesn't benefit spammers to signature-seo-spam b/c search engines won't pick it up anyway. (they're not logged in members and will therefore not see the signature links)
Seems to be a good idea.
Any reasons to not do this? (and thus keep signatures visible for not-logged in visitors)
Formerly known as "CyberShy"
Carpe Diem tamen Memento Mori

My signature is read by the search engines... I can do a search on Keep on Civin' and it will find many of my posts where it is only shown in my signature![]()
Keep on Civin'
RIP Baron O

But on a serious note... many legitimate and long time posters use their signature to promote links. Why should they not get the advantage simply because of posters like Alpha Protocol?
It's not like this site is swamped with spam bots.
Keep on Civin'
RIP Baron O

It is, they're just caught quickly.
Indifference is Bliss

Sure... they get caught quickly. But Poly doesn't get all that many of them. Annoying... yes. A real problem... Not really.
Again, why should legitimate/long time posters have the links they are promoting in their sigs ignored by the search engines because of a few spam bots.
Keep on Civin'
RIP Baron O

It's a good point. I don't know. Off the top of my head, there aren't many though.
Indifference is Bliss

Dale![]()
"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "
Good point by Ming.
I also agree with Ming that spambots isn't a big problem.
Especially not since the last walls that have been built against them.
It's annoying at most.
(and now spambots even can't have sigs b/c of the 20 posts rule I wonder if there will be any signature spamming left)
Even Alpha Protocol is not a bot.
We should watch out that we do not want to pester one dedicated SEO spammer that much that we limit our normal users.
And Ming, your "Keep on civin'" line is being abused by other civ-sites! Go get them![]()
![]()
Formerly known as "CyberShy"
Carpe Diem tamen Memento Mori
What's wrong with rel=nofollow in signature links?
Within weeks they'll be re-opening the shipyards
And notifying the next of kin
Once again...
it also hurts honest members who want to advertise their sites...
Formerly known as "CyberShy"
Carpe Diem tamen Memento Mori

No one should be advertising their sites here. At least not freely. In fact, I think sigs shouldn't be displayed for members. Why should we be subjected to all this spam.
“As a lifelong member of the Columbia Business School community, I adhere to the principles of truth, integrity, and respect. I will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.”
"Capitalism ho!"

Isn't there an option you can select so that you're not so burdened?
Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.
"Hating America is something best left to Mobius. He is an expert Yank hater.
He also hates Texans and Australians, he does diversify." ~ Braindead

I can make it so no members can see sigs?
“As a lifelong member of the Columbia Business School community, I adhere to the principles of truth, integrity, and respect. I will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.”
"Capitalism ho!"

Other members aren't your problem.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.
"Hating America is something best left to Mobius. He is an expert Yank hater.
He also hates Texans and Australians, he does diversify." ~ Braindead

DaShi, can you make something that would hide sigs from users towards the google crawler that are not part of a particular usergroup (but only those specific sigs from those specific users)?

Me? No.
“As a lifelong member of the Columbia Business School community, I adhere to the principles of truth, integrity, and respect. I will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.”
"Capitalism ho!"

Hueij's idea is best. Links are fine to normal people, but bots like Google will ignore them
"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "
Well, right now I haven't seen a spambot-sig-link in at least a week.
Maybe they're spamming without being aware that their links are removed from their posts![]()
Formerly known as "CyberShy"
Carpe Diem tamen Memento Mori

if the majority are automated bots, then the link hurdle might have broken the automated registration process for the bots.
Nobody spotted spambots without spam-links?
Formerly known as "CyberShy"
Carpe Diem tamen Memento Mori
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