News
Send a Compliment at 12:06 PDT, 15 September, 2008All of us have seen the annoying spam where a link is added to a season or episode that hasn't actually aired yet. Annoying! Potentially dangerous too as we've caught a couple people trying to install malware via that method (and banned them), now we've got some new methods in place to help prevent such spam from occurring.
Starting today links must be added to an already created season/episode (or, category/subcategory). On pages where spam can be really bad (hello, Gossip Girl) moderators can lock the creation of new seasons and episodes. While a show is category locked people can still add links, but they must be to existing seasons and episodes. If a show (or any page) isn't category locked, just click 'Add a Category' to help build out that page!
Questions? Feedback? Let us know in the comments!
Stumble It!
Comments (10 comments)
well I dont get why we cant add promo links to the shows that are not yet aired, I mean people would still be interested in seeing the promo.
besides can you guys also figure something out to stop mods from locking the pages of gossip girl, one tree hill for 2 days after the show aired and add their own link on top, that really is anoying, I mean I do understand that this is for antispaming, but then again its also unfair to the people that actually wana add proper working links to the tv shows.
ahoura - thanks for your feedback! As far as adding promo links, those are great - it's just best that they're added in a category like Promos or Previews in the season due to the spam issues around links added directly to the unaired episode sections. Some pages already have this category, but if you see one that doesn't feel free to shoot us a message or email and we'll be glad to add the category (contact@sidereel.com).
As for locking pages, there was temporarily a longer lock time in place, but lock time is now set to automatically unlock after 4 hours. Moderators have been instructed not to leave a page locked for longer than 2-4 hours unless there's a large spam issue or something else along those lines on that page. You're welcome to send links via compliment to the mod who's locked the page - they're happy to check any link sent and will post as long if it looks good.
I hope this covers it and feel free to comment again with other questions or send us an email at contact@sidereel.com. Thanks so much for your feedback and questions!
Hi ahoura,
I see where you're coming from. Shows that are under a category lock will automatically have the newest episode revealed on the day it airs (Pacific time). There are very few cases where links are added pre-air that are not spam. If you do find something that needs adding, just contact a moderator (you can find 'em at http://www.sidereel.com/_us/moderators) and they'll help ya out!
In regards to a show being locked for too long; pages that are locked automatically unlock after a period of time.
Thanks for your thoughts!
thanks for the reply, there is only one small issue, I know sidereel is a big company and they wouldnt probably change their system because of one user, but I just noticed 2 things, first one is that the categories for unaired episodes dont show which isnt rly nice, I mean I know the promo cat should have all the promos but its easier for users to find the promos of the episode in the episode category. the second thing is that the captcha now shows everytime you want to add links, before it used to be once per session i think or atleast once in a while, and I know you guys changed it because of security reasons but its kinda hard to enter captcha each and everytime.
but again I know its hard to change the system based on one person's opinion.
woud it not be a good idea to list all the episodes (statig unaired which can then be edited once it has aired)
am finding that when adding new category and episodes I end up creating duplicate seasons
Pauline
I love it! Thank you.
that's all good but i have another idea to add.
special user accounts, if people have been on the site for so long and have had a clean record, they should be given special options where they can add links even when the page is locked, this would help prevent spammers and keep up the quality of links as well.
it's just a thought and also they should be able to lock their links from being deleted, of course sidereel will have complete overall control and can warn and ban these special users when needed.
well have a think about it and see if theres anything you could do along those lines
Hi markyj,
That's a great idea and one we've been kicking around for awhile. It's definitely on our list of things to do!
Thanks!
I agree with links to not be able to be deleted. as we all witnessed sidereel was hit hard this weekend with a number of shows having almost all the links deleted by spammers.
the main purpose for spammers is to get traffic.. and in order to get traffic they have to get rid of loads of links and leave only theirs.
Yeah, the profit motive is a powerful one. We've got some back-end changes coming soon to help with this pernicious problem.
Down with spam!