Isle Royale Forums

I just registered for this forum. I had to try about 6 times because I could not read the obscured code at the bottom of the registration page. I have normal vision (for an old baby boomer) and am a member of about 20 other boards, most of wich use this type of obscured code, and this is the most trouble I've had reading the code. I was about to follow the instructions to contact the forum administrator but could not find the link or e-mail address to do so anywhere. After failing to read the code several times, I finally got one that I could make out. Most systems with this sort of code have some backup, such as "regenerate new code" or "speak code". This one does not.

I had a similar situation, but being 65 maybe my eyes are not so good.

jerry

I suspect the issue is in the underlying software and there's probably not alot that can be done about it. Remember that this board is provided graciously by Fonixmonkee, w/o compensation, w/o advertising, and w/o spam! It's likely a 1 time annoyance that newcomers will have to tolerate for the sake of a spam free forum.

Ingo wrote:Remember that this board is provided graciously by Fonixmonkee, w/o compensation, w/o advertising, and w/o spam!

Understood but if the admin does not know there is a problem he can't fix it. For instance, having an available e-mail address for the benefit of the visually impared or other folks who have problems would be nice. Also, just a note that says "If you can't read this code just hit submit until you get one you can read." would have made things a lot easier.

DonNewcomb wrote:Understood but if the admin does not know there is a problem he can't fix it.

Hey Don,
I totally agree Sorry if I came off as critical--in fact I'll often point such things out myself. Obviously he, nor anyone else who's been signed up awhile, wouldn't know there's an issue. I wasn't so much responding to the posts as taking the opportunity to give kudos to Fonix . I'm sure he'll do what he can.
John

Greetings Don!

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for the heads-up. Yes, you are right...problems with the forum need to be brought up so I can fix them. And, in light of your complaint, I've turned down the registration settings a bit to make it a little easier to see.

The problem, I believe, lies with the fact that I changed the background pictures to something other than the default ones to confuse spam bots. It wasn't known to me that it was also confusing humans too Since the background pictures on the registration screen are neon-ish--and so are the letters--it was kind of hard to see.

Between the new background images and the spam bot question, we should hopefully still be able to ward off spammers who frequently bang on the forums to get in.

And Ingo, thanks for coming to my guard. I appreciate. And just FYI, you didn't come off as critical at all (to me at least).

Thanks for bringing this up. It took me several tries as well last week. I was about to call my daughter in when I finally got it. I just figured it was my 'old' eyes as well.

I agree with the above posts. I had to do it about 4 times. Also did not care for the password requirements in that it does not match the pattern i normally use so now I have another password to forget (I normally use a long paragraph).

Hey all,

Sorry for the hassle with the registration code and the password requirements. Believe me, they are not without merit.

First, we've had numerous spammers crack our registration code (numerous!). The forum moderators spent quite a while cleaning up the spam posts they left behind, hence the reason for the increased registration code visibility.

Next, the password requirements are set based on my many years doing IT security. It's like this because that's the OTHER way spammers got into this forum (yes, they cracked other spambots' passwords).

Sorry for the hassle. Anyone who's been here for a while can tell you that if you need any help with anything, I can be contacted via email and will respond quickly. Email is: fonixmunkee (at) gmail.com

I very much appreciate this Forum, and recognize its volunteer status ... BUT I must agree with the others comments. I ended up using an email account I don't really want to use, but it was a way to try again to register. I did about 20 attempts at the code over several sign ons before I was able to be let on!

Well, the code is hard to read, no question......But it's that way for the reasons that Fonix described. I've had to do many of these things, and they are a pain, to be sure....But I got in on the first try. One thing I've learned is to look at them from different angles to be sure (as sure as one can be, that is !).

I do so enjoy spam-free sites, so I grit my teeth and bear it. Generally it's just a one-time irritant, and once I'm done with it, it's forgotten about and I move on. Thing is, the Admins can only do so much with what they have on hand to work with, and still keep the site safe. And, from my experience with boards, it seems to me that phpBB boards are one of the best in this regard.

And yes, I've had times in which I had to go through multiple codes to hit on one I could read. It is, sadly, a nessessary evil that we have to endure in order to have fine quality message boards such as this one.

p427761 wrote:I very much appreciate this Forum, and recognize its volunteer status ... BUT I must agree with the others comments. I ended up using an email account I don't really want to use, but it was a way to try again to register. I did about 20 attempts at the code over several sign ons before I was able to be let on!

Sorry that the registration process is such a hassle, but as everyone has said, it's to keep this joint spam-free. If you need to use a different email address, you can always change it in your profile, or contact me and I can do it for you, the email address is root(at)drunkencomputing.com

FYI, I relaxed the obscurity of the obscured code (man, that's a mouthful) a bit more. Fortunately, as stringent as it was kept a few of our members' accounts safe from hacking recently, but when I went to verify my account again, I as well had a hard time reading the code. So it's a little easier for everyone now.

Thanks again for voicing your concerns.