Forums 2.9.2

Posted by Zen Wed, 12 Oct 2005 04:47:00 GMT

The forums were recently updated to 2.9.2. It includes the introduction of several new features, as well as some bug fixes, that affects the following areas:

  • User Registration
  • Posting Topics & Replies
  • Editing messages
  • Administration

Registration

  • Added more words to the username censor list
  • Rejects and logs registration attempt if the registration matches certain criteria
  • Logs a warning for any suspicious looking characteristics during registration
  • Free-Email addresses are now allowed on HG
  • The “Publicize Email” option on the registration form now defaults to unchecked
  • New requirement for usernames – they must be at least 6 characters long
  • New requirement for usernames – they can not end with a space or underscore

New Flood Control Limits

Flood limits are now handled globally. Before, a user may post 2 replies per minute per forum, but now a user may post 2 replies per minute globally.

New limits were also instituted to help control disruptive users:

Newbies (<=100 Posts)

  • Replies: 1 reply every 5 minutes
  • Topics: 5 threads per day
  • Double Posting enforced (can’t post back-to-back replies until 10 days have lapsed)

Intemediates (101-500 Posts)

  • Topics: 4 threads per hour
  • Replies: 2 replies per minute

Normal Users (501+ Posts)

  • Topics: 1 thread every 5 minutes
  • Replies: 2 replies per minute

Staff

  • Topics: No limits
  • Replies: No limits

Subject/Message Word Length

Staff are now exempted from the subject/message word length limits.

Administration

  • Searching for users is now much, much faster
  • The ability to specify postcounts as a search criteria has been removed as it is a major performance bottleneck
  • The User Search UI now lets you search for users that match any or all of the criteria

Miscellaneous

  • The forum user index now contains user permissions information
  • Several source code files have been cleaned up and properly commented