stupid comment verification code thingy

[Linda]

I hate it! I wonder how many wonderful story comments it has killed because of miss typing the stupid code! Had me so mad that I gave up trying to leave the kind of comment the story deserved. I don't think that a verification is really necessary just to leave a comment. I am just steaming over this!

[Alelou]

That kills me too -- now I always copy the comment before I hit submit. Because you just never know.

[mjimeyg]

I don't think that a verification is really necessary just to leave a comment.

Unfortunately it is a proven fact that verification is required.

Proven on this site.

Just a few months or weeks ago, we discovered that people were spamming the comments. Possibly manually.

If we remove the verification we will be subject to all manner of spamming by automated means. The verification prevents this by making sure the commenter is a human and not an automated program.

I will however discuss with Elessar and dark_rain about using a different verification module that might allow you to reset it if the text is unreadable.

[Linda]

Thanks, that would be greatly appreciated. If it could give you an error message without erasing your comment so you could just redo the code and submit, that would be much better.

[Aquarius]

If you are using FireFox, download something called LAZARUS. If you lose a posting, even if it's because you goof up a code, you can right-click on the posting field. Among your options, there will be one with a green ankh icon that says "retrieve post" or "retrieve text" or somesuch. Click on it, and ta-dah! Your post is restored. It's a free application, and it's saved me numerous headaches.

[mjimeyg]

Just an FYI.

I spent the past hour putting a different verification code thingy on the beta site.

Just waiting for the bosses to test it and give it the ol'

This one makes you type specific words (although I haven't heard of half of them), bbut it also lets you hear them or reset them to get a new set of words. Which is good as I sometimes can't read them!

[Alelou]

Yay.

Cool avatar!

[mjimeyg]

I have just installed a new Captcha system, so hopefully things will go easier.

Cool avatar!

Thanks, can you guess where it's from?

[Ludmila]

Thanks, can you guess where it's from?

May it be River Tam from "Firefly"?
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2605422848/ch0003810

[mjimeyg]

Thanks, can you guess where it's from?

May it be River Tam from "Firefly"?
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2605422848/ch0003810

Yep, bar scene in the Maidenhead.

Took an age to do that!

[Ludmila]

May it be River Tam from "Firefly"?
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2605422848/ch0003810

Yep, bar scene in the Maidenhead.
Took an age to do that!

Congratulations! You made her lifelike.

[Linda]

This problem seems to be getting worse and worse for me. I have to squint to read the letters of the verification codes. Sometimes they are completely illegible to me and I guess wrong. This is getting to be an increasing irritation to the point where I almost do not want to read the stories anymore. I leave a comment on EVERY story I read. Is there some way to make the codes more understandable without sandbagging their purpose?

[Alelou]

I find the new system slightly easier to read than the old one (though sometimes I'll hit the button for a new code if I can't make out the current one), but I've gotten in the habit of ALWAYS right-clicking to copy my comment before I hit submit. It saves me a lot of grief.

[Aquarius]

If you have fire fox you can get a free add-on called Lazarus. If you lose a comment or post like that, Lazarus restores it. It's saved my sanity often.

[Alelou]

When I tried to update Firefox as it kept recommending I lost it completely. In fact, I almost lost my computer completely. So I'm not touching THAT for awhile.

No doubt this is some diabolical Microsoft plot to kill IE's competition, but I just don't have time to deal with it.