Forum functions may break temporarily...combating spam.

[ECO]

In an effort to reduce the likelihood of more private messaging spam, I am making some changes to the usergroups. Disabling private messaging for new users with < X posts will hopefully prevent all but the most diligent spammer.

If some forum functions don't seem to work, or you get a "permission denied" error, that's me messing with things behind the scenes. Shouldn't take long.

-=E

[ECO]

OK, I'm apparently done. New users will now not have PM permissions until they post a small number of posts. If you desperately need to send a PM, post in the Introductions forum.

This now gives us three layers of spam protection:

1. New users (ip, username, email addy) screened against a known spammer blacklist.

2. First XX posts for new users are screened very stringently for spam/links/etc, by Akismet.

3. Users with less than X posts cannot use PM system.

Hopefully this helps, and apologies if you get caught in the crossfire, just email admin@ and I will take care of it ASAP.