Friend Invites

[trlrider10]

Howdy all!
Is there a way to invite friends to the forum?

A couple of other groups I follow have multiple post where individuals have not gotten gearhead-efi approvals.

Granted, they probably may very well have not set up their sign-up correctly, but it there was a invite feature where current members could invite them in it could save some headaches.

Thanks!

[dave w]

Gearhead-efi is support by volunteers, not endless advertisements.

It's a never ending struggle for the volunteers to keep spammers out and malicious hackers from compromising the site.

Seemingly an invite friends forum would be simple enough, but at what risk? Invite spammers or hackers?

As a site moderator, I would not support an invite friends forum due to the above stated vulnerabilities.

dave w

[trlrider10]

Totally understand and appreciated the sacrifices of the volunteers.

I am not suggesting a non-review acceptance, but a hey, this member with a good track record is asking for his/her friend/acquaintance to join the group. The invitee would still need sign-up and review.

Thanks for all you do Dave and the other moderators. Have learned quite a bit from you all!

[1project2many]

I am not suggesting a non-review acceptance, but a hey, this member with a good track record is asking for his/her friend/acquaintance to join the group. The invitee would still need sign-up and review.

Thank you for suggesting a process to help get memberships approved. I do appreciate it. Spammers are merciless and I agree with Dave W that an "invite" button could be used to spam users from other forums and / or to create many, many unwanted accounts here that would further slow the approval process for real folks.

A referral from a current member via PM or email would be considered seriously. And of course it's always possible for someone with an account that continues to be unapproved to reach out to forum volunteers to ask for assistance. The forum is for folks willing and able to work on technical issues requiring problem solving skills and for discussions around cars and EFI related subjects. It's ironic how many account applications get shelved because no one communicates with forum volunteers to try and solve the problem. :confused:

[PlayingWithTBI]

Thank you for suggesting a process to help get memberships approved. I do appreciate it. Spammers are merciless and I agree with Dave W that an "invite" button could be used to spam users from other forums and / or to create many, many unwanted accounts here that would further slow the approval process for real folks.

A referral from a current member via PM or email would be considered seriously. And of course it's always possible for someone with an account that continues to be unapproved to reach out to forum volunteers to ask for assistance. The forum is for folks willing and able to work on technical issues requiring problem solving skills and for discussions around cars and EFI related subjects. It's ironic how many account applications get shelved because no one communicates with forum volunteers to try and solve the problem. :confused:
I've referred a few folks to here from GMT400.com and GMTruckClub.com I see some have joined but a couple said they "haven't been accepted yet". I forgot what the exact process is to join, is there a "how to" I could forward to them? Or maybe a link? If you don't want it publicized I can always PM them.

Edit: I found your instruction for "Help! I can't figure out how to post an introduction" thread, maybe that's what they're missing? I posted it there, we'll see.

[1project2many]

We are hit with more spammers than I care to count so new accounts also require manual approval. So it's really a matter of showing there's a real human with a valid interest behind the account. If I am unable to determine "Yea" or Nay" for a new account it sits in the queue awaiting moderation. I can sometimes ferret out more details after time passes but if I can't tell there's a human being with an interest in the site the account stays unapproved for *a while*. Eventually I send email to these new accounts requesting a reply with a few relevant details so I know there's a real person there. Finally the account is moved to "banned." I used Banned for these accounts because it's much easier to unban the account than to recreate it from scratch if someone eventually contacts us later.

Think about this: Someone signs up for your EFI forum with username HiBob and email THCForever@ gmail.com. Spammer or not? How do you prove not? How about "BobS" and "BobSmith@ gmail.com" or "1fastZ28" and LS_SWAP_Z@ gmail.com?" Who are you more likely to approve quickly and why or why not?

Interesting to note: People will ignore all attempts to contact them while they are awaiting approval, but they seem to reach out almost instantly if they believe they are "Banned." Maybe I should just send an automated reply after the confirmation email with "You've been Banned!!" to get more responses?

[PlayingWithTBI]

Interesting to note: People will ignore all attempts to contact them while they are awaiting approval, but they seem to reach out almost instantly if they believe they are "Banned." Maybe I should just send an automated reply after the confirmation email with "You've been Banned!!" to get more responses?
I guess that's just human nature, ha ha. I'm sure everyone here appreciates your diligence keeping worthless spammers out. I love this site and all the great info I can glean out of it. Keep up the good work!:thumbsup:

[trlrider]

:thumbsup::rockon:
Thanks for the explanation. I have told several to check their SPAM folders, as you state, sometimes it all falls on deaf ears!