New measures in place to prevent spam

Hi Everyone

As many of you know, we have recently been targetted by annoying spammers on the forum. We have very robust spam prevention in place however there were still some posts getting through, in particular offering inappropriate financial assistance which we think is pretty unfair.

Therefore, we are trying out a new additional piece of software to try and stop this recent increase in spam. This software is used by many organisations to help deal with this sort of issue. For most of you, you will not notice any difference when you post, however, you may find that if the system queries the content of your post, you may need to enter a CAPTCHA code. This is a simple code (a bit like when you first register) that lets the system know that you are a human being rather than an automated spammer, it should not stop your post going through. We apologise for any inconvenience that this causes and we certainly would appreciate any feedback on this as we try it out.

If you are finding that this is really restricting you posting as opposed to just appearing the odd time, I would be incredibly grateful if you would let me know, either by responding to this thread or by contacting me directly at rebecca@jostrust.org.uk

We need to just find out if it's a suitable option and after some behind the scenes testing, the only way to really see how it works is to take it live with you, our online community and to get your feedback. 

Like you, we care a great deal about our community and are very keen to stop annoying spammers.

Thank you for your patience and your help.

Best wishes

Rebecca