Email Issue Resolved + Registration Suspended + Display Name Update

[Errol]

Email Resolution:

While there have been some noteworthy issues in which a limited number of users were not receiving emails through our original provider, including registration confirmations, we have made exhaustive efforts to correct this matter. As such, we have moved to a more premium provider that will be able to handle a large number of email transactions, including registrations and notifications/alerts. 

Since implementation, we have gone and resent verification emails to those who've registered since at least 2020 but did not click on the link to confirm their email address was valid. By resending the notifications, you should receive a validation email at the last known email address provided at registration (email changes supersede the original registration email address used).

As always, if you are not receiving emails from the SON Community, make sure to check your spam folder. Additionally, to continue receiving emails, make sure to mark emails sent from the SON Community ([email protected]) as safe and "Not Spam."

Note: I found a limited number of accounts where an Admin was required to validate an account, but with each instance, the email validatation step was ignored. Under normal circumstances, our Spam defense detectors result in a "1, " allowing registration to proceed on the user level. The registrations I'm referring to here resulted in a "3." I will not validate an account that reaches that level, nor will I ever validate an account without action made by the user themselves. 

[Errol]

Registration Suspension:

Following a fix to an Email issue that plagued the SON Community (see above), in the early AM on Monday, July 24, the SON Community was spammed en masse by people who took advantage of our quiet decision to no longer require admin approval following email validation by registrants. As a result, registration to the SON Community has been suspended.

We expect to turn the registration setting back on in the coming days, and when that happens, we will be enforcing our long-held requirement that registering members must also have their accounts validated by an administrator (new steps will be provided when registration re-opens).

[Errol]

Display Name Update:

Since April, we have allowed members to login using their Display Name as a way to help combat issues with people not being able to login due to forgetting their email address. We quietly left the setting on for far longer than necessary to give lost members the ability to fix this issue. Additionally, we we have fixed the email matter that has plagued the SON Community (see above). We will be turning off the Display Name login setting effective August 1. 

Logging in with Display Names will be discontinued by our software provider in a future update, so please take advantage of this ability while you can. 

[Vee]

Real awkward coming in a few hours ago, writing a reply in the PC thread and finding myself surrounded by 3000+ bots.

Maybe this can also lead to a firmer monitoring of our favorite troll and/or trolls who have continued making obvious and only slightly less obvious sockpuppets for years.

[Errol]

I suspected there was a problem when I kept getting an email that someone had registered every few minutes. At first, I was like "cool." Then, after coming home from the movies, I kept getting notifications way past normal interaction periods. Once I opened the forums, I was like, "Okay, then. Time to mow the lawn..."

I finally convinced Toups just to let people register and not have us waste our time doing an admin validation after the user did their email validation and then this happens. In all, I had to ban 72 accounts and delete so many posts that I almost deleted valid threads in the process. Going forward, any account that is banned or placed inactive will receive this image under their usernames:

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Speaking of valid threads/posts, if anyone sees a thread missing that they know existed at some point in the last few months, please let me know. Deleted posts are permanently deleted after 30 days. I'd hate to see a valid conversation between members disappear forever.

[AbcNbc247]

WTG, @Errol!

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Edited July 24, 2023 by AbcNbc247

[dragonflies]

Woohoo @Errol I know I reported a few, I was like WTF? when I saw them lol 

 

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