How do I ensure topic titles/posts are in English?

[ajac63]

I've been looking all over the admin panel for something that allows me to specify that topic titles/posts are in English and not say Greek, Russian, etc,  but I can't find anything.

[Looking]

I don't recall a setting for that. You could just put that as part of your posting policy.

[ajac63]

I don't recall a setting for that. You could just put that as part of your posting policy.

Thanks, I've done that, but makes no difference.  This is an on-going thing, my forum's definitely being targeted.  There should be a setting for this.

[Looking]

If someone does not follow your policy you know what to do.

If you can code you can always limit the character set of input fields but if you should have to do all that then is it really worth it?

[ajac63]

If someone does not follow your policy you know what to do.

If you can code you can always limit the character set of input fields but if you should have to do all that then is it really worth it?

Yes, put them on a long ban or close their account, but I could end up doing that all the time.  A few days ago I put the forum offline to upgrade to 2.0.17 and to do essential admin tasks, but within hours of putting it back up I had 30+ such nuisance posts.

[a10]

"forum's definitely being targeted" "nuisance posts" = symptoms. Inform about cause \ source:

Letting botnets register \ post.
Real people \ legit members.
Disgruntled members making trouble.
Legit members posting within forum subject, using native language.
Other situation.

[ajac63]

"forum's definitely being targeted" "nuisance posts" = symptoms. Inform about cause \ source:

Letting botnets register \ post.
Real people \ legit members.
Disgruntled members making trouble.
Legit members posting within forum subject, using native language.
Other situation.

Thanks, and sorry for late reply only I wasn't able to access smf due to some firewall issue....

At first it seemed like legit members using their native language even though there was a forum notice saying that an English translation should also be included, so I've put up at least three further such notices but this hasn't had any effect.  Either these posters are a bit dense or it's malicious.

[a10]

Hi, so it looks like legit people, posting forum related content, no spam ip (ref for example stropforumspam.com) and you want to keep them as members. If that's the case, I'd contact them by pm or email, and ask (politely at first) to stick to forum rules.

If that does not help, I'd put the offenders in a post moderation membergroup, to control posts before they are visible on the forum. If they still don't get the message, a temporary ban. The strength of response will be balance of the value of their membership vs the trouble they create. It's important to sometimes be a resolute admin before things spill over and becomes the unwanted normal, one may loose a few members but saves the forum overall.

There's also the possibility of making language sub boards, but then much content is lost for readers who don't know those specific languages.

[Kindred]

There should be a setting for this.

And, pray tell, how do you determine that a phrase is in English?

There are dozens of languages which use the latin alphabet....    and english has "borrowed" words from even more than that.

[ajac63]

Hi, so it looks like legit people, posting forum related content, no spam ip (ref for example stropforumspam.com) and you want to keep them as members. If that's the case, I'd contact them by pm or email, and ask (politely at first) to stick to forum rules.

If that does not help, I'd put the offenders in a post moderation membergroup, to control posts before they are visible on the forum. If they still don't get the message, a temporary ban. The strength of response will be balance of the value of their membership vs the trouble they create. It's important to sometimes be a resolute admin before things spill over and becomes the unwanted normal, one may loose a few members but saves the forum overall.

There's also the possibility of making language sub boards, but then much content is lost for readers who don't know those specific languages.

I'll try a combination of post moderation membergroup and temp banning, hadn't though of that, so thanks.

[ajac63]

There should be a setting for this.

And, pray tell, how do you determine that a phrase is in English?

There are dozens of languages which use the latin alphabet....    and english has "borrowed" words from even more than that.

Including English itself which also has some Germanic as well...  To be honest, I don't know, it would take a lot of AI.

[Kindred]

Not some... english has German as a root
Old English = German
Middle English (Norman invasion) added French and Latin into the language
     This is why English has two different words for many animal/foods.
     The Norman lords called it boef.... they didn't care what it was called in the fields (which was kuh) etc and so forth
Modern (American) English meets other language in dark alleys and mugs them for loose grammar
      For example, the word honcho, learned by American soldiers in WWII, is Japanese for "boss" (more or less). They brought it back, and now most Americans have no idea that it is a Japanese "loan" word

[ajac63]

Not some... english has German as a root
Old English = German
Middle English (Norman invasion) added French and Latin into the language
     This is why English has two different words for many animal/foods.
     The Norman lords called it boef.... they didn%u2019t care what it was called in the fields (which was kuh) etc and so forth
Modern (American) English meets other language in dark alleys and mugs them for loose grammar
      For example, the word honcho, learned by American soldiers in WWII, is Japanese for %u201Cboss%u201D (more or less). They brought it back, and now most Americans have no idea that it is a Japanese %u201Cloan%u201D word

Yes, this is all true, I was just being diplomatic because you wouldn't believe how many 'english people' either haven't a clue about it, or they do but don't want to accept it.  Anglo-saxons came from there after all.  But I didn't know honcho was Japanese for boss

[Kindred]

Amongst my many certifications and licenses, I am an English teacher with a penchant for etymology

[ajac63]

I can see you're very qualified and no doubt those many certifications and licenses are to do with SMF coding and programming?  Anyway, back on track, I accept it would be practically impossible to ensure topic titles/posts are in English.  I'm not getting as many bad posts as I was, still a few though, but manageable, so that's something.  And at least I know know what it means to be a forum admin.

[Kindred]

You might be surprised at the ... range... of my rather amusing set of certs....

Degree (BA) in Psychology with minor's in theatre/drama and comparative religion
ABD Masters in abnormal psych (never finished the dissertation)
Certified bartender
Certified food prep worker & manager
Certified nurse's aide
Licensed English teacher 5-12
Licensed elementary teacher
Certified SAT, ACT, ISEE, SSAT tutor
PMP
CSM
SPC
RTE

And then there's the trained, but not certified
Lawn development and care
Electrical work (apprentice level)
QA & test management process
basic agriculture and animal husbandry

And testing for (as soon as I can leave my house)
PMI-ACP

[ajac63]

You might be surprised at the ... range... of my rather amusing set of certs....

Degree (BA) in Psychology with minor's in theatre/drama and comparative religion
ABD Masters in abnormal psych (never finished the dissertation)
Certified bartender
Certified food prep worker & manager
Certified nurse's aide
Licensed English teacher 5-12
Licensed elementary teacher
Certified SAT, ACT, ISEE, SSAT tutor
PMP
CSM
SPC
RTE

And then there's the trained, but not certified
Lawn development and care
Electrical work (apprentice level)
QA & test management process
basic agriculture and animal husbandry
very few prof
And testing for (as soon as I can leave my house)
PMI-ACP

Very impressive list there that makes me feel quite humbled.  I have very few prof quals, having gone the self-taught route more or less since leaving full-time compulsory education a looong time ago.

[Kindred]

Lol... I just hate being bored