Make links posted by Newbies unclickable.

[AdolfinWolf]

As the title suggests. I've spotted multiple newbies today alone spreading phishy links/straight malware/ self-advertising their shitty sites.

Simply making their links unclickable like you did with their signatures until they're Member would reduce all this spam, and might protect gullible users against these links before mods have a chance to remove them.

(I think this will also partially destroy the autobuy scams, as it's mostly Jr members/Newbies opening these topics with their fake links.)

EDIT: After thinking a bit deeper about this, i'm not entirely sure if these cons outweigh the pros (Since there are said newbies that make constructive posts using links, though that's the minority for sure..)

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[hilariousetc]

You could do this I guess (and Newbies already can't post images). To remove the restriction newbies could purchased a copper rank. I've also suggested implementing a landing page/redirect notice that urges users to double check the url once clicked for phishing etc. Sometimes you almost click dodgy links by accident so this would be double protection and some of the phishing urls look legit on first glance which I'm sure gets many.

IF you want to lock the thread you can do so at the bottom left.

[seoincorporation]

...

Could be solved by:
- You need to be JR member to post a link.
- One merit (at least) to become JR, as proposed before.
- If you want to post a link being a newbie, then purchase a copper.

[madnessteat]

Indeed, both ideas are very good. This should increase the demand for cooper member rank. Additional funding will not prevent the forum.

[vphasitha01]

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I am not a fan of putting restrictions or unclickable links for newbies. Because when I was Newbie it's very essential to adding url to a post to become constructive one. Newbies already cannot post images. So is it necessary to add another barrier for them?(I'm not talking about the  spammers, but the Newbies who passionate about making creative posts). My belief is we shouldn't sacrifice the opportunity of a good newbie (who actually want to be a member of this wonderful forum) who creates constructive posts with the aid of url for the actions of spammers who do always what they normally do with or without ristrictions. Because then they(spammers) moves to buy copper membership with few bucks and do their works from where they stopped.

My suggestion is some kind of similer to what "hilariousetc" suggested, but not the same. How about all the links to be marked by red color when newbies are sharing links in their posts. That color can only be changed after they got ranked up. Then other members will surely double check the url before they going to click a link shared by newbie.( It's like PM preferences where newbies PM's marked with a red warning)

[petyang12]

Indeed, both ideas are very good. This should increase the demand for cooper member rank. Additional funding will not prevent the forum.

Increased demand for copper member would also help the bitcointalk forum for each btc they pay. I think that will be very helpful to the forum especially if there's a problem with the forum.

[LTU_btc]

Indeed, both ideas are very good. This should increase the demand for cooper member rank. Additional funding will not prevent the forum.

Increased demand for copper member would also help the bitcointalk forum for each btc they pay. I think that will be very helpful to the forum especially if there's a problem with the forum.

Money isn't a problem. Bitcointalk already get more than enough revenue from ads. And they only have 9 ad slots. With all possible ways how to monetize forum theymos could become multi-millionaire, but as he already said he just don't care about making money from forum.

[nngella]

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I am not a fan of putting restrictions or unclickable links for newbies. Because when I was Newbie it's very essential to adding url to a post to become constructive one. Newbies already cannot post images. So is it necessary to add another barrier for them?(I'm not talking about the  spammers, but the Newbies who passionate about making creative posts). My belief is we shouldn't sacrifice the opportunity of a good newbie (who actually want to be a member of this wonderful forum) who creates constructive posts with the aid of url for the actions of spammers who do always what they normally do with or without ristrictions. Because then they(spammers) moves to buy copper membership with few bucks and do their works from where they stopped.

My suggestion is some kind of similer to what "hilariousetc" suggested, but not the same. How about all the links to be marked by red color when newbies are sharing links in their posts. That color can only be changed after they got ranked up. Then other members will surely double check the url before they going to click a link shared by newbie.( It's like PM preferences where newbies PM's marked with a red warning)

I agree that too much restrictions also lead to the sacrifice of hardworking, quality-poster, and good newbies.  As one parable illustrates:

"Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’ the servants asked him.  "No,’ he answered, ‘because as you gather the weeds you might pull up some of the wheat along with them. Let the wheat and the weeds both grow together until harvest".

[teilwalL05]

I really think not all newbies are being like that, We can not judge all newbies because there are fair and honest ones that really want to learn in the forum and not only want to profit because of it, I'd say you can put restriction on it, We had a merit system and I think we can use this if the merit level doesn't meet up to the required level then they can not put links.

[Panda Trump]

Sooo, I believe this is actually a good idea! It'd certainly save a lot of uncautious fellas from following dangerous links and would require newbies to put a lot more effort into posting just a couple scam/phishing/malware links, as they would first have to reach to Jr. Member.

It's not so sweet for the legitimate newbies, but I'm quite sure a small sacrifice for the better of the community is okay here. If a newbie really wants to post a clickable link, for an ANN, Bounty, Service, or something else, they could simply purchase the Copper Membership...

I really think not all newbies are being like that, We can not judge all newbies because there are fair and honest ones that really want to learn in the forum and not only want to profit because of it, I'd say you can put restriction on it, We had a merit system and I think we can use this if the merit level doesn't meet up to the required level then they can not put links.

Of course, not all newbies are like that and we're not judging all newbies, just because there are some bad ones. We're putting restrictions on a larger group of people, in order to maintain peace in the community.

People without a proper license, here in the Netherlands, are not allowed to own guns. Why are they not allowed to have those? Indeed, for the safety of the rest of the population. And I feel like this case may be hard to compare with "guns", but see it like this: No good person would use a gun to endanger the safety of the rest of the population, just like no good newbie would want to do that. Bad people and bad newbies, however, don't care about that.

Of course, there are countries where owning guns is not illegal, but if you followed recent news, you'd know there's tons of debate about that as well. It's a choice one has to make. There are cons & pros to both sides of the equation.

For me, the decision is clear: We should sacrifice the Newbie's ability to post clickable links for the safety of the community.

[vphasitha01]

It's not so sweet for the legitimate newbies, but I'm quite sure a small sacrifice for the better of the community is okay here. If a newbie really wants to post a clickable link, for an ANN, Bounty, Service, or something else, they could simply purchase the Copper Membership...

I don't agree with your statement. Because putting restrictions will never solved the problem and also theymos is not a fan of putting restrictions unless it really required. Your argument is like putting restrictions only on people who are not willing to pay few bucks for posting, but not with the newbies who having few extra money for buying copper membership. Is that mean are we allowed to post any phishing links/malware links for members having copper membership? No way.

However I don't think theymos will allowed to remain any loopholes( like copper members can post any url) if he decided to restrict putting links with posting for newbies.

[seoincorporation]

My belief is we shouldn't sacrifice the opportunity of a good newbie (who actually want to be a member of this wonderful forum) who creates constructive posts with the aid of url for the actions of spammers who do always what they normally do with or without ristrictions. Because then they(spammers) moves to buy copper membership with few bucks and do their works from where they stopped.

That`s why I`ve suggested the 1 merit to become JR and newbies being unable to post any sort of links. "Good newbies", as you said, should probably be able to achieve this position in no time without the need of using links.
Anyway, any pishing or malicious link, no matter the rank, should mean permaban.

[Panda Trump]

It's not so sweet for the legitimate newbies, but I'm quite sure a small sacrifice for the better of the community is okay here. If a newbie really wants to post a clickable link, for an ANN, Bounty, Service, or something else, they could simply purchase the Copper Membership...

I don't agree with your statement. Because putting restrictions will never solved the problem and also theymos is not a fan of putting restrictions unless it really required. Your argument is like putting restrictions only on people who are not willing to pay few bucks for posting, but not with the newbies who having few extra money for buying copper membership. Is that mean are we allowed to post any phishing links/malware links for members having copper membership? No way.

However I don't think theymos will allowed to remain any loopholes( like copper members can post any url) if he decided to restrict putting links with posting for newbies.

In what case would a newbie have to post a link? Exactly, in the cases I noted, or similar cases. In those cases, the newbie is profiting from it and so a copper membership shouldn't be too much of a problem for them. If it is, they should let someone else post it for them or use unclickable links.

For regular posts, I believe one can just use unclickable links... It's really not all that bad as you portray it to be.

For copper members posting phising/malware links, well... It'd cost them money to get Copper Membership and then they get banned for posting Phishing/Malware links. Would people do that? Probably not. Making a newbie account is free and very fast. The requirement of buying copper membership signficantly reduces the ease of getting people to follow your Phishing/Malware links. Therefore, I don't feel like Copper members being able to post all URLs should be seen as a loophole.

In contrast to what you said, I think this will actually solve the problem! If not entirely, then at least partially, as it would undoubtedly reduce it.