Auto-merge

[Martin]

Hey peeps,

This is just to let you all know that the site now has a double-post prevention feature installed. There has been a growing number of users lately, especially inside Fun and Games, who will post consecutively for the purpose of increasing their postcount. Such posts have recently found themselves merged by the staff into one, but this new feature now does this automatically.

This feature is active in the following forums:

• Chit Chat
• Fun and Games
• Entertainment and Technology
• LGBT News, Rights, Issues and Equality
• Introductions, Welcomes and Congratulations

Note: Any forums not listed above WILL NOT be affected by this feature.

Any posts in the above forums that are posted one after another will automatically be merged into one post if done under a timeframe of 30 minutes. If you post consecutively and a gap of 31+ minutes is in between the two posts then the posts will not automatically merge, or should another member respond to a post and you respond again before the 31+ minutes of your previous post then that post will not be merged into your original.

An example of this feature in action is available here: http://www.emptyclosets.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=27704

If you have any questions about this feature or need anything explaining then please post in this thread.

Martin.

[ColdNight]

So this is what I was seeing before it got locked from my view. Interesting.

[Filip]

...for the purpose of increasing their postcount?
Are there really people who are that concerned about post count that they have to increase it artificially? (Well, I guess you could do so to get the requisite number of posts for full member, but there are better ways of doing that than just random fun & games postings)

And yeah, that might sound ironic from me, considering that I have on occasion congratulated people for their 1000th (2000th, 3000th etc...) post, but still, posting posts just for the heck of it sounds odd...

[ColdNight]

Seems to be a new fad on forums. Anyways, I just tested this feature out, and when you do it, you lose the ability to edit your post. Can this be tweaked so it we are able to edit it?

[Martin]

Mmm, I just used my testing account and I had the ability to edit the post after the auto-merge. Posts can only be edited for 15 minutes, so any merged posts after the 15 minutes limit will unable to be edited due to the timestamp on the post.

Were both posts posted before the 15 minute limit? If so then it may be a usergroup setting for Regular Members that needs tweaking.

[Techcompu2]

one question though. previously on the hot guy game I have made posts where I repost the pics that don't appear. I have done one or two before where there were enough that I had to use multiple posts to attach them all. if the need were to arise again to do this, would the system not change them if the attachment number is to high for a single post?

if I need to elaborate on what I mean just ask.

[Martin]

Hey,

I'm not entirely sure what happens with attachments once they reach the limit. The version of the hack we currently use does not state what would happen in that scenario, but previous versions have stated that the attachments automatically merge onto the post regardless of whether or not it is over the attachment limit put in place on the forum. I'm not entirely sure if that is what will happen here though, so it may be best to test it and see.

In that scenario it wouldn't really matter what happened just as long as the person was able to post. If it automatically merges the attachments then great, but if it does allow you to waive the 30 minute period and make a new post sooner then that isn't really an issue. The picture threads have never really given us any spamming problems, so I wouldn't consider it a biggy if the attachments didn't allow the hack to work in there.

Martin.

[Techcompu2]

ok that answers my question. I just wanted to make sure that if it were to merge them, the attachments would not disappear, or mess up the program.

thanks!