The discussion was started in this topic,
https://hpa.aeromodelling.gr/index.php?topic=335.msg3576#msg3576,
where there seemed to be a disproportionate number of guests vs members appearing online. Until recently there was a "normal" number, say 10 gustes and 4 members.
Recent days have seen this ratio explode to the point where there are 1-2 members and 100+ guests present.
A closer examination in the "Users online" list clearly shows these are not real people but more like bots and othe non-human visitors.
I do not yet see a risk involved that could influence the stability of the forum. I guess / hope that all registered members so far are normal aeromodellers / people, regardless of their level of participation. The rather akward registering process has taken care of that, hopefully.
Nonetheless, I am going to proceed with a change that may seem unpleasant at first, but is nothing hard to get used to and has zero impact if one is automatically logged in.
The change will be to limit the attachments visibility to members only. If that changes anything for the bots, I do not know. It can be changed back very easily, if it needs to...
So, please make a note of this, if you suddenly cannot see attachments...
Log in, choose "forever" and you are done. Or, ignore that attachements an stay unlogged.
That is all for now,
George
There is a second step possible, much more restricting, that allows guests only being able to register or log-in.
This would practically turn the forum into a closed book for outsiders, I do not wish to do that and I hope it will not be necessary...
Just informing about the possibility.
George
Hi George. I see one user and 77 guests. Cause for alarm obviously - I just never noticed til now.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
PS What does "able to view attachments" mean?
Hi Richard,
I would not say "alarm" yet. "Alert" yes, maybe.
Exactly what it says, the attachments do not appear when you are a guest, meaning they cannot be viewed or stored/downloaded, unless you are a registered member of the forum.
George
Hi George. I meant what is an "attachment". Is it a pic, is it a link to another site, or is it embedded pics in the text of a reply?
What exactly would I not see, as a member, who has not logged in?
If anyone in the public clicks on our site, without registering and logging in, are they then deprived of seeing any pics on our site? Would they just see text to read?
Lastwoodsman
Richard
I just checked myself. I did not log in , and all of my pics are gone from public view. Only my text words remain, no pics.
Quote from: Lastwoodsman on Jun 08, 2026, 08:02 PMIf anyone in the public clicks on our site, without registering and logging in, are they then deprived of seeing any pics of our site? Would they just see text to read?
Yes. Anything you add as an attachment, an image, a pdf file etc is not visible to guests.
Links and normal text in posts, as well as images inserted from external databases, like those in Ramses posts, are not affected.
Really cannot tell for sure if this will decrease the bot presence, but it will certainly prevent the entire forum being copied.
And those who are not yet members, can simply register, then they see everything.
HiGeorge.
Would I now be able to use pics inserted into my text like Ramses - I don't know how to do that ... ?
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Hi George - yes all my pics are gone, only text remains.
"as well as images inserted from external databases"- would my Computer Hard drive be considered an 'external database' that I can insert images into my word text from?
Lastwoodsman
Richard
see separate topic on that...
Sorry George
"Links and normal text in posts, as well as images inserted from external databases, like those in Ramses posts, are not affected"
can I use my C drive on my computer - I use Jarte for my text - will that embed my pics in the word text like Ramses?
https://hpa.aeromodelling.gr/index.php?topic=14.msg4232#msg4232
Ramses has his pictures saved in his own website, so he posts links to them, that is why he can post more than 4 in a message.
If he can, he could write more about it.
Hi George
"The change will be to limit the attachments visibility to members only. If that changes anything for the bots, I do not know. It can be changed back very easily, if it needs to...
So, please make a note of this, if you suddenly cannot see attachments..."
Well George, it could change something for the bots, or not. So if the bots continue, I hope to see it 'changed back very easily' to normal, but how long will it take to see if anything changes, or not?
We had a very similar big problem with bots, on Bruce Feaver's old 'Hip Pocket Aeronautics website'. Maybe Bruce Feaver Sundance12 could chime in on this issue.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Worth asking Bruce F what he did for HPA II?
I seem to recall some automated, "Is this visitor a human?" check was added which brought the bot count down and didn't disrupt things too much for us meatsacks.
I think the pics for members only is good thought and agree with George let's see how it goes and if it makes a difference
Anything would be better than Users -3 Guests = 162 !!!
Peter
I would definitely prefer that only registered and logged in users can have access to all information.
I think that that would be a first security measure.
Noticed myself the only registered member online and 192 visitors.
For me this is a red flag
I have noticed the increase in guest numbers recently and wondered what the cause might be and what precautionary steps ought to be taken.
I agree with what George is doing. Genuine aeromodellists (as they were often called in the 1930s) should have no problem with registering. However, genuine guests should be allowed to get a flavour of the content here so they can decide whether or not to join.
I suspect this is an issue that the main aeromodelling.gr site doesn't face because its main language is not English, so, despite the quality of the content, it isn't viewed as very " marketable" by AI bots etc.
Perhaps a Captcha verification that the user is human might be a good next step if the guests issue isn't resolved by the no access to attachments protocol.
Quote from: g_kandylakis on Jun 08, 2026, 08:33 PMRamses has his pictures saved in his own website, so he posts links to them, that is why he can post more than 4 in a message.
If he can, he could write more about it.
Sure!
My images are indeed already online; I link to the photos in my buildthreads:
So you have to upload your photo`s to a place on the internet (free photo site, own website, etc).
Then starting the post:
Select a space in between the text where you want to appear the photo.
Then press the photo icon:
(https://www.modelbouwforum.nl/media/hpa-01-jpg.277266/full)
Paste the URL of the location of the photo on the internet:
(https://www.modelbouwforum.nl/media/hpa-02-jpg.277267/full)
When done, you will see the URL in between the text of your post:
(https://www.modelbouwforum.nl/media/hpa-03-jpg.277268/full)
When you have finished the post and publish it, the photo will appear in between the text where you placed it:
(https://www.modelbouwforum.nl/media/hpa-04-jpg.277269/full)
Cheers, Ramses
Thanks for the guide Ramses.
A mere 56 guests at present! They're slacking!
I hope Captcha won't become necessary - I have real trouble with that business (eyesight). Maybe this wave of 'scraping' or whatever it is will fade.
Stephen.
Captcha is not an oprion to be considered. It helps little when dealing with unregistered guests. Actually it already exists when searching etc.
Guests cannot post, cannot send private messages cannot overload the forum basic operations. They cannot bother other members directly.
They can increase traffic which might be a problem with the hosting company, which did happen in HPA II and Bruce wrote to me about it.
The worst case scenario is for me to lock the forum to members only. Nothing will be possible for outsiders except registering and logging in (necessary when you are a member wanting to get in...).
Drawback: no legitimate outsider can see what is inside the forum in order to consider registering or not. So it stays like a closed club, which is neither the intention nor the wish of all of us.
The bots cannot register (I think/hope) because of the questions, plus any presence of a bot would immediately become apparent and they would be deleted.
So, no big worries for now, please.
It was just unusual and worth keeping an eye on.
George
Well George, you have to try something, so go right ahead, you are making the right choice.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
58 guests 2 users
If the unidentified users aren't doing any harm why don't we just ignore them? I note that at the moment it's only me and 120 'guests' ;D