Would that require a full migration to a new forum platform?
Either of those solutions would require conversion. I only mention them because you said that you had looked for alternatives. A phpBB to Discourse script exists, but I imagine that the biggest technical investment would be in setting up the new system – especially if you haven’t used Docker before. Discourse is nice, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are spoiling for the free time to make a major investment in the community. Discourse is perhaps better designed than phpBB from a community perspective, but Textkit is a very collegial group and doesn’t have many of the same problems that most internet communities suffer from.
There are phpbb3 spam solutions, of course, but I imagine that you have looked into these:
https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/advanced_block_mod/faq/548
How about giving this thread a permanent place at the top, so it doesn’t get buried under new posts? If only for the historical record.
Kudos to those who have taken on new Textkit responsibilities, already to good effect — and of course to Jeff for getting it rolling in the first place and aiding in the transition to a new phase!
Michael
What a difference! The new moderating team has completely cleaned all of the pending posts. Most were spam but the others were released. Hopefully things will go smoothly from here on out. If there are any new problems or things appear not to be happening, let us know.
Are emails from Textkit still working for anyone? I used to get notifications on PMs – sent from jeff@pre23.com. I haven’t since February.
Maybe it’s just my account.
Actually, I wondered about the same thing. No more mails to me either.
Another thing: although there seems to be enough people moderating now for the present, I think we could still use some more. You never know what happens…
I bet that jeff@pre23.com went the way of the dodo and now it cannot send email.
Regarding email, I used to run my own Postfix servers (and still do). But nowadays rather than setting up SPF and DKIM (way too easy to misconfigure), I generally use a third-party: SendGrid, SparkPost, Mailgun, Mailjet, Mandrill.
This site is also very useful if you think your server’s emails are getting flagged as spam: https://www.mail-tester.com/
Glad to hear you’re well, Jeff.
Seán
I repeat my suggestion of keeping this thread at the top, as with the light-bulb threads that come at the head of the Learning Greek forum, for instance. That way newcomers can see what’s been going on.
ἐν μετώπῳ αὐτοῦ πέπηχα, ὦ Μιχαήλ.
(Stickied, I think)
Kudos to those working to keep Textkit alive! And hats off to Jeff.
I lack the techie skill to offer assistance in that department and I am still a beginner in Ancient Greek. I will certainly lend my moral support (for what that’s worth). Textkit is and has been the most valuable resource for those interested in Latin and Greek.
Michael
.
Hello PsittacusMagnus,
Welcome to Textkit. Sorry for the delay. I hope this forum is
profitable for you.
.
Welcome!
Along with you new users there were a zillion spammers waiting to get approved. We deleted 99.9 % of them but one or two Trojan horses were bound to get through… 
Feel free to report a spammer if you spot one, that’d help us a lot. I think there’s a button you can use to report a spam message, with a little red exclamation mark. We’re the new moderating team, the word new implying that we’re still learning!
.
OK, you mean that. Accounts that have actually been banned still show on that list. Although it’s still at least in theory a problem that they can promote their links merely by showing up on the list, they are not allowed to post. I don’t know how big a problem that can be; but clearly the most important thing is that all of you real new members are no longer prevented from joining.
I don’t think Jeff always followed his own rules quite to the letter, if it was clear that a poster’s intentions were honest.
.
Good point. We’ll see if something can be done about it.