Have Your Say

New Christie Website

Welcome to the new Christie website!  We hope that you like the new site - please let us know your thoughts!

New Changes to the website

Jemma 11 Sep 09 at 2:19 p.m. GMT

We're adding new features to the site in Celebration of Christie Week. These are in response to all of your comments which we thank you for. There are new features still to come in the future, but next week you'll see changes to Christie Talk, your profiles and added content.

We'll be adding explanations for everything to the Home Page next week, so do be sure to visit us then.

We hope you like the changes we make. Do let us know your thoughts.

Login or register to add posts and reply

64 replies

Reverse order

Tommy_A_Jones 22 Jun 11 at 1:10 p.m. GMT

Your idea falls down Ray with the Phrase 'We Have to assume' so many Characters are in my view like others that it would sometimes take a Real hard core expert to guess the person which would Penalise too many people I think, I hope I am wrong but I have trouble with names of Actors or Characters your solution which is a Good one would be unfair to too many people.

Moderator2 22 Jun 11 at 12:56 p.m. GMT

LauraPoirot

@Moderator2: Really?? Either I'm silly or blind but I can only find the " Quote in reply" buttons... where exactly are they?? I think I'm really crackbrained.... 

LauraPoirot, my apologies, the report abuse buttons have mysteriously disappeared from forum replies - I will get our resident detective onto the case right now!

LauraPoirot 22 Jun 11 at 12:39 p.m. GMT

@Moderator2: Really?? Either I'm silly or blind but I can only find the " Quote in reply" buttons... where exactly are they?? I think I'm really crackbrained.... 

Moderator2 22 Jun 11 at 11:43 a.m. GMT

NightRayDuck

Laura - on the previous website layout, there was a "Report Spoiler / Spam" button available on every reply and every post. But there are many many threads in these forums, and some spammers posted some 10 replies, each reply containing from 5 to 15 inappropriate links, in one thread that was a topic interesting to regular users but hadn't been viewed lately. I mean, when people feel that they have finished discussing a topic, they'll leave it for a while and won't look at it, and then the spammers get to post a lot of annoying stuff without anyone noticing them and reporting them.

Yes - there are 'report abuse / spoiler' buttons under every comment (you will see these if you are logged in) so please use them as often as you can.

Moderator2 22 Jun 11 at 11:36 a.m. GMT

Hi all,

Thanks for thinking about ways to stop the spammers - we hope that their activity isn't damaging your enthusiasm for the site. We have a plan to combat the spam, but it wasn't deployed at the same time as the new site going live, it will however be activated soon. So please bear with us.

Best wishes

Moderator2

NightRayDuck 21 Jun 11 at 11:01 p.m. GMT

That's why I started pondering whether there's a way for the website to keep tab on users posting the same or very similar links in multiple diverse threads (I mean, the one link is not likely to be relevant to several different forum topics), and bring the user and the links to the notice of the admin / moderators.

NightRayDuck 21 Jun 11 at 10:58 p.m. GMT

Laura - on the previous website layout, there was a "Report Spoiler / Spam" button available on every reply and every post. But there are many many threads in these forums, and some spammers posted some 10 replies, each reply containing from 5 to 15 inappropriate links, in one thread that was a topic interesting to regular users but hadn't been viewed lately. I mean, when people feel that they have finished discussing a topic, they'll leave it for a while and won't look at it, and then the spammers get to post a lot of annoying stuff without anyone noticing them and reporting them.

NightRayDuck 21 Jun 11 at 10:52 p.m. GMT

Tommy - I know. The captcha or the "who is this character?" will only block spambots. Like I've already said, they're not effective against live user posting spam, and can be an annoying chore for users who really do have relevant links to post.

The "who is this character?" idea, though, is not google-able, and not about the actors / actresses. Allow me to give an example.

First, we have to assume that most users on this forum can identify any actor in the role of Poirot (by the hat, suit, moustache, shiny patent-leather shoes...), and can also identify any actress in the role of Miss Marple (by the age, hair style, lacy clothes, mittens, possibly a large purse/bag, etc...).

And then, when someone posts links, show the user any photo, say Joan Hickson's Miss Marple, and give three options and see if the user will click the correct one, the options being "This is Poirot", "This is Miss Marple", and "This is Chief Inspector Japp", the more recurrent, familiar characters who have a typical portrayal that many different actors and producers follow.

A spambot will not be able to see the photo so to identify the character and to click the correct answer. As you and I have both said, this will not be effective against actual persons posting spams.

LauraPoirot 21 Jun 11 at 5:24 p.m. GMT

yes the spammers are really a pain and I thought about putting a button under every reply and when you click it's immediatly shown to the people who are responsible for this site. Maybe the Moderators I'm not well versed in this.... however, then thay can check the reply and delete it or if it's alright let it be on the site. This is possible, isn't it?

Tommy_A_Jones 21 Jun 11 at 5:02 p.m. GMT

I like your idea about making people who put posts identify Actors but it would only work woth the more obscure Actors/Actresses as surely people more well known for other things would be easily Identified and your idea could make things difficult for people who don't know names of Actors/Acressesays and help spammers who do (People might not know Tony Curtiss from The Mirror Crack'd or Murder in Three Acts but might know him from I am Sparticus or Some Like It Hot. and these days there is Google which spammers could go on to 

NightRayDuck 21 Jun 11 at 6:35 a.m. GMT

I wonder if it's possible to filter and detect the links that are being posted? For example:

If a user posts the same link in several different forum threads within several days, for example if a user posts a paydayloan link 3 times within 5 days, then the user will be cautioned, warned, suspended, or blocked. Whichever the administrators feel is more appropriate.

Can this kind of "Why's this user posting the same link all over the forums" be instituted as part of the website design? I mean, so that the website catches possible spam-posting users, to be dealt with by the administrators? Rather than regular users trying to report 10 spam posts a day, or moderators trying to check over all of the new replies / posts for spam? I mean, I hope something like this is technologically feasible... 

NightRayDuck 21 Jun 11 at 6:23 a.m. GMT

I've been pondering if those things called "captcha" or such would help make sure that it's a human user making the posts. But captcha can be difficult to read.

Another way to do it is, when a user tries to post a link, show a random photo of the more well-known actors & actresses who have been in Christie detective roles, and give several character names, and require the user to pick the correct character name, before allowing the link to be posted.

What I'd be really concerned about is that some spam might be posted by real human users rather than spambot programs. Methods such as captcha or pick-the-correct-character, if used at the time of a new user registering, could be easily met by the live human spammer. Also, it gets annoying and difficult if one of the regular users happen to have many interesting and relevant links to share...

Tommy_A_Jones 13 Jun 11 at 4:17 p.m. GMT

I do hope you can get rid of the spammers, I have just read a Post where someone said they Liked Miss Marple as they thought HE was a Greading.reat Writer, These Posts really make me Angry and waste space for people who want to write something worth

Moderator2 09 Jun 11 at 10:25 a.m. GMT

Rob615

I like the inprovements to the website, however in the new quiz "some of the best" there are two answers that are wrong. For the question in which book did Mrs Ferras take poison early in the book, the "correct answer" is By the Pricking of my Thumbs, when the correct answer in reality is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. The question "in which book does the SS Karnak feature, whichever answer you give is said to be wrong, it is Death on the Nile. In the St Mary Mead crossword the answer to which book is the first to feature St Mary Mead answer that fits is The Body in the Library - correct answer is the Murder at the Vicarage. I find these errors surprising and disappointing.    

Hi Rob615 - thanks for pointing this out - we've fixed the errors now, please let us know if you find anything else either here or email us at literaryestates@chorion.co.uk

Rob615 08 Jun 11 at 7:57 p.m. GMT

I like the inprovements to the website, however in the new quiz "some of the best" there are two answers that are wrong. For the question in which book did Mrs Ferras take poison early in the book, the "correct answer" is By the Pricking of my Thumbs, when the correct answer in reality is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. The question "in which book does the SS Karnak feature, whichever answer you give is said to be wrong, it is Death on the Nile. In the St Mary Mead crossword the answer to which book is the first to feature St Mary Mead answer that fits is The Body in the Library - correct answer is the Murder at the Vicarage. I find these errors surprising and disappointing.    

Moderator2 03 Jun 11 at 12:12 p.m. GMT

Hello No I did it. If you like I can delete your classified ad, as I am an adminstrator. Let me know if you would like that.

NightRayDuck 02 Jun 11 at 5:15 p.m. GMT

oh. and, I agree, the new layout for the website is much easier to browse, with the links to different areas of the site organized on either side of the layout, and bordered with different colors of background, and most text in a similar size, instead of the thick-border boxes and many different font sizes. (my eyes are seriously astigmatic, and thick borders and huge title fonts often end up blotting out several lines of the detail text in my vision.)

Tommy_A_Jones 02 Jun 11 at 5:01 p.m. GMT

Thankyou Ray, I hope 'Guess The Object Returns, I had 2 ready, I suppose if they don't I can put them in "Guess The Adaptation, as I am not sure either are in the Book(s) as I have a horrible suspicion I was influenced by the Adaptations it might turn out better.

NightRayDuck 02 Jun 11 at 4:53 p.m. GMT

"Guess the Object" thread is missing from "Have Your Say - Puzzles and Games" forum.

"Off-Topic Discussions" thread is missing from "Have Your Say - Miscellaneous" forum.

They are missing, as in, when I go to list of all replies that I have made, and click on my reply in the particular thread, it leads to a 404 Page Not Found error. Also, on the list of replies I have made, replies in these threads do not have the link to the particular thread in "Reply left in: ".

Will they be found??

Tommy_A_Jones 02 Jun 11 at 4:45 p.m. GMT

Has the Game 'Guess The Object' been Dropped or am I not looking hard enough?