Protecting Your Site

Every large site will be confronted with the lowest of the computer world: thieves, spammers, impostors and others with bad intentions. Now, this guide or article (whatever you want to call it) is here to prepare you for the dirt of the Internet world. Before we get started, let me tell you some things about people using the Internet. A lot of people who steal would never steal in the "real world". Often, you find yourself behaving very different on the Internet. Many let their language "slip" a lot more than in the real world. People feel a lot safer in their own room, so safe that they can do whatever they want to and it will be "okay". Obviously, this is not true. What you're doing is just as illegal or legal as it is in the real world. These people are usually just too low to stand up for their actions. So lets' get to the different thieves and other lowlifes out there.

Spammers
These guys are around in thousands, and they are nothing to freak out about. Spammers are those people who post ":D :) :P :D :D :P" 10 times or maybe they just go "weeeeeeee" 50 times. It's kind of sad that people have nothing better to do than this. Most normal spammers are a one time deal. They come once, spam your site, get bored and then leave. Don't start getting all frustrated in your posts. One of the worst solutions I see people trying to use to solve this problem is "If you keep spamming the shout-box I will take away all the guild layouts! So be careful and don't spam or there will be no guild layouts anymore!" Why is this bad? Well let's think about it. If someone spams your site, chances are they don't respect you or your work. They don't care about your graphics or the effort you have put into them. What's important to them is just spoiling someones day. By posting a "please stop :(" on your website you're telling them "you did your job right! You made me sad". This is what they want. Therefore, just log into your shout-box host (Neo-Reality's is hosted by shoutboxes.com - it's a good host) and delete all of the comments. Usually, there is no need to ban their IPA unless the spammers are repeatedly spamming or they are posting inappropriate language/links. In that case ban them from your shout-box straight away. Should you find some of these on the forum, send them a PM warning them and telling them where they can find a list of rules. Delete all the spam posts if needed and set back the post count a little bit so that it doesn't increase through spam.

Rude People and Impostors
This is what you should do in the chat box or your comments: just block them. A lot of people think that if they sign in on fake names, no one will notice that it's really them who are breaking the rules. A lot of the time you will log in to your site to see a 'conversation' like the one below (pretend that "Ella" is owner/co-owner of the site):

When you check your chat-box, however, you will notice that Mike, Kelly and Ella are all the same person. Just delete all their posts and block their IPA from your chat-box/forum right away. The same goes for all rude people and impostors. Nothing difficult here.

Thieves
Now we get to the scum of the scum - thieves. But before I explain to you everything you need to know about that kind of stuff, here are some basic javascript protection codes: click here.

Note that these codes are in no way affiliated with Neo-Reality. Of course, rotten little jerks with nothing better to do in their lives will steal from you anyways. So what should YOU do when your stolen from? First off, don't go ballistic. The ability to make you mad is a power. This kind of scum shouldn't have that power. They aren't worth the energy of getting mad at.
The smart thing to do is to contact them first. Just inform them that you caught them stealing and you want the stolen coding down. Give a time frame (at least 48 hours) for them to remove all the stolen stuff. In this e-mail/neomail its also important that you tell them what actions you plan on taking in the future. If they see what kind of mess they are getting themselves into, they will usually be smart enough to stop. Theft from Neo-Reality is usually responded to with an angry post to start with. This gets our visitors aware of this problem. Often we report them to their host within 24 hours of posting their site. Usually, thieves will notice how dumb they are being and they will stop at this point. If not, make sure to report them to their host, add them to your WoS, tell your affies and report them in an anti theft system.

Liars
What to do if someone is spreading lies about you and your site? If you have a larger site, you don't need to do much more than post on your site saying that they are lying. People will know your trust worthy and that the other person is just a useless n00b who is jealous. If your a smaller site then try contacting your affiliates and asking them for help. If you manage to get a team of 5-15 sites to help you out, you will beat the evil little lier :P. Again, keep your cool and don't give them a power that they don't deserve :P

Afterword
Of course, you will always be confronted with extra rude people. Just don't give them too much attention. Report them and wait for them to be frozen. If you need help on how to handle a thief or whatever, you can join sunshineneo's anti theft movement or for more personalized help (for questions etc) feel free to post on our forums. Remember, even if your site is small it doesn't give anyone the right to be mean to you. Also, don't delete all "negative" posts from your shout-box. Remember, if you allow people to say "I love your site" you must also let them say "I hate your site". However, make sure that your swearword free and if someone spams up your shout-box with that kind of thing that is a different story once again :)

~Kathrin