Huge peak in number of users online

[Clitheroekid]

I was surprised to notice the message:`Most users ever online was 640 on October 29th, 2018, 6:59 am'.

I'm amazed that 640 Lemon Fools should even be up and about at that time with nothing better to do than browse LF, but I was also baffled as to what happened in the early hours of yesterday to spark such a huge surge in the figure, the record for which had previously been 209 at the rather more comprehensible time of 8:08pm.

[maximan]

Yes I noticed this and suspected a glitch but maybe not.
I've also noticed that the vast majority of users online are guests.
What exactly is a guest regarding their status and do they have to join eventually ?

[PinkDalek]

Yes I noticed this and suspected a glitch but maybe not.
I've also noticed that the vast majority of users online are guests.
What exactly is a guest regarding their status and do they have to join eventually ?

faq.php (in reality phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Limited's FAQ)

Why do I need to register?

You may not have to, it is up to the administrator of the board as to whether you need to register in order to post messages. However; registration will give you access to additional features not available to guest users such as definable avatar images, private messaging, emailing of fellow users, usergroup subscription, etc. It only takes a few moments to register so it is recommended you do so.


They could be existing Fools who haven't bothered to log-on or any number of other beings.

If you look here viewonline.php and click on Display Guests you get a flavour of who's watching!

[maximan]

Yes I noticed this and suspected a glitch but maybe not.
I've also noticed that the vast majority of users online are guests.
What exactly is a guest regarding their status and do they have to join eventually ?

faq.php (in reality phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Limited's FAQ)

Why do I need to register?

You may not have to, it is up to the administrator of the board as to whether you need to register in order to post messages. However; registration will give you access to additional features not available to guest users such as definable avatar images, private messaging, emailing of fellow users, usergroup subscription, etc. It only takes a few moments to register so it is recommended you do so.


They could be existing Fools who haven't bothered to log-on or any number of other beings.

If you look here viewonline.php and click on Display Guests you get a flavour of who's watching!

Thanks for that PinkDalek.

[UncleIan]

I was surprised to notice the message:`Most users ever online was 640 on October 29th, 2018, 6:59 am'.

I'm amazed that 640 Lemon Fools should even be up and about at that time with nothing better to do than browse LF, but I was also baffled as to what happened in the early hours of yesterday to spark such a huge surge in the figure, the record for which had previously been 209 at the rather more comprehensible time of 8:08pm.

Bots.

Possibly even a rather lightweight attempt at a denial of service attack.

Though I'm no expert on these things, my gut feel is saying "not actual humans"

[paullidd]

Last week whilst looking at who was browsing I noticed 'google ad sense' was looking at polite discussions I think.

[redsturgeon]

I noticed a few months ago someone had posted something about some piece of technology and it led to a spike of views. I'm just wondering if this was something similar. Eg. If today I mention the new Apple Macbook Air or the iPhone XR. Then someone searching for those terms might just land here...and be totally confused .

John

[csearle]

I noticed a few months ago someone had posted something about some piece of technology and it led to a spike of views. I'm just wondering if this was something similar. Eg. If today I mention the new Apple Macbook Air or the iPhone XR. Then someone searching for those terms might just land here...and be totally confused .

Out of body experience +++ Tantric sex +++ Life after Death C.

[Clitheroekid]

Out of body experience +++ Tantric sex +++ Life after Death C.

You've had a busy day!

[melonfool]

I was surprised to notice the message:`Most users ever online was 640 on October 29th, 2018, 6:59 am'.

I'm amazed that 640 Lemon Fools should even be up and about at that time

It's the age profile....

Mel

[Gengulphus]

Something similar seems to be happening again - prompted by this thread and a couple of 'The server is too busy to display this page' errors, I've just looked and found that there are 84 guests around at the moment. So give a flavour of what they were doing, here are the first 25:

Gengulphus Viewing who is online 31 Oct 2018 05:20
Google [Bot] Reading topic in Mining & Metals 31 Oct 2018 05:20
Guest Reading topic in Computers, TVs & Phones 31 Oct 2018 05:20
Guest Index page 31 Oct 2018 05:20
BBLSP1 Reading topic in Macro and Global Topics 31 Oct 2018 05:20
Majestic-12 [Bot] Index page 31 Oct 2018 05:20
Guest Reading topic in Laughing Lemons 31 Oct 2018 05:20
Guest Index page 31 Oct 2018 05:19
Guest Reading topic in High Yield Shares & Strategies - general 31 Oct 2018 05:19
Guest Reading topic in Laughing Lemons 31 Oct 2018 05:19
Guest Index page 31 Oct 2018 05:19
Bing [Bot] Index page 31 Oct 2018 05:19
Guest Searching forums 31 Oct 2018 05:19
Guest Replying to message in Polite Discussions 31 Oct 2018 05:19
Guest Viewing topics in Banking Sector 31 Oct 2018 05:19
Guest Viewing topics in Banking Sector 31 Oct 2018 05:19
Guest Replying to message in Investment Strategies 31 Oct 2018 05:19
Guest Replying to message in Food 31 Oct 2018 05:19
Guest Index page 31 Oct 2018 05:18
Guest Index page 31 Oct 2018 05:18
Guest Reading topic in Building and DIY 31 Oct 2018 05:18
Guest Index page 31 Oct 2018 05:18
Guest Reading topic in Taxes 31 Oct 2018 05:18
Guest Reading topic in Polite Discussions 31 Oct 2018 05:18
Google Adsense [Bot] Reading topic in Legal Issues (Practical) 31 Oct 2018 05:17

It looks pretty random, and the fact that there are quite a few attempting to reply to messages as guests suggests not very intelligent. Maybe a rather feeble attempt to spam the boards?

Gengulphus

[AndyPandy]

It looks pretty random, and the fact that there are quite a few attempting to reply to messages as guests suggests not very intelligent. Maybe a rather feeble attempt to spam the boards?

Gengulphus

Since phpBB is (one of) the biggest free BB software packages out there and since its settings can allow posts or replies without registering, spam bots scour t'Internet looking for phpBB installations and attempt spam posts with nefarious links. The creators know how to craft a message in the right format to simulate inputting content and hittng 'submit'

As it's automated, it doesn't care if posting to a BB is restricted to registered users as it just moves on to the next (hopefully) accessible BB.

Some will also be written to exploit bugs in previous versions, hoping to find hosts that have not updated their software.

I don't see it much now but I used to regularly see abandoned BBs with loads of spam replies stuffed full of links to .ru websites.

[GrahamPlatt]

They could be registered users simply browsing, not having bothered to log in. I know that I do this rather a lot.

[robbelg]

They could be registered users simply browsing, not having bothered to log in. I know that I do this rather a lot.

Why? Once logged in, if you don't deliberately log off then you never have to log in again ( well maybe once or twice a year )

I'm always logged in.

Rob

[GrahamPlatt]

Tell me how! I must be missing some setting. I get automatically logged off every quarter of an hour it seems.

[Slarti]

Tell me how! I must be missing some setting. I get automatically logged off every quarter of an hour it seems.

When you log in there should be a check box below your password to keep you logged in.

Occasionally I'll mistakenly clear the relevant cookie and have to log back in again, but normally I'm always logged in.

Slarti

[chas49]

Tell me how! I must be missing some setting. I get automatically logged off every quarter of an hour it seems.

When you login, check the "Remember Me" checkbox below the email and password input boxes. This sets a cookie on your computer which means you won't have to login again unless you logout, or otherwise clear the cookie file.

Do you have to login to lots of other sites every time as well? (excluding online banking and the like), or is it just this site?

[GrahamPlatt]

OK, have checked the box now. I thought that “remember me” was just to let the browser remember and auto-fill username +/- password, so I’ve never bothered to check it before.

[GrahamPlatt]

Thanks

[robbelg]

Apparently there's 503 online right now.

Rob