General Stats and Content Update

[Dan]

Just a quick note for fans of the forum. I recently discovered that some of the lost images from the image galleries are in fact on Wayback Machine, so some of those are not 'lost' after all. Unfortunately I've now deleted all the broken links in the galleries as they were put back online, so I have no record of them except on Wayback. It would take far too long to recover all those images, so I'm not planning to go back and retro-fit all the galleries again. But I will do this for a few of my favourites (cheek hollowing girls etc), so I guess you'll either get a few surprises, or maybe you won't even notice them, if you just browse for the latest stuff.

The forum really needs a thumbs up icon, so people can like the galleries and feel more part of things, so I'm going to have another look at installing that feature. I couldn't get my head around it last time!

The forum doesn't quite feel complete enough to post anything new, but as a Smoking Shrine, I visit at least once or twice a week, and add a bit more. Recently you might notice the Smoking Brands and Promotion forum is now running again, with three articles. Again, this is not a vital part of the forum so don't expect it to magically appear, but you never know.

[Dan]

Ok, I've managed to install a Likes button. This only applies to Registered and Newly Registered Members, i.e you must be logged in to Like.
You can Like almost any message or post except for your own posts.

The script prints a load of guff at the bottom of the pages with the likes, so I'll see how this goes, and might remove the list of likes under each post if it becomes an issue.

I've also gone through the permissions of registered users to give them a bit more freedom on the forum. The last time I did this, the forum was flooded with spam, so if it becomes an issue I'll simply lock everything down again. Please do not abuse this freedom.

[Dan]

Due to a rise in spam, I've put in a blocker for all IPs which might be at risk from hackers. This shouldn't matter if you are registered already. If you use a VPN, this might show an error because you can't prove your Geo location to log in, but as I say, members who already have an account should just be able to bypass that and log in as normal. The system is simply for newly registered spammers.

If anyone has any issues about being blocked in countries, do let me know by PMing me or something. Thanks.

Maybe there is also a moderation period for newly registered users.

Also of note recently, I've upgraded a few people to Trusted Member, as they have been on the forum for a while, have logged on regularly, and maybe left a comment.
Hopefully parts of the forum are now unlocked for those people, including a special photo gallery. But if everything seens normal as far as being able to post, let me know, as I've no idea if Forum Permissions are superseded by Group Permissions at this point.

I've also moved the Active Topics to the top menu bar, and removed the red lettering. Click on Active Topics to see the latest updates.