New Forum Feature

[PatMacGroin]

Unfortunately I know as much as you in regard to censorship, I don't know if that is something that has to be added or if it was in the forum system to begin with and was removed at some stage.

All we can do at the minute is stick with it and wait until things are sorted, with the mods working round any issues that arise.

Thanks for trying to give some sort of answer. 

Looks like there are quite a few teething issues going on in various areas of the site. If the New Admins/Head1 are moving the site over onto a new host server (as a part of transferring ownership, cutting costs, or a whole bunch of other understandable reasons) it's not surprising that these issues could be happening as the site files are transferred.

With any technical changes like these lots of bugs can pop out of the woodwork. Just as often occur when any system gets an upgrade. The auto-censorship may not even be intentional. As you have suggested it could just be some old settings that need to be tweaked.

I've noticed that a new announcements section has been added to the top of the home page. Once everything has settled down I imagine we'll see some explanations pop up there.

Until then maybe the home page needs a sign saying something like:

"Under New Management. Please bear with us during this transitional phase." 

A bit like the signs you used to see on shop doors when they had just been bought out.   

[Doc Holliday]

Factually that's correct, but if someone got shot would you say it's just a bullet?

It's not the censoring of the word but the fact that it was implemented at a time when the owners he / she / they have just taken over and finding their feet so to speak, to put censorship as his / her / their top priority 

If you insist on being speculative then let's look at it.

If amongst all the handover issues and server change etc you felt the need to take time out to autocensor this word, it suggest to me that that person has had very strong feelings about its past use? Perhaps they thought "one of the first things I would do, if I was ever in a position to do so would be to ............

If it was part of a more radical change of direction I suggest they would not have done it so soon, but as part of a package of changes, once the more urgent matters were sorted.

I would speculate therefore, that it is just the use of this one word. It is a contentious word.

Alternatively it could just be to wind up those who do use it and if so it's working 

[NIK]

Not very often I agree with James 999, but I do on this.  An ethos that intends to continue to put punters first wouldn’t prioritise something like this. ‘Sex workers’ indeed!
Hope my thoughts are off the mark.

[James999]

If you insist on being speculative then let's look at it.

You seem to be way off the mark with your analysis, I was not being speculative at all, you just made that up so you could roll out your theories, I said that it seemed odd that they should prioritise censorship at such an early stage when he / she / they has just taken over 

[Doc Holliday]

I agree it is odd and assuming this isn't related to one of the many glitches occurring, then it is reasonable to assume it is of some importance to whoever has changed it.

I agree also that its a very clumsy way of dealing with it and having just searched and read some old posts, they just don't read correctly with the term sex worker in them. As you suggested earlier would be better to simply draw a line and ask members not to use the word again if it bothered you so much.

Time will tell?

[scutty brown]

I have a feeling that the censorship is a default on the forum software, and has simply been enabled by default as part of the changes as the new team get familiar with the forum software.
As I understand it the actual handover period was very short - only two or three days before oldadmin effectively walked away, leaving the new team to get to know the software unsupported. That's not easy - learning a web database from scratch is a fucking big learning curve, especially when there's no helpdesk at the end of a phone.
The new team have taken on the task at virtually no notice with no support. There are bound to be teething problems, just bear with them while they get used to the software.
Just remember: if the new guys hadn't taken on the challenge, the forum would now be closed.
From what oldadmin posted, its clear he was going to walk away from it all, transferred or not

[Kev40ish]

I have a feeling that the censorship is a default on the forum software, and has simply been enabled by default as part of the changes as the new team get familiar with the forum software.
As I understand it the actual handover period was very short - only two or three days before oldadmin effectively walked away, leaving the new team to get to know the software unsupported. That's not easy - learning a web database from scratch is a fucking big learning curve, especially when there's no helpdesk at the end of a phone.
The new team have taken on the task at virtually no notice with no support. There are bound to be teething problems, just bear with them while they get used to the software.
Just remember: if the new guys hadn't taken on the challenge, the forum would now be closed.
From what oldadmin posted, its clear he was going to walk away from it all, transferred or not

I totally agree with this..

I can imagine any changes that are made impact some other part of the coding.
Think of it as a bowl of spaghetti where to change something you have pull it out to change a strand. The only problem is it obviously moves all the other strands. This impacts other functions.

Nothing is easy and any changes impact other parts, so it takes a lot of time to adjust anything.

I think it’s important just to be patient and let them sort out the transfer to a new server and set up the site so that they know what all the functions are...

[Marmalade]

I have a feeling that the censorship is a default on the forum software, and has simply been enabled by default as part of the changes as the new team get familiar with the forum software.
As I understand it the actual handover period was very short - only two or three days before oldadmin effectively walked away, leaving the new team to get to know the software unsupported. That's not easy - learning a web database from scratch is a fucking big learning curve, especially when there's no helpdesk at the end of a phone.
The new team have taken on the task at virtually no notice with no support. There are bound to be teething problems, just bear with them while they get used to the software.
Just remember: if the new guys hadn't taken on the challenge, the forum would now be closed.
From what oldadmin posted, its clear he was going to walk away from it all, transferred or not

According to OldAdmin two years ago...

this site runs on ancient shitty forum software called "SMF" which is written as if it was 2006. It's not easy to switch to different software, there are many downsides of doing so and time-consuming tasks to be done. When I first setup UKP in 2010 on behalf of NIK I considered better forum software (like XenForo) but decided it wasn't worth shelling out $140 on this site as at that time because it wasn't mine, had I done so this site would a trillion times better today.

UKP is pretty low priority for me, sorry about that. The most I do these days is maintain it.

Looking at the SMF interface it doesn’t look that big a deal...

Censored Words - On the Censored Words page you can add words to your forum that will be censored, as well as what text the censored words should be replaced with. You can edit existing ones to meet your needs and configure a couple of basic settings that involve censoring words. There is also a field where you can test words to see how they will look after they are censored

Step by step at External Link/Members Only

Imported a list of banned words from elsewhere? (a tad heavy handed but there might be reasons for it) : External Link/Members Only

Apparently SMF has a ready-made list of banned words that can be imported as an option in the settings. I don’t have the list. But what is so weird is (if it just ‘happened’ to be on a list) that we can use words like prostitute cunt slag fucker but not p—-—?? 

Maybe Agent Mulder will investigate and discover whether some green alien slime from another planet (maybe Romania) has invaded the system... ? 

[Up The Manor]

I don't think I use the P word very often in my posts (couldn't type the actual word just now without an auto correct, even using $$. You only notice the change in the preview window before you post, not in your typed text). So I was wondering what you guys are on about. Decided to do an advanced search of the word to see if I could notice an example. Strangely the search function brought up hits for loads of posts. However, none of them contain the P word, all of them contain the term "Sex Worker" instead.

So clearly, someone has been doing some find and replace style editing of historical content here on UKP. Although the search function hasn't caught on yet.

That's just weird. Is there some legal reason for doing this? Or is it simply to appease some sense of politically correct offensiveness?

I am very concerned about the precedent it creates. Does it mean that from now on Head1/New Admin/the new moderators can choose to edit and censor any of our posts past/current/future as they please?

If my reviews can be re-written to suit someone else's tastes (influenced by political correctness, or some other agenda) I might just think twice about posting any more.

Screen shots, for your reference. Showing search criteria, and then a sample of the first few results:

Hidden Image/Members OnlyHidden Image/Members Only

It's pretty simple really. The forum software allows for the creation of censored words. It hits post database and pre browser. No find and replace involved. Hope that's cleared things up for you.

[Up The Manor]

It's pretty simple chaps. I don't like the word. Never have, never will. It's offensive. And no, I'm not "fluffy". Jog on.

[Marmalade]

It's pretty simple chaps. I don't like the word. Never have, never will. It's offensive. And no, I'm not "fluffy". Jog on.

Thank you for the simple explanation. Any others you'd like us to avoid?

[Up The Manor]

Thank you for the simple explanation.  Any others you'd like us to avoid?

Swindon

[Blackpool Rock]

Sw*ndon

Ha Ha, so anyone not happy can stick it up the Kassam   

[Up The Manor]

Ha Ha, so anyone not happy can stick it up the Kassam   

Precisely. All 3 sides of it.

[NIK]

It's pretty simple chaps. I don't like the word. Never have, never will. It's offensive. And no, I'm not "fluffy". Jog on.

Oh dear!
So it begins.

[Horizontal pleasures]

Prossie

[Marmalade]

Oh dear!
So it begins.

Well everyone’s entitled to some quirks. If p****** and Sw***** are the only two words that risk NewAdmin reaching for Valium, so what.

It would appear that Sw***** is not on the autocorrect list yet, which is maybe useful as apparently Sw***** is teeming with popup brothels full of p******s. It will be highly amusing if all Sw***** reviews, or people asking about SWs in Sw***** are redacted. Fortunately a cunt us still a cunt and Swindon is still a shithole. 

I wonder if any forum has ever banned the word but...? Now that would be a challenge!

[Up The Manor]

Well everyone’s entitled to some quirks. If p****** and Sw***** are the only two words that risk NewAdmin reaching for Valium, so what.

It would appear that Sw***** is not on the autocorrect list yet, which is maybe useful as apparently Sw***** is teeming with popup brothels full of p******s. It will be highly amusing if all Sw***** reviews, or people asking about SWs in Sw***** are redacted. Fortunately a cunt us still a cunt and Swindon is still a shithole. 

I wonder if any forum has ever banned the word but...? Now that would be a challenge!

I cunt agree more

[James999]

It's pretty simple chaps. I don't like the word. Never have, never will. It's offensive. And no, I'm not "fluffy". Jog on.

Are you male / female?

Are you a sex worker?

[90125]

Are you male / female?

Are you a sex worker?

 

[Doc Holliday]

You seem to be way off the mark with your analysis, I was not being speculative at all, you just made that up so you could roll out your theories ...

Which would appear to have been pretty accurate? 

A dislike of one contentious word does not indicate a change of ethos. As Scutty has said above the site may well have been rescued 'from the brink' ... give them a chance.

[James999]

Which would appear to have been pretty accurate? 

Not at all, you made incorrect assumptions about both Marmalade and myself, and used these as an excuse to post your own theories about the forum, Grow a pair of bollocks and speak out in your own name without hiding behind others.

[Doc Holliday]

Not at all, you made incorrect assumptions about both Marmalade and myself, and used these as an excuse to post your own theories about the forum,

The accuracy comment was referring to my theory about the word censorship and not any perceived assumptions (correct or otherwise) about yourself ... but of course you know that.

Grow a pair of bollocks and speak out in your own name without hiding behind others.

Not a clue what you mean by that?

[James999]

Not a clue

Sums you up 

Now toddle off and pop your balls in a grow bag 

[NIK]

Which would appear to have been pretty accurate? 

A dislike of one contentious word does not indicate a change of ethos. As Scutty has said above the site may well have been rescued 'from the brink' ... give them a chance.

Oh, but it does.

It’s a blatant attempt to become more prostitute friendly as a prelude to more important changes. Hope I am wrong but I predict before too much longer UKP will be indistinguishable from the shitty biased sites it destroyed.

[Kev40ish]

Oh, but it does.

It’s a blatant attempt to become more prostitute friendly as a prelude to more important changes. Hope I am wrong but I predict before too much longer UKP will be indistinguishable from the shitty biased sites it destroyed.

I hope your wrong.
All we know is OldAdmin passed on the site to a person he believed would follow the ethos of the site. This was based on a recommendation of an of an original member when this site was founded.

I think we just need to wait and see what happens

[Marmalade]

It might be a formality but, especially as there appears to be more than one owner ...

I think the previous Admin confirmed that “the new owner [singular] is a punter”. So if there is more than one new owner are the others punters? All male? Investors? Campaigners?

If there are any women or sex workers having a say in running the site then they will be found out sooner or later so no harm in answering James question (taking the “you” as plural). We don’t know you. You’re probably all male and all experienced punters but we’re probably not going to get reviews off you, at least in your own name(s). So up to you. We’re all grateful. Might as well get our friendly Rottweilers to support you as well as the Chihuahuas. 

[Marmalade]

Oh, but it does.

It’s a blatant attempt to become more prostitute friendly as a prelude to more important changes. Hope I am wrong but I predict before too much longer UKP will be indistinguishable from the shitty biased sites it destroyed.

It seems that way. But it depends how much it influences the ethos of the site. I’ve only ever heard fluffies taking objection to any particular word describing a prostitute. The old rules gave good examples of what was a abusive and what wasn’t. And sounding off against a particular sex worker or type/stereotype of sex worker was pretty legitimate. But we don’t get answers by assuming the worst so...

The owner’s said he doesn’t like the word. That he finds it disgusting. Maybe there’s something deeply Freudian in the Admin’s past that makes the particular sound of it grate. Everyone has idiosyncrasies. I found Stapler amusing for instance though nobody else did. HP likes barebacking ginormous mounds of flesh, though most people don’t. And we live and let live. The new owner is probably human, not a bot, so if he’s only got his knickers in a twist over that one word, for whatever weird fucking reason of his own, we can probably work round it.

The minute he/she/they starts sucking up to p——-s, under whatever name, and I hope that day doesn’t happen and isn’t happening, then we’d know that pimpnet is back.

When OldAdmin was running UKP, no cyberwarrior could touch him. That guy knew more about this stuff than anyone could imagine. He made the site invulnerable. That makes me aware of two things:
 1) If I were an Anonymous or a Govt abolitionist or some other DDOS maniac who had failed to bring UKP down, I’d try to take it over in a ‘friendly’ way and run it down (this is now quite common business practice).
 2) If the new Admin is genuine about the ethos and continuation of this site, he/she/they should be super-careful about messing with much of the program coding left by the previous Admin. It is now a national phenomenon, with movements against it internationally, so high-powered cyber-attacks will be the norm. I know some of his coding was pretty complex stuff, way beyond people like Jacob and other Hi-Techs we’ve had here, so please, Mr new Admin, don’t fuck it up accidentally before you’ve got the shoe to fit!

[jeanphillipe]

Sheesh the old admin was really and truly the stuff of legend wasn't he.

I often wondered why he never profited from this site. Surely most people would have understood some basic adverts to compensate his hard work. I have a theory , the man trusted noone and payment from adverts would have ID'd him as the owner of u.k punting.

[daviemac]

Sheesh the old admin was really and truly the stuff of legend wasn't he.

I often wondered why he never profited from this site. Surely most people would have understood some basic adverts to compensate his hard work. I have a theory , the man trusted noone and payment from adverts would have ID'd him as the owner of u.k punting.

No advertising no possibility of those who pay having any influence on the site, it's seen to be totally independent.

[Happyjose]

Sheesh the old admin was really and truly the stuff of legend wasn't he.

I often wondered why he never profited from this site. Surely most people would have understood some basic adverts to compensate his hard work. I have a theory , the man trusted noone and payment from adverts would have ID'd him as the owner of u.k punting.

I've seen estimates that the UK prostitution industry is worth in excess of £9bn pa

It's an unregulated industry, with little concern or sympathy for punters from the authorities and other interested parties. If I were the owner of this site, I would value my privacy as well given the number of malcontents ranged against it.

UKP has been the only effective bulwark against people like us getting ripped off or worse. So far, it's been free, with no vested interests and a focus on the needs of the punter. That, I feel strongly, has been at the core of its success, and why so many like us value it, and why so many from the other side constantly attack it

Look at the time of the latest post on this site, you can almost set your watch by it. Other failing sites, you'd be lucky to use the same method as a calendar. There's a reason for that

[Marmalade]

Sheesh the old admin was really and truly the stuff of legend wasn't he.

I often wondered why he never profited from this site. Surely most people would have understood some basic adverts to compensate his hard work. I have a theory , the man trusted noone and payment from adverts would have ID'd him as the owner of u.k punting.

I don’t think you’ll find anyone who got to know him and how he worked to share that opinion. Stuff of legend, yes, but as a factual statement, not fandom. I think he said he believed he could make some money from it without advertising or allowing it to be influenced by prossies, donations or outside interests. He probably (I hope) sold it for a bit more than he paid Nik for it. But he didn’t have much to fear. He wasn’t even based in the U.K. except maybe in the early days. What he did have was utterly impressive cyber skills, an excellent knowledge of running dating sites, and most of all a piercing insight into the ways that prostitutes manipulate the market and their customers. More than anyone I’ve known on here since it’s inception, and there’s people on here with a lot of damned experience under their belt.

My guess is, apart from helping out Nik, which I’m convinced was the main reason, and something any of us would have done back then if we had the know-how, he saw it as a challenge, the technical side, as well as to do something worthwhile that he truly believed in.

The site, even when tiny, was a nightmare to run, and as mods we only saw a tiny bit of it. Within a short period he had it streamlined to the point where mods were unnecessary. That’s quite a feat, for ANY forum even a fraction of this size. I think we were a bit impressed and wondering how he’d do it. He did. He then managed to reduce his own position to “little more than caretaker” and I think he probably prepared a few mods and helpers knowing that a successor wouldn’t cope otherwise. Not just technically, but being able to make lightning decisions that always turned out right, or give himself the leeway to experiment with an idea while keeping everyone on board. So he’s achieved his goal and probably moved on to bigger fish.

I don’t think any new owners can be expected to have such a glowing career, but if they’re sensible they’ll learn and try.

[Up The Manor]

Are you male / female?

Are you a sex worker?

Yes I am male / female

Possibly. What services are you looking for?

[Up The Manor]

Oh, but it does.

It’s a blatant attempt to become more prostitute friendly as a prelude to more important changes. Hope I am wrong but I predict before too much longer UKP will be indistinguishable from the shitty biased sites it destroyed.

You have no idea what you're talking about. Sorry.

[James999]

Based on the fact I think I've clicked who you are, I'll decline the offer thank you 

[Up The Manor]

Based on the fact I think I've clicked who you are, I'll decline the offer thank you 

No offence taken

[jeanphillipe]

Based on the fact I think I've clicked who you are, I'll decline the offer thank you 

Your days are numbered james

I dont think you will receive the same impunity as the old admin gave you..

I guess this definately rules out the conspiracy theory that you were in fact oldadmin

[James999]

Your days are numbered james

I dont think you will receive the same impunity as the old admin gave you..

I guess this definately rules out the conspiracy theory that you were in fact oldadmin

Don't let your ignorance cloud your judgement 

[scutty brown]

Yes I am male / female

Possibly. What services are you looking for?

Looks like he's after a good bulling

[NIK]

You have no idea what you're talking about. Sorry.

Time will tell.

[Up The Manor]

Time will tell.

Very mysterious 

[scutty brown]

You have no idea what you're talking about. Sorry.

not the first time that has been said about NIK...

[NIK]

I don’t think you’ll find anyone who got to know him and how he worked to share that opinion. Stuff of legend, yes, but as a factual statement, not fandom. I think he said he believed he could make some money from it without advertising or allowing it to be influenced by Sex Workers, donations or outside interests. He probably (I hope) sold it for a bit more than he paid Nik for it. But he didn’t have much to fear. He wasn’t even based in the U.K. except maybe in the early days. What he did have was utterly impressive cyber skills, an excellent knowledge of running dating sites, and most of all a piercing insight into the ways that prostitutes manipulate the market and their customers. More than anyone I’ve known on here since it’s inception, and there’s people on here with a lot of damned experience under their belt.

My guess is, apart from helping out Nik, which I’m convinced was the main reason, and something any of us would have done back then if we had the know-how, he saw it as a challenge, the technical side, as well as to do something worthwhile that he truly believed in.

The site, even when tiny, was a nightmare to run, and as mods we only saw a tiny bit of it. Within a short period he had it streamlined to the point where mods were unnecessary. That’s quite a feat, for ANY forum even a fraction of this size. I think we were a bit impressed and wondering how he’d do it. He did. He then managed to reduce his own position to “little more than caretaker” and I think he probably prepared a few mods and helpers knowing that a successor wouldn’t cope otherwise. Not just technically, but being able to make lightning decisions that always turned out right, or give himself the leeway to experiment with an idea while keeping everyone on board. So he’s achieved his goal and probably moved on to bigger fish.

I don’t think any new owners can be expected to have such a glowing career, but if they’re sensible they’ll learn and try.

Although like all of us I never truly got to know Old Admin - he was extremely sensible to protect his anonymity - having worked with him closely when I was owner I probably know more about his technical abilities than anyone. I can confirm they were indeed phenomenal.
For example, he was always one step ahead of the sites enemies and knew more about them than they knew about him. I had some insight into this and it was quite funny to see him running rings around them. He knew how to protect the site against DOS or any other nonsense and knew when members had multiple accounts.

I am routinely portrayed as lacking technical knowledge, and whilst I have never had one hundredth of Admin's knowledge and ability (as most of us haven't) I inevitably did learn bits from him so am maybe a little bit more savvy than some think. Just one example. Pms between members are not private and an Admin who desires can access them. Even I knew how to do that. Also to trace and check for multiple accounts. Obviously the site has changed enormously since I was privy to behind the scenes but I expect basics remain the same.

Perhaps inevitably Admin and myself had a disagreement in the early days and he left. I brought in a team of moderators to help me run the site, but we were struggling and very quickly Admin rode back to the rescue, took over ownership and did single handed what half a dozen of us couldn't do, building the site into what it has been for the past few years.

Deja vu maybe?

[NIK]

I have a feeling that the censorship is a default on the forum software, and has simply been enabled by default as part of the changes as the new team get familiar with the forum software.

Seems I am not the only one who doesn't know what they are talking about.

[scutty brown]

Seems I am not the only one who doesn't know what they are talking about.

but you're the only one who tries to make a profession out of it

[Marmalade]

but you're the only one who tries to make a profession out of it

Oh the irony.

[smiths]

I am giving the new team a chance to settle in, the censoring of 1 word I never used anyway means fuck all to me as long as its not a set trend that will follow. And Head1 showed me he is on the ball by banning a tout who I knew was a well dodgy cunt.

I rate the mods on here as well, Cool Tiger in particular has been helpful to me, but I haven't PMd any of the others but am sure Ali and Daviemac would be if I did.

[NIK]

I am giving the new team a chance to settle in, the censoring of 1 word I never used anyway means fuck all to me as long as its not a set trend that will follow. And Head1 showed me he is on the ball by banning a tout who I knew was a well dodgy cunt.

I rate the mods on here as well, Cool Tiger in particular has been helpful to me, but I haven't PMd any of the others but am sure Ali and Daviemac would be if I did.

Agree about the mods mate.
It's the admins who are a mystery.

[NIK]

Oh the irony.

Over his head, Marm.   

[James999]

It's the admins who are a mystery.

Not all of them