Paid time extension, Spam comments page, Community URL, DDoS, Privacy: news

We're pleased to report that LiveJournal weathered the recent DDoS attacks without significant downtime last week. We implemented new systems and processes to cope with heavy traffic loads, and these new systems have been working very well. In order to show our appreciation for your loyalty and support, we'll be automatically extending two weeks of Paid Account time to all users holding a Paid account for any amount of time during the period from March 30th to April 12th, GMT. Once again, we wish to thank you for standing by us during these difficult times.

DDoS Update

While LiveJournal has largely recovered from the DDoS attacks, when we're experiencing high levels of malicious incoming traffic, we have no choice but to place temporary blocks on the IP addresses responsible for that volume. While it's frustrating to be blocked, it's necessary to keep the site up and running for everyone. If you receive an error page stating that your IP address has been blocked, we suggest you perform a malware and virus scan of your computer to ensure that your computer is not being used to help propagate these attacks.

Suspicious spam comments page

As part of our ongoing efforts to reduce spam on LiveJournal, we've introduced a new feature to help you identify and ban spam comments. When you visit a comments page in your journal or in a community you maintain, you'll now see a link indicating the number of suspected spam comments. These comments are screened and will not display on the entry. Click on the link to review suspicious comments. You can then delete and ban spam comments or click the 'Not Spam' icon--

--to unscreen the comment and move it to the entry page.

In creating this new spam-fighting tool, we updated the Account Settings Privacy page. You can screen comments from anonymous users (the default setting), non-friends, and all users. Immediately below this setting, you'll see a checkbox labeled 'Spam Protection' that activates this feature, which reads: 'Comments containing a link to a non-whitelisted domain will be marked as spam and moved to a special section.' This option will be selected by default.

Important stuff to know

Community URL formatting: In the service of improved usability, the URL for community pages has been shortened to '[community name].livejournal.com' instead of 'community.livejournal.com/[community name]'; URLs in the old format will automatically redirect to the new format.
Profile page text message link restored: The option to receive text messages from other LiveJournal users has been restored for Permanent, Paid, and Plus users. If you activate this feature, a 'Text message' link will appear in the Contact section of your Profile page. You can update where you receive text messages on your Edit Profile page. While LiveJournal does not charge for sending or receiving messages, your mobile carrier may. Please check your service plan for further details.
Enhanced Privacy Settings: We've added new settings to the Account Settings Privacy page that gives community maintainers more control over inclusion of community's entries in external search engines. Community maintainers now have the same options available as journal owners to control whether posts and/or comments are available or minimized in search engine results. Note: If you maintain multiple communities, be sure to 'Switch to' the appropriate community before making any changes.
Spam: In an effort to reduce spam on LiveJournal, the text string 'rel=nofollow' will be added to URLs for entries and comments posted from Plus and Basic accounts. This will help reduce visibility in search engines and make spam commenting less attractive to spammers.

Frank's weekly giveaway

This week, Frank has been down with a cold. He's been stuck in the house for what seems like forever, and he's dying to get some movie suggestions. Needless to say, he's particularly fond of films featuring animals. Give him some suggestions (a coordinating userpic always delights him), and Frank will send you sugary bunny to make your day (up through the first ten pages of comments).

Did You Know ...?

We recently relaunched our Community Directory to help you find entries and communities based on your particular interests, ranging from Advice & Support to Television. If you're a community maintainer and you'd like to submit your community for inclusion, you can use this submission tool to add your community to up to two Interest pages. You can also delete your community by visiting the Interest page where it appears, choosing the community from the drop-down next to 'Work as Community,' scrolling down to the bottom of the page, and clicking 'Remove.'

For more fun with photos, Frank and Meme, and LJ_Scribe, we'll catch you under the cut!

Photo of the week

Congrats to voyager_a, who won our 62nd lj_photophile contest! Click here to help choose the next photo of the week. FYI: We pick entries for the poll based on a combination of comments, +1 ratings, and staff input. The winner receives 500 LJ tokens. We thank you for sharing your talent with the global LiveJournal community.

Welcome back, dear scribes

Congratulations to

bridals,

dashingmare,

katiefoolery, and

acolorshugh, who won our LJ_Scribe contest! After aching deliberation, we've selected ten finalists in response to our ninth prompt for your review. In addition to the joy of sharing your well-turned phrases, the authors with the most votes will each win 1,000 LJ Tokens. Finalists will receive 500 LJ Tokens (a limit of one award per user). For our next contest, we'll ask you to respond to the following prompt in the form of prose or poetry (no more than 100 words, excluding the prompt): "She had moved, but the shadow stayed behind." You do not need to include the prompt in your writing. Be sure to post your submissions as entries, rather than comments, to

lj_scribe up through Monday, April 25th, at 4PM, PDT. You'll find the +1 rating link under each post, so remember to check back and vote for your favorites!

Frank and Meme's excellent adventure

Congratulations to

ladyofavalon77, whose entry -- The Greatest Show On Earth -- was voted the next official chapter in the Frank and Meme saga. You may now start posting entries for the next context in

frankandmeme. The winning author will be awarded 1,000 LJ Tokens. Other participating writers will receive 500 LJ Tokens. On behalf of our quarreling darlings, we thank you for keeping the drama alive!

Thanks, again, for joining us. We'll see you next week!

Paid time extension, Spam comments page, Community URL, DDoS, Privacy