(note: this was fully edited and cut to the point since most of it was severely extraenous and was like reading Principia Mathamatica but horribly explained, not to mention the deprecation of asset image urls)

There have been quite a few highly suspicious links on the forums for awhile, some even phishing URLs - Though I basically erased my whole point by editing this OP, a simple pop-up wouldn't do considering the age gap and how these people are trying to be more intricate with how they do it.

EDIT: Changed title - I see why it makes more sense to include whitelist.

This actually just happened just today, and it's basically just downright horrendous to have phishing links everywhere. This would heavily stop the spread of these kinds of things. But there's so many link formats that can appear, so there could be an issue with the robot determining if it is a link or not, although I'm not really experienced at website coding so don't know how that works.(imagine if you were a scammer and then you have to wait like 3 weeks just so you can scam some innocent people)

Anuhmayshun wrote:

This actually just happened just today

you talking about the (redacted by myself, how did I think that naming and shaming was allowed) dude or what

Interestingly this already exists (sort-of) on the forums. New Scratchers can't post clickable links to non-Scratch sites, though they can still post the URL as a non-link.

jvvg wrote:

Interestingly this already exists (sort-of) on the forums. New Scratchers can't post clickable links to non-Scratch sites, though they can still post the URL as a non-link.

Maybe apply that to the main website, too?

jvvg wrote:

(#4)
Interestingly this already exists (sort-of) on the forums. New Scratchers can't post clickable links to non-Scratch sites, though they can still post the URL as a non-link.

By that you mean this, correct?

ImARealDogNow wrote:

I know you cannot click links on the Forums if the poster is a New Scratcher, but it can still be quoted and then clicked, or just simply pasted into the browser's search. That doesn't really stop many people.

And,

i_eat_coffee wrote:

(#5)

jvvg wrote:

Interestingly this already exists (sort-of) on the forums. New Scratchers can't post clickable links to non-Scratch sites, though they can still post the URL as a non-link.

Maybe apply that to the main website, too?

Pretty sure you can't even post nonscratch links in comments, others work as I'd seen a guy comment asking if I could do them a favor with “I SWEAR IT'S NOT A SCAM (link)” as their about me on my alt, which I already reported.

Anuhmayshun wrote:

(#2)
This actually just happened just today, and it's basically just downright horrendous to have phishing links everywhere. This would heavily stop the spread of these kinds of things. But there's so many link formats that can appear, so there could be an issue with the robot determining if it is a link or not, although I'm not really experienced at website coding so don't know how that works.(imagine if you were a scammer and then you have to wait like 3 weeks just so you can scam some innocent people)

Well, you can't click the links a NS(NewScratcher) sends on the Forums, so it could just be done as you cannot even post it with said link.

DifferentDance8 wrote:

(#3)

Anuhmayshun wrote:

This actually just happened just today

you talking about the (redacted by myself, how did I think that naming and shaming was allowed) dude or what

Incase you're talking about the guy who sent a paragraph with grammar mistakes and literal offsite messaging and some suspicious links acting like a company, which I reacted to on my alt, that might be what they are referring to.

ImARealDogNow wrote:

Pretty sure you can't even post nonscratch links in comments, others work as I'd seen a guy comment asking if I could do them a favor with “I SWEAR IT'S NOT A SCAM (link)” as their about me on my alt, which I already reported.

Oh, then in that case, no support.
Only scratch.mit.edu links and I'm pretty sure a few other websites that scratch has whitelisted can be highlighted- I'm a new scratcher and I've been one for two months and two weeks and it would be such a pain if I couldn't.

Edit: I also think that the current filter is just fine (by filter, I mean the links not being highlighted) as it would be is harder for users to click scam links and other things. Click the “report” button on any malicious or harmful comments.

ImARealDogNow wrote:

Pretty sure you can't even post nonscratch links in comments, others work as I'd seen a guy comment asking if I could do them a favor with “I SWEAR IT'S NOT A SCAM (link)” as their about me on my alt, which I already reported.

That happened to me! I got a comment saying something like “please help me i'll like all your projects if you help me”. Naturally, I decided to look at his profile (because maybe it might be a situation where it's a bug in one of their projects. never happened to me, but it might happen to someone like griffpatch) and then saw a temu scam link that promised “free gifts”. That was what I was talking about.

i_eat_coffee wrote:

(#8)

ImARealDogNow wrote:

Pretty sure you can't even post nonscratch links in comments, others work as I'd seen a guy comment asking if I could do them a favor with “I SWEAR IT'S NOT A SCAM (link)” as their about me on my alt, which I already reported.

Oh, then in that case, no support.
Only scratch.mit.edu links and I'm pretty sure a few other websites that scratch has whitelisted can be highlighted- I'm a new scratcher and I've been one for two months and two weeks and it would be such a pain if I couldn't.

Fair — Being unable to post non-scratch links(to images) would be pain to some users and alts, but it'd atleast throw out any accounts attempting to share phishing links or other things.

Websites Scratch has whitelisted could be included — Although that's up to ST's decision.
And the link I'm talking about was a shortener link in their about me. You can't know what's behind a tinyurl link for example until it's late — Links in AM and WIWO get highlighted no matter what — Which is still a security issue.

DifferentDance8 wrote:

(#9)

ImARealDogNow wrote:

Pretty sure you can't even post nonscratch links in comments, others work as I'd seen a guy comment asking if I could do them a favor with “I SWEAR IT'S NOT A SCAM (link)” as their about me on my alt, which I already reported.

That happened to me! I got a comment saying something like “please help me i'll like all your projects if you help me”. Naturally, I decided to look at his profile (because maybe it might be a situation where it's a bug in one of their projects. never happened to me, but it might happen to someone like griffpatch) and then saw temu scam link that promised “free gifts”. That was what I was talking about.

We saw the same guy then, just with different AMs.

Great idea. It will keep Scratch safe!

KittyCatKayden wrote:

(#12)
It will keep Scratch safe!

Not entirely — But it'd eliminate some bad actors from the scene.
Apologies for being negative here, but it'd only wipe a low amount of dust from the dusty cabin under cleaning.

There is one big con to this. The owner could wait to become a scratcher and post those links.

Crispydogs101 wrote:

(#14)
There is one big con to this. The owner could wait to become a scratcher and post those links.

True, but that can still be said the same for getting Scratcher, god knows if some people are trying to currently gather accounts to raid the forums by spamming random stuff and images.
This wait length could be edited, but that is correct.
Albeit the suggestion could use tweaking if it would be implemented — Waiting to be a Scratcher is basically anyone-can-do, atleast it delays the inevitable and slows down the flow of phishing links.
As said — It'd basically be slowing down people from sharing a phishing link, which could be moderated as it breaks the ‘Be Safe’ part of the Guidelines, including the ‘Be honest’ section, as they are manipulating (i.e tricking) someone into giving their information or be led offsite with terrible stuff.
It'd slow down phishing links and bad actors atleast.
EDIT: Corrected the 'This wait length could be edited until someone is Scratcher" because that was your point. Apologies for the grammar mistake.

ImARealDogNow wrote:

-snip-

I don't want to sound dumb but could you make a TD;LR on that?

Crispydogs101 wrote:

(#16)

ImARealDogNow wrote:

-snip-

I don't want to sound dumb but could you make a TD;LR on that?

Tl;dr:
God knows if anyones preparing alts behind the scenes to get Scratcher — This'd just slow down people getting phishing links or just getting their info stolen. It could use tweaks, yes. Affectively just slowing down sharing phishing links, they also can be moderated since they break the ‘Be Honest’ and ‘Be Safe’ parts of the guidelines.
This'd just slow the affect down by not allowing links for a period. You're argument is fair though.

how bout this?:


then this could and should be for all scratchers, not just the new ones.

SonicFanX123_321 wrote:

(#18)
how bout this?:


then this could and should be for all scratchers, not just the new ones.

The site is still has some young people. Some might click it out of curiousity and click yes or drag it straight into their searchbar without a second thought of what they're doing(Even if the pop-up comes back, still.) — Although it is a nice idea, some people with ADHD like me wouldn't really be phased due to acting without a second thought. So it'd only decrease the sum of it by a lower amount.

Time to wait to bump.