Member Bots 1.0 - Allow bots to act as members

[trilljester]

--------- Member Bots 1.0 ---------
Written by Trilljester - http://www.trilliummud.com

This small mod allows you to treat search engine robots (i.e. GoogleBot, Yahoo Slurp) as registered users instead of guests, as they are treated by default in VBulletin.

This is handy if your site allows limited access to guests, but full access to registered users. By default, a search engine robot would only be allowed to index what a guest could see, but with this mod, it would allow them to fully index your site as a registered user.

This mod uses the spiders_vbulletin.xml file for determining if a visitor is a bot or not, so make sure you have that file up to date. The one that comes with VB is pretty sparse, but it works. If you're only interested in GoogleBot, then the default file works great.

WARNING! This mod requires a very small edit to a VBulletin core file. This means whenever you upgrade to a new version of VBulletin, you'll need to re-do this edit, if you overwrite this file. If the idea of editing a VBulletin core file bothers you, don't install this mod! I won't be held responsible for your forum being fouled up. This mod is very safe however, so don't fret.

Install Instructions:

1. Unzip the product-memberbot.xml file on your system.

2. Go to your VBulletin AdminCP and click on Manage Products under the Plugin Manager section.

3. Click on Add/Import Product.

4. Click on Browse on the first line (Upload the XML from your computer) and locate the product-memberbot.xml file. Click on Import to upload it to the system.

5. Click on Plugin Manager, and ensure that the new plugin named Bot Checker, which is found under the init_startup hook, is enabled.

6. Now the fun part, you'll need to edit the core VBulletin file init.php which is located in the includes directory under your forum home.

For example, if your forum home is located in /home/blah/forum, then init.php is in /home/blah/forum/includes

If you can edit the file on the server without having to download it, more power to you.

In init.php, find this line (should be near the very bottom of the file, it was line 403 in mine):


if (!empty($db->explain))


Add ABOVE this line:

if ($is_bot == 1) {
$vbulletin->userinfo['usergroupid'] = 2;
}


NOTE: My registered users group is ID #2. Yours may be different, you may change this to any group ID you like.

7. Save init.php and upload back to your server if you had to download the file to edit it.

If you're editing on the server, save it, and that's it!

================================================== ========
That's it! Search Engine bots should now "see" your forum as a regular user, not a guest.

Questions, comments, improvements are more than welcome. Please use this thread as a cental support site. It makes it easier for me to help out. Also, you may visit my site and fire me off a PM for help, or just send a quick thanks or shout out.

Enjoy!
// trilljester

[trilljester]

Reserving for future use. If any....

[bashy]

Hi

Me installed...
I take it the bots are now registeed users and not showing as guest anymore?

[Smiry Kin's]

hmm i read some one doing this was agaisnt the bots agreements etc?

[trilljester]

Hi

Me installed...
I take it the bots are now registeed users and not showing as guest anymore?

No, they'll still show up as Guest, but their usergroup will be that of a member, thus allowing them to see what members can see.

[trilljester]

hmm i read some one doing this was agaisnt the bots agreements etc?

This is a well-known and well-liked feature of IPB that, in my opinion, is sorely lacking in VBulletin. I sent a quick email to Google regarding this issue and they responded that this is not an issue to them since they don't personally review every site that GoogleBot spiders.

If you install this mod and see issues with Google/Yahoo/etc... then remove it and everything will go back to the way it was.

[PixelFx]

this kicks a$$, thanks for releasing it

[mightyb]

hmm i read some one doing this was agaisnt the bots agreements etc?

Good point! This might be considered as search engine cloacing. Because spiders will see the page different to what regular users (guests) will see. But i dont know...

[Smiry Kin's]

well it happened to one of my sites.. now google and blocked it from there search engine.. im just say.. :) becareful., infact they banned my whole adsense account, in which they still wont mail back to this day..

[Ramsesx]

Hm, would like to install it very much, but the most visitors at this time come from google and would be a desaster if they would ban my site. :ermm:
@trilljester
could you be so kind and post exactly what google wrote to you?
Thanks

[GamerJunk.net]

Amazing! Any plans to have them show as users on the memberlist like GoogleBot and YahooSlurp?

[AshokForums.com]

thanks for this excellent hack.. love it

[kall]

hmm i read some one doing this was agaisnt the bots agreements etc?
Highly unlikely.

If this is cloaking, having a Guest usergroup is in and of itself, cloaking.

If a registered user happens to come across the Google Cache of one of your pages, and goes to visit it, they see something different as well.

[trilljester]

Here's what Google wrote back to me:


Thank you for your note. We recognize your concern. Please be advised that
we don't personally review individual sites, nor do we comment on
webmaster techniques or the details of our search technology beyond what
appears on our site.

We've dedicated an entire section of our site to answering the most common
questions from those who maintain and/or promote websites. You'll find all
of our publicly available information information posted at
http://www.google.com/webmasters/index.html


I did some more research on their site, and nowhere in Google's definitions does this qualify as a "bad" practice. However, it could be loosely, and I mean, very loosely defined as cloaking, in the sense that 2 sets of content are being presented. However, you are not hiding content from anyone.

There are a lot of websites out on the net that require you to register or even pay to see content. Yet, they're indexed and served in Google. If this was a rampant violation of their terms of service, then they'd clearly state it. Again, it's your choic to use this mod or not. If you are extremely worried, then don't use it. Simple as that!

Onwards:


Amazing! Any plans to have them show as users on the memberlist like GoogleBot and YahooSlurp?


Well, on my site, when Googlebot shows up, it displays them as their true identity on the Who's Online display. It's probably not a good idea to make them actual members, they're just borrowing the members' group.

[Zia]

hmm..i dont its would be better to install it or not...
some whre in a famous webmaster forum i read "cloaking' spider/bot maight be a reason banned the site from the search engine...

...looks for xpert's comment....

[Corriewf]

This is a great mod!

Think about the logic you guys are preaching. With the same logic, we could get banned for an indexed thread that has been moved to a private area..... There is no black and white here but nothing in life is. If the bot has indexed the material available in your site then your fine by Google's TOS. Cloaking is making material that does not actually exist on your site.

Install and have fun! ;)

[Cap'n Steve]

If you're worried about the engines getting annoyed with you, the Search Engine-Friendly Archive is much shadier than this.

[Snake]

Thank you very much, just installed the hack and it works great! ;)

[kofoid]

YAY YAY YAY! I have been wanting this for a while - THANK YOU

[bashy]

Hi

I still have bots getting the No Permissions when trying to view a forum that users are allowed to view?

[trilljester]

Hi

I still have bots getting the No Permissions when trying to view a forum that users are allowed to view?

Are the bots in your spiders_vbulletin.xml file (located in includes/xml)? This mod uses this file to determine if the visitor is a bot or not.

[ScienceofSpock]

Just a quick question/security concern:
How are you identifying SE bots? Are you using the user-agent?
If so, are bots allowed to post (considering they're regarded as regular members) ?
If so, What's to stop me loading up Opera, changing my user-agent to googlebot and posting on your forums?

I'm not trying to be sarcastic here, I'd really like to add this to my forum. I'm just trying to play devil's advocate and perform due diligence.

[trilljester]

Just a quick question/security concern:
How are you identifying SE bots? Are you using the user-agent?
If so, are bots allowed to post (considering they're regarded as regular members) ?
If so, What's to stop me loading up Opera, changing my user-agent to googlebot and posting on your forums?

I'm not trying to be sarcastic here, I'd really like to add this to my forum. I'm just trying to play devil's advocate and perform due diligence.

Yes, the modification uses the spiders_vbulletin.xml and checks the user-agent to determine if you're a bot or not. And if you follow the default installation, you'll be allowing bots or humans who are clever enough to change their user-agent to post on your site.

HOWEVER, you can set whatever group you want the bots/humans to be in. If you want the bots to be able to see your site but not post, create a new usergroup that doesn't allow posting, just viewing. Which is what I would recommend in any case, so nobody can spoof a bot and post on your forums.

To change to that group, just modify the code you added in init.php and change that group ID to whatever ID you have setup for that special group.

[lionheart53]

I want only the spider for google adsense to get through and not the others. So I tried changing the spiders_vbulletin.xml to just what's below but then my pages in the forum don't come up at all. Any ideas why? Is there a better way to do this?

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>

<searchspiders>
<spider ident="Mediapartners-Google">
<name>Google AdSense</name>
<info>https://www.google.com/adsense/faq</info>
<email>adsense-support@google.com</email>
</spider>
</searchspiders>

<!-- CVS: $RCSfile: spiders_vbulletin.xml,v $ - $Revision: 1.2 $ -->

[trilljester]

I want only the spider for google adsense to get through and not the others. So I tried changing the spiders_vbulletin.xml to just what's below but then my pages in the forum don't come up at all. Any ideas why? Is there a better way to do this?



For some reason not entirely clear to me, VBulletin doesn't handle a single entry in the spiders_vbulletin.xml file very well. So, just add another Spider in the file. For your example, I added GoogleBot as well as Google Adsense.

Try this spiders_vbulletin.xml:


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>

<spiderlist version="1.0">
<spider ident="Mediapartners-Google">
<name>Google AdSense</name>
<type>searchspider</type>
<info>https://www.google.com/adsense/faq</info>
<email>adsense-support@google.com</email>
</spider>
<spider ident="Googlebot/">
<name>Google</name>
<type>searchspider</type>
<info>http://www.google.com/bot.html</info>
<email>googlebot@google.com</email>
<addresses>
<address type="range">64.233.160.0-64.233.191.255</address>
<address type="range">66.249.64.0-66.249.95.255</address>
<address type="range">72.14.192.0-72.14.207.255</address>
<address type="range">216.239.32.0-216.239.63.255</address>
</addresses>
</spider>
</spiderlist>

[lionheart53]

Thanks. That resolved it. Very weird but I can work with that.

[trilljester]

Thanks. That resolved it. Very weird but I can work with that.

Yeah, it is weird, I'll have to look into it a little more. I might have to update the mod to use it's own XML file for what bots you want in or not, so as not to mess with the original file.

Maybe if I have time this weekend...

[Zia]

For some reason not entirely clear to me, VBulletin doesn't handle a single entry in the spiders_vbulletin.xml file very well. So, just add another Spider in the file. For your example, I added GoogleBot as well as Google Adsense.

Try this spiders_vbulletin.xml:


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>

<spiderlist version="1.0">
<spider ident="Mediapartners-Google">
<name>Google AdSense</name>
<type>searchspider</type>
<info>https://www.google.com/adsense/faq</info>
<email>adsense-support@google.com</email>
</spider>
<spider ident="Googlebot/">
<name>Google</name>
<type>searchspider</type>
<info>http://www.google.com/bot.html</info>
<email>googlebot@google.com</email>
<addresses>
<address type="range">64.233.160.0-64.233.191.255</address>
<address type="range">66.249.64.0-66.249.95.255</address>
<address type="range">72.14.192.0-72.14.207.255</address>
<address type="range">216.239.32.0-216.239.63.255</address>
</addresses>
</spider>
</spiderlist>


umm nice..support......do u mind to rrelase an update spiderlist.xml

i trust,u tweak/customize ur spider list......can u relase it....
in fact now a days no one taking care of spiders list...

[dutchbb]

it's a black hat technique

google says don't optimize your pages for spiders, if you do, you are taking a high risk...

[trilljester]

umm nice..support......do u mind to rrelase an update spiderlist.xml

i trust,u tweak/customize ur spider list......can u relase it....
in fact now a days no one taking care of spiders list...

I downloaded the one offered at vbulletin.com - here's the link:

http://www.ragnarokonline.de/spiderlist/spiderlist.xml

Upload it into includes/xml, name it spiders_vbulletin.xml

You could also name it that before uploading and overwrite the one in that directory. I keep one called spiders_vbulletin.xml.new in includes/xml so when upgrading VB versions, I can just copy that one over the default one given in VB.

[Andreas]

<font size="3">Attention</font>
Using this Hack is to be considered cloaking your site, and you risk being banned from search engine indexes - like it recently happened to BMW.

[trilljester]

Andreas: Do you have official word from the search engines that this is cloaking?

Also, how do you explain the thousands of Invision based boards (which have this built in) that do exactly what this mod does, yet are NOT banned from the search engines? If this is cloaking, then what do you consider the "search engine friendly" archive as mentioned earlier in this thread?

[Andreas]

http://www.google.de/intl/us/webmasters/guidelines.html


Make pages for users, not for search engines. Don't deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users, which is commonly referred to as "cloaking."

(I am pretty sure other search engines have similar terms)

If a search engine indexes a Thread that is only accesable for Registered Users (or even worse only for paying users), and I access your site as a guest, I do get different content (a no permission error).
As you are intentionally allow search engines to spider content that is not publically accessable (to attract more users than there would be if you only had public content indexed), this is to be considered cloaking.

The search engine friendly archive is different in 2 ways:
a) I do get the same content through the archive as I do get through the forum
b) If I, as a Guest, access the archive I do get the exact same output as does a search engine spider.

Of course there are thousands of sites out there that are cloaking and still are indexed ... how many pages does Google have indexed?
Just because they are not discovered and remove yet, does not mean that they never will be.

If you come across sites that are cloaking, report them - this increases the chance of getting them removed.

[lionheart53]

I'm not an expert in this and don't know about the Google spider for content, but I do know that for adsense the contact at google I was emailing with specifically mentioned that it was okay for me to have adsense ads if I could set up a way for the google adsense spider to get in to the data even though the content normally requires login. So at least for that one bot I'm assuming they wouldn't call it cloaking since they told me to do it.

I'd be surprised if they called it cloaking if a user can get to that same data by logging in since you're then not giving different data, just requiring login. For paying for access, that may be something different since a regular person couldn't get to that data.

[trilljester]

Andreas: Would you agree that if you allow a spider to see content that only registered users (not paying) can see is not technically cloaking? Because all the incoming user has to do is register to see the content.

Maybe a mod on top of this one would be a "snippet" where the incoming visitor could see some of the first post in a thread, and would have to register to see the full content.

If you are charging users to see your forums and using this hack, then I agree 100%, it is cloaking, because you are now requiring a user to pay to see the content.

But for a simple 30 second registration requirement, that's really stretching the definition of "cloaking". One good example of why this could not be defined as cloaking is the New York Times. To see articles, you must create a free account. Yet, NYT articles pop up on search engines all the time. You'd think Google or Yahoo would be a little more inclined to ban a major site like the NYT as opposed to a small site like mine.

We could sit here and debate this until we turn blue. I go with my original edict. If you are worried about being banned from search engines then don't install this hack.

[Andreas]

It would still be cloaking, as I as a guest user cannot view the content.

Being able to view it when logged is not the solution; I as a user coming from a search engine result might not even be able to register at all or I might not want to do this.

EoD from my side :)

[Andreas]

Idea to make this a Plugin (untested):

Create a Bot User, set $_COOKIE[COOKIE_PREFIX . 'userid'] and $_COOKIE[COOKIE_PREFIX . 'password'] in init_startup accordingly.

[Moya]

It would still be cloaking, as I as a guest user cannot view the content.

Being able to view it when logged is not the solution; I as a user coming from a search engine result might not even be able to register at all or I might not want to do this.

EoD from my side :)


Hehehehe I don't mean to attack him or his hack, but I think we can test this out. We can try to search for subjects related to his link. Once we find one that require certain login to access the content, we report to google and ask for their opinion whether this is cloaking or not.

:D :D just my lousy 0.02

[trilljester]

Hehehehe I don't mean to attack him or his hack, but I think we can test this out. We can try to search for subjects related to his link. Once we find one that require certain login to access the content, we report to google and ask for their opinion whether this is cloaking or not.

:D :D just my lousy 0.02

Example of what I'm talking about:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/politics/14whitehouse.html

I did a search on Google for: cheney shooting + new york times

The site comes back with a 1 sentence snippet from the article, but requires a registration to read the full article.

So, is it cloaking?

[treasureman]

trilljester,

I want to thank you for this mod! I have installed it and it is working beautifully! This is a standard feature with Invision board and I used it for 3 years with no problems.

For the VBulletin Developers who are so deadset against this mod: It is NOT cloaking! Cloaking is when you show different content to search engines than to users. With this mod we are showing the SAME content , it's just that the users have to register to see a little deeper into the site.

Cloaking is showing information to the search engines that is DIFFERENT or unrelated, such as pages stuffed with keywords or pages that are not relevant to your content, just to increase ranking. In other words cloaking is showing misleading content. This is not what this mod is about.

[trilljester]

Sure thing treasureman, I too had it with my old IPB installation and I missed it!

I guess the argument is pretty moot, but that was my understanding of cloaking as well.

[Ramsesx]

The spiders are not handled as registered member they get same before "acces denied". Have a new spiders_vbulletin.xml and vbulletin recognize and show them as spiders. Any help about that?

[trilljester]

The spiders are not handled as registered member they get same before "acces denied". Have a new spiders_vbulletin.xml and vbulletin recognize and show them as spiders. Any help about that?

Things to check:
-- Did you make the code change to init.php in the includes/ directory?

-- Make sure the plugin is active.

-- Double check that the group ID you're placing them in exists and has permission to view whatever they're trying to view.

[treasureman]

Yeah I created a new group just for spiders and made that group unable to post because if you set the spiders to use the Registered Users group then someone could change their user agent to the spider user agent and post on your board without registering. Works great!

[Ramsesx]

Things to check:
-- Did you make the code change to init.php in the includes/ directory?

-- Make sure the plugin is active.

-- Double check that the group ID you're placing them in exists and has permission to view whatever they're trying to view.

Thanks, checked everything, usergroup for registered members is 2, but it is not working.

[trilljester]

Thanks, checked everything, usergroup for registered members is 2, but it is not working.

What exactly are the robots trying to do that they're getting permission denied errors on? Some functions won't work because they don't have a real user id.

[Ramsesx]

What exactly are the robots trying to do that they're getting permission denied errors on? Some functions won't work because they don't have a real user id.
vba inks directory and vbgallery

[trilljester]

I have Photopost VBGallery, let me check a couple of things out, it might not be fully compatible with 3rd party addons, but I'll check.

[trilljester]

Yes, these 3rd party addons have their own permission set, so this mod won't work with them. Sorry about that.

[Ramsesx]

ok, thank you

[trilljester]

ok, thank you

No prob. I'll probably look into making it work with them in the future, but as it stands now, they don't mesh. But don't give up hope! I won't let it get too far from my radar!

:D

[bashy]

Hi

If bots are members then how come mine are viewing the No Permissions Message?
Is this right?

[trilljester]

It depends on what the bots are trying to look at. What location are the bots seeing the No Permission message?

[bashy]

Hi, please see image, it was trying to read a thread in the lounge thats open to all


It depends on what the bots are trying to look at. What location are the bots seeing the No Permission message?

[trilljester]

Hmmm, I'm pretty sure that MKPortal is causing the issue. Note that this mod is not compatible with any 3rd party addons that mess with permissions/sessions. Are there any forums on your site that normal guests can't see?

[bashy]

Hi

Yes there are a few that normal guests cant see prob about 5 or so

[Stop]

Installed and works fine. But I'm wondering if there's a way to make these bots showable in the members who have visited the forum in the last 24 hours list.

[trilljester]

No, not via this hack. You'd have to ask whoever did that hack to see if they can add bots into it. Not a bad idea, gives you an idea how often bots are visiting.

[corbint]

Excellent idea for a hack. Ive installed it, and am having an issue. Ive edited the core file, init.php, and now the end of the file looks like this :

if ($is_bot == 1) {
$vbulletin->userinfo['usergroupid'] = 9;
}

if (!empty($db->explain))

My issue is that its not detecting the spiders. Ive changed my user agent in Mozilla to Google, Yahoo slurp, MSN, Teoma, etc, and they still dont have proper access. I view my forum with user-agent set to GOOGLEBOT, create a thread, and it says my username is Unregistered. Shouldnt it be "registered"?

[HaMaDa4eVeR]

I upload http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/politics/14whitehouse.html
in /includes/xml and I set $vbulletin->userinfo['usergroupid'] = 2;
and #2 = my registered group ID ,,
and still Now I see in (online.php)
Yahoo! Slurp Spider (watch no presmmistion message)
Yahoo! Slurp Spider (watch no presmmistion message)
MSNBot Spider (watch no presmmistion message)
Google Spider (watch no presmmistion message)

whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ??

[amykhar]

Just a comment. You may want to consider changing the title of this mod to use the word spiders instead of bots. Most people here consider a bot a script that automatically posts something to the forums, while a search engine agent is a spider. More people will search for spider when they want this mod.

[DJ J@M?S]

this mod not work guys :(

[Quarterbore]

All of you saying this is not working had me worried so I made some changes to mine...

I made a new group that works like my registered group but it is named
"Search Bots" plus I updated my spider list... Next I assigned my bots to be in this new group and saw the bots were in the forums...

I shut their access down to access forums, threads, etc... and the bots all got no permissions errors....

So, I then went back in and updated my settings so they can see forums and threads BUT I made it so they can't see profiles (Can't harvest E-mails that way) and locked them out of forums I didn't want them to see based on the user group...

Works great for me!

Thanks!

[gavinzac]

Just a comment. You may want to consider changing the title of this mod to use the word spiders instead of bots. Most people here consider a bot a script that automatically posts something to the forums, while a search engine agent is a spider. More people will search for spider when they want this mod.yeah, pretty much. it seems strange to me that there is an auto-response bot for phpBB & not for vBulletin.

[clasione]

This is too risky for my blood..... Showing one page to a spider and one page to a guest is extreamly dangerous.... Often search engines will send "secret spiders" to test and see if you are serving different pages.....

[denby]

Thank you for your note. We recognize your concern. Please be advised that
we don't personally review individual sites, nor do we comment on
webmaster techniques or the details of our search technology beyond what
appears on our site.

We've dedicated an entire section of our site to answering the most common
questions from those who maintain and/or promote websites. You'll find all
of our publicly available information information posted at
http://www.google.com/webmasters/index.html
This is not a definitive clarification of the issue in any way. Google has basically said they don't discuss individual cases or divilge their indexing or verfication processes (apart from saying it's done by spiders not humans), and that you'll find the answers to all your questions in their webmasters' FAQ. It's left completely to the individual to interpret the TOS and decide what's black hat.
Attention
Using this Hack is to be considered cloaking your site, and you risk being banned from search engine indexes - like it recently happened to BMW.
To be fair, the BMW case involves very different issues. BMW.de was using quite blatant and crude cloaking: spiders were redirected to pages chocked full of car related keywords at a much greater density than on the pages shown to ordinary visitors in an attempt to boost page rank. Very old, tired strategies that Google can spot at 100 MegaPaces.


I face the usual competing goals of retaining control of my site's privacy and member priviledges while ensuring good SE ranking and the delivery of relevant GoogleAds (and hence healthy GoogleAds revenues). One added problem in all this is that if you have restricted the forum viewing access to logged-in visitors, installed the mod and had your forum pages indexed by Google (essentially the archive URL versions of them), the Google search results will reveal the content via the "Cached" link for each result. If unlogged-in visitors from the Google results click the ordinary link, they will be confronted by a login screen but not if they click the "Cached" link. To avoid this hole in your security you need to add a robots no-cache meta tag to your headerinclude template:
<meta name="robots" content="index,follow,noarchive">This says to all spiders that visit this page "you may index this page, and any pages linked to it via hyperlinks but you may not store the content of any of them in the Googlesearch engine cache".

You should also edit/install a robots.txt file in your root or forum folder with the following content:
User-agent: Googlebot
Disallow:
User-agent: Mediapartners-Google
Disallow:
User-agent: *
Disallow: /These settings say to the 2 spiders Googlebot and Mediapartners-Google (the GoogleAds spider) "roam my site at will" but tells all others to not crawl any part of my site. It should be noted that only spiders that play by the rules read the robots.txt file. All the big names obey the robots.txt directives but there are lots of smaller rogue spiders who ignore them. Another good reason to edit your spiders_vbulletin.xml file to define which spiders will be accepted into your forum by this mod.


Nice mod but it's operating in the grey zone and until Google definitively clarifies whether it's OK for a spider to see my forum content while an unlogged-in visitor can not, I will not be installing it. I can't afford the risk of losing my significant monthly GoogleAds income or my healthy SE ranking.

I will write to Google and report here if I get a clearer answer than trilljester received. :)

[MikeF]

Nice mod but it's operating in the grey zone and until Google definitively clarifies whether it's OK for a spider to see my forum content while an unlogged-in visitor can not, I will not be installing it.

I don't understand how the point hasn't been clarified by the major search engines. Cloaking is when the spiders see content a person casually going to the site doesn't see for the purposes of gaining ranking. If the default usergroup is Unregistered with ability to read posts restricted, and the bots see much more its cloaking...

The bottom line is that its not OK.

Imagine you are Google or Yahoo trying to get the most relevant search results. The archive is a duplicate content / optimization issue... they may rank you lower or higher for duplicate content depending on duplication but theyre not going to terminate you. Now if you added 100 content relevant keywords at the end of every archive page to gain better rank, they probably would.

The same goes for this - if there are some general discrepencies between what registered/unregistered people see its not a big deal. But turning spiders into forum members... :rolleyes: Combine this with the vBPopup mod and someone might as well start cheesyforum.org

[AzzidReign]

Hmm...seems like this isnt working for me either. I'm lookin at the bots and its saying that they are getting "no permissions" error. Any definite fix to this yet?

[Raydar]

My guests can see everything that my members can see. So I'm thinking that I don't need this hack. Unless there is some other advantage to using it?

I also have welcome headers installed. From reading parts of this thread, it seems that welcome headers may be what the google bot is reading when crawling my pages. If so, is there a way to make google ignore the welcome header?

Thanks for any advice.

Reg

[Lammypie]

Corbynt, I'm not sure mine is working either. I've adjusted my useragent to "Googlebot/2.X (http://www.googlebot.com/bot.html)" and gone to my site (not logged in as a user, the access I get is contolled by the user group setting, so thats working, its just that I don't appear in the whos online list as googlebot, only as guest. ? any suggestions whats wrong.

Reg Car, I also need to stop spiders from seeing the welcome headers, as they are ruining my search results.

All suggestions welcome

[denby]

Nice mod but it's operating in the grey zone and until Google definitively clarifies whether it's OK for a spider to see my forum content while an unlogged-in visitor can not, I will not be installing it. I can't afford the risk of losing my significant monthly GoogleAds income or my healthy SE ranking.

I will write to Google and report here if I get a clearer answer than trilljester received. :)
Well, they will not commit to any further elaboration so I say act on the side of caution and beware.

I have settled on a compromise: I will allow all guests (including spiders) to view the forums and thread titles but stop short of showing thread content. Hopefully most thread titles will be informative (and not of the "Help!", "One more thing" and "Well what do you know..." variety) and so entice Google search engine users to come and register.

You can achieve this with the built-in permissions options by setting the forum permissions for each forum for the Unregistered/Not Logged In usergroup as follows:
Can View Forum Yes
Can View Thread Content No
Can View Others' Threads Yes

vB can't tell who the guest is (whether or not they have posted in the forum before) and so all threads are by someone else. But they are still not allowed to view the content.

The quickest way to implement this for all your forums is to do it once manually for one forum and then use the Forum-Based Permission Duplicator . You can find a link to that duplicator at the top of the page:
Admin Control Panel -> Forums and Moderators -> Forum Permissions

I hope this helps. :)

[kall]

Corbynt, I'm not sure mine is working either. I've adjusted my useragent to "Googlebot/2.X (http://www.googlebot.com/bot.html)" and gone to my site (not logged in as a user, the access I get is contolled by the user group setting, so thats working, its just that I don't appear in the whos online list as googlebot, only as guest. ? any suggestions whats wrong.


Reg Car, I also need to stop spiders from seeing the welcome headers, as they are ruining my search results.

All suggestions welcome
Do you have Googlebot defined as such in your AdminCP - Spider Identification?

ie: Does googlebot show up in your Who's Online ever?

[venkyrahul]

seems a good hack , thanks

[Smiry Kin's]

donno if its working for me..??

but i see that it has no permissions :S

now guests have permission to view profiles n stuff :s.... so do memebers...?

[moonclamp]

Just wondering, has anyone actually seen their rank improved as a result of this hack?

[Lammypie]

Do you have Googlebot defined as such in your AdminCP - Spider Identification?

ie: Does googlebot show up in your Who's Online ever?


I have something like 11 members and 2 guests show up quite a bit. When I enter the whos online page, it will say one of the guests - I can tell its googlebot by the browser id only.

googlebot is listed in the spider id xml file if thats what you mean?

[WebsiteDonation]

Dear trilljester & everybody,

I didn't try this mod yet but after reviewing all of your discussions here, I have some ideas :

1. This mod is alright with Google, you guys don't need to worry. Because, very simple, you can set for Guests permission to view all of pages on your forums. In this mod, you set for Spiders permission to view all of pages, there is no problem from Google or whether.

2. I recommend that you guys should create a separate usergroup for Bots, with viewing permissions only. This is good in case if someone try to be .. a bot. In this moment, I am willing to be a spider to make some posts annoy your forums because Bots are in Registered usergroup.

Just small ideas.

[WebsiteDonation]

Additional, a short question : Is there any accident if we use this mod and vbBOL (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=112877) ?

[boeserwolf]

boeserwolf klicks install

It´s very useful for my community as a lot of members would complain if we would allow guests to read the threads. We have a legal topic in our board, but we also want to improve our search engine ranking, so I think this is one of the best hacks to fullfil both needs.

Thanks a lot for this

Markus

[kall]

boeserwolf klicks install

It?s very useful for my community as a lot of members would complain if we would allow guests to read the threads. We have a legal topic in our board, but we also want to improve our search engine ranking, so I think this is one of the best hacks to fullfil both needs.

Thanks a lot for this


Markus
You don't appear to understand.

By allowing SE bots to read these 'member-only' threads, you ARE allowing Guests to read them.

a) by viewing the cached page in the SE results.
b) by changing their Useragent to match that of a known bot, thereby allowing an actual Guest to read the thread.

[TPOCJames]

Installed. :) Thanks!

[dhaliwal]

it doesnt work on my forum. What i have seen is that the spiders are getting the same message as non registered users.

I am also using the hack

Thread Display For Nonregistered Users (Limit Characters, Display Message) 2.0.5

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=108834


The owner of this hack has told to use your hack as well, which makes it sure that both should be compatible. but its not working.

Spiders are treated as un registered.

please help.
thanks

[lovechandigarh]

I installed it exactly the way you told, but it just doesn't work...
my init.php has many instances of this code:
if (!empty($db->explain))

I added your code above the last one in there... and it didn't work
Then added it above all instances, and still it didn't work
:( Please advise

[salata]

I installed it exactly the way you told, but it just doesn't work...
my init.php has many instances of this code:
if (!empty($db->explain))

I added your code above the last one in there... and it didn't work
Then added it above all instances, and still it didn't work
:( Please advise

same with me

[salata]

I installed it exactly the way you told, but it just doesn't work...
my init.php has many instances of this code:
if (!empty($db->explain))

I added your code above the last one in there... and it didn't work
Then added it above all instances, and still it didn't work
:( Please advise

bump

[ZeryabPhone]

I installed it exactly the way you told, but it just doesn't work...
my init.php has many instances of this code:
if (!empty($db->explain))

I added your code above the last one in there... and it didn't work
Then added it above all instances, and still it didn't work
:( Please advise

& same here..

:confused:

[marksman1]

Does anyone know if this works with VBadvanced pages?

[NitroXploit]

Can the is_bot variable be used to hide for example welcome_headers from bots in templates?

Thanks

[vbreal]

maybe this doesn't work for 3.5.4 its not working for me either

[vbreal]

its letting yahoo view it with no problem. but not google

[GrendelKhan{TSU]

btw.. yahoo has updated its slurp spider. I don't think it will effect this..but maybe developer outta confirm. ;)

http://www.ysearchblog.com/archives/000334.html

[Kanustep]

This will be great if working.
Is there any new update on this addon?

[redspider]

any one try this hack on 3.6?

[murrtex]

any one try this hack on 3.6?

yes. but it dosnt work on it..

[tazB.ca]

can somebody get this to work on 3.6 pleasssssse

[Joey805]

Any updates on this working for 3.6?

[thedvs]

i guess noones gonna do it :(

[tazB.ca]

are you sure it doesnt work on 3.6 ?? ppl been saying it does

i guess ill just have to try it for myself

[Biggles]

It wasn't working on my board since the 3.6 upgrade. But then I realised there was a code insertion to be done to the init.php file. I've done that.

Note there is a bold warning on the mod first post that tells us we need to do this for any upgrade. Time will tell if that's all we need to do.

[UZFRED]

I reinstalled it, tested it, AdSense bot can't access the forums which it could before I applied new vBulletin.

[Snake]

Please upgrade this to 3.6.

[Snake]

*bump*

[Snake]

Anyone out there?

[Snake]

This is weird. I have just re-installed it on my vB 3.6 forums and it seems to work just fine. :S So why are you people saying it ain't working properly on 3.6 then?

[optrex]

Works fine on my 3.6.1 - took a few days for the spiders to pick up though.

[Coach_Guru]

Installed ;)

[HansMuenchen]

Does ist also work with 3.6.2?

Thnx for the Answer!

Greetings
Hans

[murrtex]

yes it does Hans ;)

[HansMuenchen]

Hello,

today when I look on the "Who is online" I see that the Spider becomes a forbidden message. (see screenshot)

How can I check if the hack works?

Thnx for your help
Hans

[paradis]

hello Does ist also work with 3.6.3? thank you

[Snake]

Yeah it does.

[Gerakus]

Question, if I allow a guest to see a portion of the thread instead of just the error message asking it to register and the spider the full content of the thread, will be still consider a bad practice on the Google eyes? Nvm I think Google TOS is very clear...

[Roxie]

*wrong thread*

[Hemanth]

Will it work for 3.6.4?

[alternity]

If it works for 3.6.3 it will work for 3.6.4 since the only thing changed was fixing a exploit.

[Snake]

Which we have been waiting for months for it.

[dadimes]

hey, ive got multiple "if (!empty($db->explain))" in my init.php

whcih one do i use???

im on 3.6.3 btw

[Pure Dope]

My guy doesn't seem to retain much. At least not for more than a couple hours.

sup rocks

[Pure Dope]

the bots (google and yahoo) seem to be getting the denied message....?

did i do something wrong? HM.

[Camz]

the bots (google and yahoo) seem to be getting the denied message....?

did i do something wrong? HM.
same here

[Snake]

Have you editted the init.php file already? Well by the sounds of it, you haven't.

[zompus]

Not working for me as well.

[Snake]

Anyone? :(

[treasureman]

Works fine for me in 3.6.4

[Snake]

Lol but you aren't even using v3.6.4. :D

[treasureman]

Lol but you aren't even using v3.6.4. :D


If you are talking about my post I am most definitely using v3.6.4

If you are not talking about me, please disregard.

[JorgeX]

This also works for vb 3.6?

[treasureman]

Works for 3.6.4 for me!

[Snake]

It does but I recommend you NOT to use this hack anymore!

[bashy]

It does but I recommend you NOT to use this hack anymore!
Why Snake?

[Snake]

<a href="https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?p=901722#post901722" target="_blank">https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showt...722#post901722</a>

Read the last few posts on the first page of this thread. I have also contacted a few SEO experts on vBSEO.com regarding this and they highly recommend me to completely disable this hack as it'll cause much trouble and damage to all the search engines out there.

[bashy]

Looks all ok to me m8, me not read anything in the thread that gives me cause for concern, some think it will and some think it wont lol...

One person has been in touch with google and still nothing has come of it...

[treasureman]

I have been using it for a year with no problems. Over 150,000 links in Google for my forum.

[Snake]

What is the URL to your forum, treasureman?

[treasureman]

Hi,

I do not publish the URL of my forum, sorry. It is a forum for professionals in a smaller sized profession, and it is very targeted to the profession only. Since it is a not a general interest forum I don't publish the URL here.

Really, I have no reason to lie about my experience with this mod, but if you don't want to use it, that's fine. I am just telling my experience from having used it a year. I have never had any problem with any of the search engines. I listed the engines I wanted to visit in the XML spyder file and left out the ones I didn't want to visit.

[Snake]

Hi,

I do not publish the URL of my forum, sorry. It is a forum for professionals in a smaller sized profession, and it is very targeted to the profession only. Since it is a not a general interest forum I don't publish the URL here.

Really, I have no reason to lie about my experience with this mod, but if you don't want to use it, that's fine. I am just telling my experience from having used it a year. I have never had any problem with any of the search engines. I listed the engines I wanted to visit in the XML spyder file and left out the ones I didn't want to visit. One word: Bullsh!t. :D

[funinthesun]

I installed this and after making the edit to the init.php file and re-uploading, Iwas unable to log on to my admincp. I re-uploaded the original file and everything went back to normal. :confused:

[g00gl3r]

THis is a spot-on hack, will it work with 3.6?

[Style?]

can we see it in the 3.6.x

[Bacteria1]

its work here 100% on 3.6.5

[rjmjr69]

Working like a charm for me with 3.6.5 and several mods I thought would be affected or interfere. Nice mod thanks

[jderouen]

This is probably a stupid question, but how can you tell whether or not it's working?

[Zaiaku]

This is probably a stupid question, but how can you tell whether or not it's working?
Use you who's online and set it to bots only. Wait for a both to crawl a thread or section that you know is only available to members. If you see them crawl it with no errors its working just fine.

[tazB.ca]

very nice

[FoReX]

This hack isn't work in version 3.6.8..
or I couldn't working? Anyone try?

[dtv100]

is working for me on 3.6.8 I edit mine around line 452 .

[War_force]

3.6.8

not working for me

[dtv100]

try this in init.php look for :

if (!empty($db->explain))
{
$db->timer_stop(false);
}

/*================================================= =====================*\
and replace with :





if ($is_bot == 1) {
$vbulletin->userinfo['usergroupid'] = XX;
}
if (!empty($db->explain))
{
$db->timer_stop(false);
}

/*================================================= =====================*\

change the 2 XX in red with the usergroup you want.

[forumrunt]

will this work with 3.6.8

[alessai2]

will it work for vb 3.6 ??

[alessai2]

:s it isnt working with XML-Sitemaps Generator.... it isnt allowing the spider of generator to visit the threads.. please help

[SEOvB]

isn't working at all really.

[The Notorious]

would be nice to have this for 3.6...

[urdu]

I want this for 3.6 & 3.7

[Zaiaku]

Confirmed working on 3.7 beta 6

At first didn't seem like it was working, woke up this morning and the bots were having no problems.

[mariocaz]

Is this mod not recommended if I have installed vBSEO in my forum ?

[joh]

will this work in 3.7 and withe vbseo.
I would love to have this install.

[dtv100]

Is this mod not recommended if I have installed vBSEO in my forum ?

have it running on my forum with vbseo no problem so far .

[forumrunt]

can I find this for 3.7

[dtv100]

is working for me on 3.7 with instructions I post here :
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=1377928&postcount=148

[jasculs]

Anyway we can allow multiple usergroups in? I have another usergroup other then regular registered that i'd like to have searched.

[Ak47]

Thanks for this wonderfull modification.

[Vuris]

is working for me on 3.7 with instructions I post here :
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=1377928&postcount=148

i added these changes and it still doesnt work on my 3.7 =/

[mry]

3.7 dont work any new mod for bots ?

[dtv100]

i added these changes and it still doesnt work on my 3.7 =/


try this maybe is the difference why works for me .
go to vbulletin.com and download the latest spider list .

[shofolofo]

Ok it is working fine ...

But there is a problem .. I can't exclude some spiders :|

I want all spiders to work normal except media-partners to act like a member .. is it possbile ?

[shofolofo]

Uninstalled
:(

although it was a good one but I needed some support

[joh]

how many people have this mod running on a 3.7 site?

[dtv100]

I do running with 3.7

[Joey805]

try this in init.php look for :

if (!empty($db->explain))
{
$db->timer_stop(false);
}

/*================================================= =====================*\
and replace with :





if ($is_bot == 1) {
$vbulletin->userinfo['usergroupid'] = XX;
}
if (!empty($db->explain))
{
$db->timer_stop(false);
}

/*================================================= =====================*\

change the 2 XX in red with the usergroup you want.


When ever I make this change, it appears that the bots can now get in, but I am unable to log into my admincp. I am running vb 3.7

Any ideas?

[John W Smith]

When ever I make this change, it appears that the bots can now get in, but I am unable to log into my admincp. I am running vb 3.7
Same with me and all private forums appear to become open to all members.

[mnymaker]

hmm..i dont its would be better to install it or not...
some whre in a famous webmaster forum i read "cloaking' spider/bot maight be a reason banned the site from the search engine...

...looks for xpert's comment....

Any resolution of this issue yet? I'd love to put it on my site www.talkaboutissues.org (http://www.talkaboutissues.org)but I also don't want to get it banned as I need all the search engine love I can get. :D

Thanks

[dtv100]

When ever I make this change, it appears that the bots can now get in, but I am unable to log into my admincp. I am running vb 3.7

Any ideas?
guys make sure you using spiders_vbulletin.xml file by vbulletin there is a version out there causing this problem joey and I find this problem last night.

[AliMadkour]

work on 3.7.2 ???

[dtv100]

yes work on 3.7.2

[Los]

I installed the code and my admin account goes on the fritz!

:(

[dtv100]

I installed the code and my admin account goes on the fritz!

:(

are you using a spider list other than one supply by vbulletin ?


btw is working on version 3.7.2 patch level 1

[Los]

I'm running 3.6.7.

Where is the list that vbulletin provides? I'm using this one: http://spiderlist.codeforgers.com/list.php

[dtv100]

someone here a few post from ours use that list and this hack and he start having problem.

this is one i use :


http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showpost.php?p=565415

[Los]

I renamed the file to spiders_vbulletin.xml and added the code. Seems to work. How can I be sure?

[dtv100]

I renamed the file to spiders_vbulletin.xml and added the code. Seems to work. How can I be sure?



go to vBulletin Options /Who's Online Options /Enable Spider Display
set to yes then go to who is online and if there spider you can see if they get permission errors.

[Welshy2008]

I have just installed this on my 3.6.8 Vs 2. How do I check that it has worked Please?

I have just tried to that "Spiderlist" through my ACP -> P&P -> Product Manage -> add/Import, but it showed as "Invalid File Specified". Is it because it is for the 3.7.2? Where as I have the 3.6.8?

I asume it is just the spiderlistXML file that I am supposed to upload?

How do I check that the upload of this hack is working for me Please? (I have been in ACP -> Who's Online Options -> Enable Spider Display -> Yes. (No spiders on at present).

When I downloaded it earlier, Google sider was on - but it was showing as a Guest (as usual). What I have done above will be seen by the members of the forum now - wouldn't it?

Many Thanks,

Welshy2008.

[andy9l]

Many thanks to dtv100 and trilljester!.

This works on 3.7.3 Patch 1 for me, this is what I did:

1. Downloaded, and installed the XML file from the original hack posted here (attached)
2. Edited the following in my init.php file (./includes/init.php)

Find:

if (!empty($db->explain))
{
$db->timer_stop(false);
}

/*================================================= =====================*\


Replace with:

if ($is_bot == 1) {
$vbulletin->userinfo['usergroupid'] = XX;
}
if (!empty($db->explain))
{
$db->timer_stop(false);
}

/*================================================= =====================*\


Seems to be working for me, I don't have any spider lists or anything installed, had no problems with Admin CP or other guest/member permissions as of yet. I'll let you know if there are any problems in the future.

It's simpler than it's made out in this thread...

The above code was not written by me and all credit goes to the makers/coders here ;)
I'm just giving a testimonial of a successful install on VB 3.7.3 - Patch 1

[Brandon Sheley]

this mod has bad idea written all over it :rolleyes:
I would advise AGAINST using this mod, giving the bots access to more then guest will get you blacklisted in search engines in no time.

[Nassou]

Thank you very much , it work for me !

[ROTPAR]

The Problem is: Now, every non registered member who will use a firefox plugin what will identify him as google bot, will have access to all private/closed forums as guest. They don't even need to register, just by using a FF Plugin.

Is there no possibility to identify the googlebot by actual ips ?

[dxblouie]

Works on 3.8.0 as follows:
install as normal

now in includes/init.php around line #400, look for the following:

$vbulletin->options['contactuslink'] .= $vbulletin->session->vars['sessionurl_q'];
}
}

// CSRF Protection for POST requests
if (strtoupper($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']) == 'POST')


Replace with the following:

$vbulletin->options['contactuslink'] .= $vbulletin->session->vars['sessionurl_q'];
}
}

// memberbot mod:
if ($is_bot == 1) {
$vbulletin->userinfo['usergroupid'] = XX;
}
// End of memberbot mod

// CSRF Protection for POST requests
if (strtoupper($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']) == 'POST')


i can see provisions for verifying the bot IP address in the mod code, but it doesn't seem to be active..

[mahakala]

thanks, i like it :)

to prevent missuse take a look at http://bot-trap.de - if one tries to fake, he is trapped. even so spambots and so on.

[ROTPAR]

how can i make it work on 3.8.1

[RedHacker]

How to install this in 3.8.1 .....?

[RedHacker]

Works on 3.8.0 as follows:
install as normal

now in includes/init.php around line #400, look for the following:

$vbulletin->options['contactuslink'] .= $vbulletin->session->vars['sessionurl_q'];
}
}

// CSRF Protection for POST requests
if (strtoupper($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']) == 'POST')


Replace with the following:

$vbulletin->options['contactuslink'] .= $vbulletin->session->vars['sessionurl_q'];
}
}

// memberbot mod:
if ($is_bot == 1) {
$vbulletin->userinfo['usergroupid'] = XX;
}
// End of memberbot mod

// CSRF Protection for POST requests
if (strtoupper($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']) == 'POST')


i can see provisions for verifying the bot IP address in the mod code, but it doesn't seem to be active..

Can bot logged as member...?XX what put.....?

[intell_iut]

is it work on 3.8.1?

[dtv100]

this mod work on 3.8.2


1. Downloaded, and installed the XML file from the original hack posted here (attached)
2. Edited the following in my init.php file (./includes/init.php)
find:



if (!empty($db->explain))
{
$db->timer_stop(false);
}

/*================================================= =====================*\
and replace with :




if ($is_bot == 1) {
$vbulletin->userinfo['usergroupid'] = XX;
}
if (!empty($db->explain))
{
$db->timer_stop(false);
}

/*================================================= =====================*\change the 2 XX in red with the number for usergroup you want

[RedHacker]

If open with Internet Explorer the spiders show some times in Admins,Mods and Site Designers..!!!!Why...?I put members bot as registers users.

[kdeniz]

is that 3.8.2

[kmatwill]

this mod work on 3.8.2


1. Downloaded, and installed the XML file from the original hack posted here (attached)
2. Edited the following in my init.php file (./includes/init.php)
find:



if (!empty($db->explain))
{
$db->timer_stop(false);
}

/*================================================= =====================*\
and replace with :




if ($is_bot == 1) {
$vbulletin->userinfo['usergroupid'] = XX;
}
if (!empty($db->explain))
{
$db->timer_stop(false);
}

/*================================================= =====================*\change the 2 XX in red with the number for usergroup you want

How do I know if this is working?

[kmatwill]

This doesn't seem to me to be working on 3.8.2. No errors, but no results either. I wish someone would update this. It's a great idea.

[thedvs]

can anyone fix this for 3.8.3?

[ROTPAR]

Ok once again. How can I prevent Users to see content after they used a firefox plugin what identifies them as a google bot?????

[kmatwill]

I don't think there is a way.

[ROTPAR]

then this plugin just sucks, because you just have to make yourself to a bot and you have full access to every corner of the forum.

[marshal_ramdev]

thanks

[alaska_av8r]

Has anyone used this mod on vb4? or has it been updated to work on vb4?

[firefoxextreme]

Yes I have it tested and working with VB 4.02 PL4

[cesaret244]

Yes I have it tested and working with VB 4.02 PL4

yes 4.0.3 pleas

[arena]

Works on 3.8.0 as follows:
install as normal

now in includes/init.php around line #400, look for the following:

$vbulletin->options['contactuslink'] .= $vbulletin->session->vars['sessionurl_q'];
}
}

// CSRF Protection for POST requests
if (strtoupper($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']) == 'POST')


Replace with the following:

$vbulletin->options['contactuslink'] .= $vbulletin->session->vars['sessionurl_q'];
}
}

// memberbot mod:
if ($is_bot == 1) {
$vbulletin->userinfo['usergroupid'] = XX;
}
// End of memberbot mod

// CSRF Protection for POST requests
if (strtoupper($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']) == 'POST')


i can see provisions for verifying the bot IP address in the mod code, but it doesn't seem to be active..

thank you vb4 suite is work

[ThiagoO]

@ dxblouie
thank you,
works fine in vb 3.8.6

[Faol]

then this plugin just sucks, because you just have to make yourself to a bot and you have full access to every corner of the forum.

How many people do you think know to change their browser to a bot? If you think it sucks, make something better.

[schlottkej]

How many people do you think know to change their browser to a bot? If you think it sucks, make something better.

right? lol

[scparker]

I've added the plug-in and it seems to work OK, but the issue I have now is that when I restrict viewing threads to unregistered users my Thread sitemap is empty..

Does anybody know how to implement this feature and keep the sitemap in tact?

[Jackie1]

Can't use vbb 4.1.2 :(.
Pls help, i need mod have use 4.1.2

[zgrkaralar]

How to install this in 4.1.1

[thedvs]

works fine in 412

[dai-kun]

after upgrading to 4.1.5 my adsense bot cannot get in anymores :(

Was working on 4.1.4

I redid my file edits.

[Eslob]

its a great mod but wont work properly if i use it while the threads are cut on the visitors.

it requires the visitor to login so they can view the full topic.

going to upgrade to the latest version in 3.x

[kamran_dotnet]

anyone test it on 4.2 ?
how can i know it works on my forum with 4.2?

[Calahan]

Could anybody successfully install it on 4.2?

[ROTPAR]

is there a version for 4.2? or any alternatives?

[ROTPAR]

anybody? come on

[ROTPAR]

Still searching for a version working on 4.2 or can anybody modify this version and make it work on 4.2?

[WebMonster2013]

Works on 3.8.0 as follows:
install as normal

now in includes/init.php around line #400, look for the following:

$vbulletin->options['contactuslink'] .= $vbulletin->session->vars['sessionurl_q'];
}
}

// CSRF Protection for POST requests
if (strtoupper($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']) == 'POST')


Replace with the following:

$vbulletin->options['contactuslink'] .= $vbulletin->session->vars['sessionurl_q'];
}
}

// memberbot mod:
if ($is_bot == 1) {
$vbulletin->userinfo['usergroupid'] = XX;
}
// End of memberbot mod

// CSRF Protection for POST requests
if (strtoupper($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']) == 'POST')


i can see provisions for verifying the bot IP address in the mod code, but it doesn't seem to be active..

Thank you sir this saved my life on vb 3.8.7