Moderate New Registrations Based On IP Geographical Origin

[Jafo232]

Original 3.7 mod here (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?threadid=198440).

This mod will put any new registration into moderation so you can either approve or deny based on the physical location of the IP address. If the IP is located in a country that you white list, the registration will go through as normal.

This may be different for everyone else, but on my forums, I have yet to have a Russian IP sign up for anything other than posting SPAM. This plugin has moderated them all!

I hope to have time to eventually expand this to do other things.

You MUST download the zone files from this site:

http://www.ipdeny.com/ipblocks/ (download the "all files" file)

The free license does not allow me to include them with the product, plus it is better to download the latest files anyway.

No real screenshots to show here, sorry.

Changelog:

12/20/2008
Coded the routine in, instead of using external whois program.
Now compatible with Windows
(39 download of 1.0) (3.7.x)2/11/2009
77 downloads at this point (3.7.x)
Rewrote application to use zone files rather than relying on ArinTo upgrade, READ THE README, and re-install product (select overwrite).

Don't forget to:

CLICK INSTALL! (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/vborg_miscactions.php?do=installhack&threadid=205044)

[Jafo232]

Reserved..

[Jon Tolzien]

Sweet exactly what i needed. Installed.

[Jafo232]

Great, let me know how it works out for you. :)

[bleros]

Great Jafo good work..

Now how to block just Russian and Chinna :) how to use

[XtremeOffroad]

Oh this might be a blesing, Damn .ru spammers are a real headache.
Thanks.

[Jafo232]

Great Jafo good work..

Now how to block just Russian and Chinna :) how to use

If you want to do that you could treat the valid country codes section as an EXCLUDE list, then just change this line in whois.php:

if (!in_array($country, $valid_countries)) { $userdata->set('usergroupid', 4); }

To this:

if (in_array($country, $valid_countries)) { $userdata->set('usergroupid', 4); }

[Nadeemjp]

a much needed mod. .ru has been bothering me as well for a long time. and .cn as well.

[dknelson]

OK..I am trying this one again. I get this in my VBulletin options:

You need to download zone files

If you see an error below, then you did not upload the zone files yet (see readme).

I have the zone files downloaded, unzipped and uploaded to the zones folder. This is ALL it says, no error.

[bleros]

If you want to do that you could treat the valid country codes section as an EXCLUDE list, then just change this line in whois.php:

if (!in_array($country, $valid_countries)) { $userdata->set('usergroupid', 4); }To this:

if (in_array($country, $valid_countries)) { $userdata->set('usergroupid', 4); }

Good, but I installed the entire members becoming Administrator shit :@ my usergroup id 4 is Administrator .. Having lost the posts etc.

[Vaupell]

Good, but I installed the entire members becoming Administrator shit :@ my usergroup id 4 is Administrator .. Having lost the posts etc.

ohh gotta be carefull with mods in general then.
thought 4 was coopa or waiting confirmation
admin 6, supmod 5, mod 7. "by default"

[Jafo232]

OK..I am trying this one again. I get this in my VBulletin options:

You need to download zone files

If you see an error below, then you did not upload the zone files yet (see readme).

I have the zone files downloaded, unzipped and uploaded to the zones folder. This is ALL it says, no error.

You have the zones folder inside the plugins folder?

[Jafo232]

Good, but I installed the entire members becoming Administrator shit :@ my usergroup id 4 is Administrator .. Having lost the posts etc.

You must have really changed up your usergroups in the past. I agree, many plugins rely on 4 being the moderated usergroup. You can change that number to whatever your moderated usergroup is.

Never heard of anyone changing usergroup 4 to admin, but I guess that is just me. :)

[bleros]

ohh gotta be carefull with mods in general then.
thought 4 was coopa or waiting confirmation
admin 6, supmod 5, mod 7. "by default"

i know by default

[bleros]

You must have really changed up your usergroups in the past. I agree, many plugins rely on 4 being the moderated usergroup. You can change that number to whatever your moderated usergroup is.

Never heard of anyone changing usergroup 4 to admin, but I guess that is just me. :)

yes mann im changing,, but can a back all group default

[dknelson]

You have the zones folder inside the plugins folder?

Yes I do. I don't know that there is a problem. Like I said, it says on the left side "You need to download the zone file"....on the right it says If you see an error below, then you did not upload the zone files yet (see readme).

What would the error say? Is that the "You need to download the zone file"? Is that the error? It seems to be working OK so far.

[Jafo232]

Yes I do. I don't know that there is a problem. Like I said, it says on the left side "You need to download the zone file"....on the right it says If you see an error below, then you did not upload the zone files yet (see readme).

What would the error say? Is that the "You need to download the zone file"? Is that the error? It seems to be working OK so far.

I should have worded that better. No, that is not the error.. You should be good. If you saw a white box BELOW that text with an error message, then the zone files would be missing. You should be all good.

[dknelson]

Thanks...I thought that was probably the case. So far, this seems to be working well. VERY GOOD.

[djbaxter]

1. You need to update the URL in the product file to point to this thread instead of the old 3.7 version thread.

2. I found a Leeds, Manchester, England registration in the moderation queue this morning although "GB" was in the approved countries list. I had the latest zone files but on checking discovered that the IP address (84.66.124.21) was not included in the gb.zone file. Added it manually with a text editor and notified the IP Deny site.

Question:
What messages if any are displayed/sent to a new registrant who is placed in the moderation queue as a result of this add-on?

[Jafo232]

1. You need to update the URL in the product file to point to this thread instead of the old 3.7 version thread.

2. I found a Leeds, Manchester, England registration in the moderation queue this morning although "GB" was in the approved countries list. I had the latest zone files but on checking discovered that the IP address (84.66.124.21) was not included in the gb.zone file. Added it manually with a text editor and notified the IP Deny site.

Question:
What messages if any are displayed/sent to a new registrant who is placed in the moderation queue as a result of this add-on?

They are the same product. The next version will be updated for only the latest version.

IPDeny updates their zones daily so it is good practice to download them periodically. If someone has an IP with no country associated with it, it will default them to moderation.

They are shown the standard message all users receive who are moderated.

[djbaxter]

If someone has an IP with no country associated with it, it will default them to moderation.

They are shown the standard message all users receive who are moderated.

I can't find the phrase for that message - only the phrases for the messages sent when they are accepted/approved or deleted. Can you point me in the right direction?

[Jafo232]

Just do a test registration with moderation on, you will see all the phrases you need.

[djbaxter]

Just do a test registration with moderation on, you will see all the phrases you need.

D'oh!

I should have thought of this myself. Thank you! :o

[kapii]

I think this is a great idea, and if it works, could help me prevent the hacking I've had for the past year from foreign IP users. Most are proxy users anyway.

Thanks!
:up:

[dknelson]

My sincere thanks to Jafo232. This is really working well with the new Zone method. GREAT mod.

[Jafo232]

My sincere thanks to Jafo232. This is really working well with the new Zone method. GREAT mod.

My pleasure. It is nice when a product has very few moving parts like this one.. Makes it easy to help everyone. :)

[aldamon]

Thanks for the tweak. Makes more sense to black list than to white list. Easier to manage.

Combine this hack with Human Verification and Forbid Users from Posting Links or Images if They Have Fewer than xx Posts (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=178611), and every board should be SPAM free and confirmed registrations should be SPAMmer free. At least, that's what I'm hoping. :)

If you want to do that you could treat the valid country codes section as an EXCLUDE list, then just change this line in whois.php:

if (!in_array($country, $valid_countries)) { $userdata->set('usergroupid', 4); }

To this:

if (in_array($country, $valid_countries)) { $userdata->set('usergroupid', 4); }

[Jafo232]

This hack alone has basically eliminated SPAM on my forums. Of course most of mine are English speaking so white listing is easier than black listing.

[Paul M]

If someone has an IP with no country associated with it, it will default them to moderation.
It would be better, IMO, to default them to approved.

[Jafo232]

It would be better, IMO, to default them to approved.

Well, you can modify the code to do that, but in my case, I deal mostly with American users. Most American ISP's will show up (in fact, I have yet to see one that will not).

[graham_w]

Thanks for the mod. I reversed it so the list would be a black list instead of a white list and seems to do whats required. Thanks again.

[intelgio2]

I have installed the app and get the following message after trying to register. This comes up after entering all of the information on the registration screen. Any ideas?

"Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 16777216 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 52 bytes) in ...whois.php on line 35"

[Jafo232]

Sounds like the IP lists are too much for the small setting you have for max memory size in your PHP.ini file.

[skwestle]

I need help to upload the folder inside the upload directory to my forum root. Can anyone help me with this?

[Cyburbia]

This looks like a fantastic mod! This cold be the key to cutting my htaccess file down by 75% or more.

However, there's one issue. On my board, there's a few countries where a small majority, but not all new registrants, are spammers; India, the Philippines, and China. (Yes, I get legit users from China, but about 80% are spammers.) Right now, using .htaccess, I direct the bulk of IP blocks from those countries into a page like this:

http://www.cyburbia.org/notice/forum_registration_india

A disproportionately large number of those that have posted spam to the Cyburbia Forums register from IP blocks in India. Unfortunately, most if not all users that have previously registered from this IP block have been forum spammers and "black hat" SEO (search engine optimization) service providers.

We welcome new users from India, but we want to make sure they are not spammers. If you intend to be a constructive and active participant of the Cyburbia Forums, have a genuine interest in urban/town planning (planning student, or employed in planning or an allied profession such as architecture), please send email to cyburbia (at) cyburbia (dot) org with the following information:

* Your real name.
* Your desired Forums username.
* Your location (city or municipality, and state or union territory).
* A sentence or two about why you are interested in joining the Cyburbia Forums.

We create accounts by hand for registrants that look legit. (We've actually had a couple of people write to messages like "I would very muchly please like to promote web site SEO kindly do the needful and approve please", but according to our logs, thousands of others do'nt bother.)

It would be nice to have something where some countries are blocked from registering entirely (Former Soviet republics, Nigeria, Pakistan, Satellite IPs, Nigeria, Nigeria, Nigeria, Nigeria and Nigeria), while others can register, but they have to complete a few sentences about why they want to register. If they look legit, approve and send a form email. If not, deny.

[djbaxter]

^^^ That's a fine idea.

Thanks for the mod. I reversed it so the list would be a black list instead of a white list and seems to do whats required. Thanks again.

I've also reversed it. It would be preferable to have this as the default. It makes a much shorter list to type into the options.

[Daryn]

This is a nice mod, I've been getting a lot of crap users from Russia mostly. So this will probably help out alot. Just a couple questions though:

1. For this mod to take effect what settings do I need to have on in vB?
2. For a future version, could you put in the option to make it a white/blacklist?
3. Instead of having to type in the text string for country codes, could you have the mod parse the zones and display a list of them with check boxes?

Thanks.

[djbaxter]

2. For a future version, could you put in the option to make it a white/blacklist?

You can already do that: See https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?p=1767120#post1767120

Instead of having to type in the text string for country codes, could you have the mod parse the zones and display a list of them with check boxes?

If you use the blacklist version, all you have to do is type in a few country codes. Listing them all in a checkbox list or drop-down would be a huge list.

[Fynnon]

i really hate russia for historical reasons but to say that every russian that comes to your site is a spammer that is really hazardous

there are many us spammers, actually usa is the "best" in the world when it comes to spam

anyway a mod for blocking spammers by ip is a very good

10x

i fear that the database from http://www.ipdeny.com/ipblocks could be somehow false - positive in some cases because for one bad user you could block 100 good ones if they use the same ip

[Daryn]

You can already do that: See https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?p=1767120#post1767120



If you use the blacklist version, all you have to do is type in a few country codes. Listing them all in a checkbox list or drop-down would be a huge list.

You can already do that, but you have to modify the mod to do it, which means you have to make that modification every time you update it. If something is needed by a lot of people it should be a setting and not an edit. Not to sound like a jerk, but it's the most basic in usability theory.

And a checkbox list would be a lot easier than having to open up an external text file, search for the country, take down the code, go back to the ACP, put in the code, go back to the text file, etc...

At the very least, having a link in the ACP to an alphabetical list of the countries and codes would make that easier.

In case you're wondering, my area of expertise is usability and accessibility, it's what I do a lot of work on.

[djbaxter]

i really hate russia for historical reasons but to say that every russian that comes to your site is a spammer that is really hazardous

there are many us spammers, actually usa is the "best" in the world when it comes to spam

anyway a mod for blocking spammers by ip is a very good

10x

i fear that the database from http://www.ipdeny.com/ipblocks could be somehow false - positive in some cases because for one bad user you could block 100 good ones if they use the same ip

No one is saying that every person in any geographical region is a spammer. But the fact remains that a high proportion of spam for many forum owners comes from registrations from China, India, Pakistan, and Russia. That's why add-ons like this one are popular. It doesn't deny the registration; it puts the registration info into the moderation queue for the administrators to inspect and make a later decision.

We are using this on one heavily spammed forum. In viewing the moderation queue, we apply certain other criteria (which I'm not going to list) to make the decision as to whether to delete or validate the registration.

[xyzmary2001]

Thank you, very useful mod! I got rid of the Russian spammers which were very persistent.

[Artes_Marciales]

Nice Mod!!
Thanks!!! : )

[Mike08]

If you want to do that you could treat the valid country codes section as an EXCLUDE list, then just change this line in whois.php:

if (!in_array($country, $valid_countries)) { $userdata->set('usergroupid', 4); }

To this:

if (in_array($country, $valid_countries)) { $userdata->set('usergroupid', 4); }
Thanks. I have a serious problem with china's spammers. It's easier type only the exclude countries than type all valid countries, no?

Thanks again and waiting for the first :D

[Jafo232]

Depends.. I built this for a forum that is for a very specific region of the US and would really not garner much international interest. I moderate all registrations outside of the US and Canada just because there is a 99.9% chance they are spam.

[Mike08]

Then that's fine for a local forum. For a global ones it's better the second way.
Thanks again Jafo232 :beer:

[Greek76]

Ive got a question does this mod show which location their ip is from once they are placed in moderation?

[djbaxter]

Ive got a question does this mod show which location their ip is from once they are placed in moderation?

No. That's why for many forums the "reverse" modification is better (i.e., approve all except those from certain countries).

To check IP addresses, you can use an online IP Lookup service like Melissa (http://www.melissadata.com/lookups/iplocation.asp) or Country IP Lookup (http://www.nirsoft.net/countryip/), or use a desktop application like IPNetInfo (http://www.nirsoft.net).

All of these are free services or freeware, by the way.

[Eric Anderson]

Great Mod.
Hope you are planing to make this work with VB4. let me know as I have VB4 running right now

[Eric Anderson]

any chance of updating to VB4 I love your mod but am going to vb4 soon. Your mod eliminates all that are not using a proxy, which kills 99% spamers would love to see a banned version rather than moderated. Might look at code after transfer of vb4

[Jafo232]

This will probably be the first mod I convert over. Part of me thinks it might work right anyway. No timetable yet..

[Rik Brown]

I've installed this mod on vb 4.0 and it working just like on 3.8.

Some suggestions that would be nice for any update:

1) An Active/Inactive switch (I like this in all mods) so one doesn't need to go to the Plugins & Products area to disable

2) Toggle for whether it will exclude or include the listed countries for moderation (as per the instructions in message #7 above showing how to alter the whois.php file)

3) Click to update zone files (or at least a reminder URL link to the site) using wget.

4) A reminder of the date when the zone files were last updated (perhaps just a read of the date for one major zone file).

Thanks for this useful mod. -- Rik

[Lee G]

I only wish I had found this mod sooner. A definite for the constant fight against spam.
Im surprised more people dont use it. :up:

[imported_silkroad]

This is a nice mod, but wouldn't it be both more accurate and more "updated" to simply use use mod_geoip for Apache2 and install the free MaxMind GeoIP database which is (claimed to be) 99.5% accurate at the country level?

Then the code could be much more simple, to simply match the white list (or black list) vB options country code with the country code from a very simple Apache2 mod_geoip function:

$_SERVER['GEOIP_COUNTRY_CODE']

[dknelson]

I think that this is one of the best mods available for VBulletin anywhere. If it is improved, I would sure be interested but it's already about the best thing out there.

[imported_silkroad]

I've installed this mod on vb 4.0 and it working just like on 3.8.

Some suggestions that would be nice for any update:

1) An Active/Inactive switch (I like this in all mods) so one doesn't need to go to the Plugins & Products area to disable

2) Toggle for whether it will exclude or include the listed countries for moderation (as per the instructions in message #7 above showing how to alter the whois.php file)

3) Click to update zone files (or at least a reminder URL link to the site) using wget.

4) A reminder of the date when the zone files were last updated (perhaps just a read of the date for one major zone file).

Thanks for this useful mod. -- Rik

Agreed. Certainly needs the standard "turn mod on/off option" and all you mention above. These are simple, but important updates.

I think that this is one of the best mods available for VBulletin anywhere. If it is improved, I would sure be interested but it's already about the best thing out there.

Well, there are a lot of good vB mods. This one has potential, but to say it is "one of the best mods available" is a bit odd, isn't it? It does not even have a basic, standard mod on/off configuration option.

If we take the suggestions from Rik and add a option to use mod_geoip versus the large flat file database, it would be quite an improvement.

[dknelson]

You are certainly entitled to your opinion but I'll stick with my statement. There are a lot of mods that work very well and some have those extra features that you mention but the simple fact is, spam is a problem for many forums and if used properly, this does more than anything I've ever tried in reducing the amount of spam.

Other mods are sometimes fun, helpful, whatever but this one is almost essential.

So no, I don't that my statement is "odd" at all.

[imported_silkroad]

Our forums get almost no spam, around 4 million PVs a month, and we don't use this mod. The best way to stop spam is to use a Bayesian classifier. This is how Google GMail works and this is how we do it on our forum. We wrote our own custom Bayesian classifier for spam management, and it works very good.

So, while you have a strong favorable opinion about this particular mod, and you certainly are entitled to be the mod cheerleader, you should also respect others opinions to help improve the mod. Your posts / replies to suggestions seem to have no purpose but to push-back on suggestions for improvements. You don't want to see it improved? Isn't that "odd"? There has been on update in about a year, isn't that right?

Using large flat files to map IP addresses is not the way GeoIP mapping is generally done. Most everyone who runs geo-targeted ads on their forums, including forums who use the free OpenX ad severing platform, use the GeoIP binary database I mentioned. Using large data sets of flat files is both inefficient and (often) inaccurate.

There is no difference using geoip to target ads to countries than using geoip to block registration (or to take other actions based on IP address). The standard to do this is to use binary GeoIP databases (most people, including Apache, use the free MaxMind version). That is how we do it on 4 different servers and it works with 99.5% accuracy (the free version) and is updated monthly. The commercial version is said to be 99.8% accurate (which most people don't need).

Not sure why you are arguing this point. Sorry, that is why I find your replies "odd", because, first of all this mod is not "essential". There are other ways that are considered "better" to manage spam (like using a Bayesian classifer, Akismet, etc.). Second, there are some basic features that all vB mods have (like an option to turn it on and off), and Third, there are much better (and faster, accurate and efficient) GeoIP databases, like the one used with Apache's mod_geoip, which is basically a "standard" these days (since it is also used at the core of the OpenX ad server as well).

Having one GeoIP database is much better than two, especially when the one I am mentioning is basically the defacto standard for people who want GeoIP for free.

On other technical point. The database this mod current uses does not identify Anonymous Proxy IP addresses. If you want to stop spam or block hacker registrations, you must be able to identify Anonymous Proxy servers. The database I am suggesting (and the one most forum owners use, BTW), identifies these Anonymous Proxy servers.

[dknelson]

You know what? I said right off that you were titled to your opinion and all I did was remark that I really like this mod. YOU are the one who seems to want to argue about it. I also said that I would sure be interested if it were improved even more.

OK...I give up...you win. I like this mod. It works very well for us. I will continue to use it and am happy with it. If it is improved upon or something better is released, I will certainly take a look at it.

Now that's all I have to say about it. I suspect that you are one of those people who just MUST have the last word so go ahead....knock yourself out.

I guess my only question would be that if there are already such far superior products out there to do this, why are you even concerned about this one?

[imported_silkroad]

Great! I will.

First of all, people who are interested in taking any actions based on geo location should install mod-geoip if they are running Apache2.

mod-geoip uses the geoip database from MaxMind. OpenX, the world's largest free ad server, also uses MaxMind's free binary geo-database.

In addition, instead of only working at the country level, you can also install a free version of MaxMind's geoip city database, that provides granularity at the city and even zip code level. We generally don't work to that level, but some do.

Also, MaxMind does a fairly good job with anonymous proxy servers. It is important to locate them; as most good spammers and hackers do not login from their banned country code, LOL.

Only novice spammers and hackers login from the actual IP address. All experienced ones use Anonymous Proxy servers.

OBTW, dknelson, it's good you gave me the last word on this; I'm not arguing with you, I am just clarifying misinformation you posted earlier.

If you want to discuss further, I can easily continue in a knowledgeable and accurate way. I have many years of experience in anti-spam and geo-targeting applications. You can ask any question you like.

Nothing personal at all. I am sure you are a great guy and your bike forum looks fun and friendly! I did notice your forum does not run an ad server, so that may explain why you are not very familiar with state-of-the-art geo-location technologies, mod-geoip, and other geoip databases that are more advanced than the one in this mod.

Ask away if you want to learn.. I will not be around in this mod-thread very long.

Thanks.

[djbaxter]

I will not be around in this mod-thread very long.

On behalf of the rest of the thread, thank you. :rolleyes:

[imported_silkroad]

I don't think any agrees with you, djbaxter.

You are simply a mod cheer leader who does not understand what he is talking about and is not interested to learn more. You have provided no relevant technical information and you reject knowledge, as if knowledge is some kind of distasteful virus, LOL.

Plus, you are also not honest, since you said you were not going to post a reply and not argue, but you prove that (1) you don't understand geo-location, (2) you don't understand anti-spam technology, and (3) you like to argue about things you really have little clue about.

You should try to learn about geo-location and other technologies and contribute v. just being a forum-mod cheer leader (and a dishonest one at that!)

Ask some useful question, if you care about this mod... and try to improve it, if you have the technical ability.

[Jafo232]

This is a nice mod, but wouldn't it be both more accurate and more "updated" to simply use use mod_geoip for Apache2 and install the free MaxMind GeoIP database which is (claimed to be) 99.5% accurate at the country level?

Then the code could be much more simple, to simply match the white list (or black list) vB options country code with the country code from a very simple Apache2 mod_geoip function:

$_SERVER['GEOIP_COUNTRY_CODE']

Sure this would be great.. You would not happen to know how to do this on a shared server would you?

[djbaxter]

I don't think any agrees with you, djbaxter.

You are simply a mod cheer leader who does not understand what he is talking about and is not interested to learn more. You have provided no relevant technical information and you reject knowledge, as if knowledge is some kind of distasteful virus, LOL.

Plus, you are also not honest, since you said you were not going to post a reply and not argue, but you prove that (1) you don't understand geo-location, (2) you don't understand anti-spam technology, and (3) you like to argue about things you really have little clue about.

You should try to learn about geo-location and other technologies and contribute v. just being a forum-mod cheer leader (and a dishonest one at that!)

Ask some useful question, if you care about this mod... and try to improve it, if you have the technical ability.

I believe you have me confused with someone else. :rolleyes:

[imported_silkroad]

Sure this would be great.. You would not happen to know how to do this on a shared server would you?

I think most servers in shared environments have mod_geoip, mod_curl, etc. installed already. They can also run geoip as Javascript, etc.

These mods and capabilities are pretty standard these days.

For those small number of forums who don't, they can configure geoip in many other ways too. Please see the MaxMind API documentation. They describe many APIs (Perl, PHP, C, Java, etc).

Did you read the MaxMind GeoIP API docs?

[imported_silkroad]

Here is a list of APIs supported from the MaxMind web site:

GeoIP APIs https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif

Apache Module (http://www.maxmind.com/app/mod_geoip) https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif
C https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif
C# Class (http://www.maxmind.com/app/csharp) https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif
Java Class (http://www.maxmind.com/app/java) https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif
MS COM Object (http://www.maxmind.com/app/com) https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif
Pascal (http://www.maxmind.com/app/pascal) https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif
Perl Module (http://www.maxmind.com/app/perl) https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif
PHP Module (http://www.maxmind.com/app/php) https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif
Python Class (http://www.maxmind.com/app/python) https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif
Ruby Module (http://www.maxmind.com/app/ruby) https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif
VB.Net (http://www.maxmind.com/app/vb) https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2010/10/7.gif

[Jafo232]

As someone who has a lot of experience with other peoples shared server you are wrong. It is not installed on the vast majority.

As for using the API, sure, that is an option, but then you open up several other issues:
What if their service is down?
What if the shared environment will not allow curl, furl_open etc.? There are quite a few who do not.

[imported_silkroad]

I think you don't understand GeoIP, Jafo !!

Most people run the database on their server and don't make a remote call back to the remote (the MaxMind) web site !

You really have not read the full documentation and you have no experience installing GeoIP.

Do you really think that the only way to use GeoIP is to make a remote call back to their (the MaxMind) server??

Really?

[Jafo232]

I think you don't understand GeoIP, Jafo !!

Most people run the database on their server and don't make a remote call back to the their (the MaxMind) web site !

You really have not read the full documentation and you have no experience installing GeoIP.

Do you really think that the only way to use GeoIP is to make a remote call back to their (the MaxMind) server??

Really?

Hey silkroad, I work for multi-million dollar websites, go back to picking your nose..

[imported_silkroad]

Hey silkroad, I work for multi-million dollar websites, go back to picking your nose..

Hey Jafo,

You might work for multi-million dollar websites; but you don't understand anything about GeoIP.

You have never installed it. You have not read the documentation. You know nothing about it.

PS: Multi-million dollar web sites don't run on shared hosting. Sounds like you work on little tiny web sites, LOL, Since only small web sites run on shared hosting without root access.

You can argue now, and you can hurl all the insults you want; but the bottom line is that you have no idea what you are talking about.

While I am off "picking my nose", why don't you go download the GeoIP API you like and install it and learn something about what you need to learn.

If you are such a great "web guru on multi million dollar sites" you can update your mod to use GeoIP before I get a chance to do "the pickin'"

Your mod is really poorly written. Why not listen and improve it?

Edit: Why do you think OpenX Ad server, which serves more ads that any (free) ad server on the market, uses GeoIP?

[Jafo232]

Listen you little imp,

GeoIP is about as important to me as the booger you just ate. I work with API's that make GeoIP look as small as your penis. Go back to work at your fastfood joint and leave programming and server administration to the professionals.

The shared hosting I speak of is from the thousands of installs a level 7 vb coder (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showgroups.php?show=coders) has to support. Where are you on this list? Oh, you're not even on it.

I DONATE my time to make mods. All you do is talk smack and develop NOTHING. You're opinion does not matter.

[furnival]

Great mod, many thanks.

Here's a country code list for Western developed countries only and their associated overseas territories, in case anyone else has a forum that is predoiminantly frequented by people from those types of countries:

AU,AS,GU,JP,DE,DK,FR,FI,NZ,PH,SG,TH,AG,BS,BB,BM,CA ,MQ,PR,KN,LC,US,UM,VG,VI,ZA,BR ,FK,AN,BE,HR,CY,CZ,GR,IS,IE,IL,IT,JO,KW,LB,LI,MC,M S,ML,NO,PL,PT,ES,SE,CH,GB

[Cyburbia]

Worked for a few weeks, but now having problems.

I've got Austria in my whitelist (AT), yet registrations from that country are moderated.

China, Vietnam, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are getting through, despite not being on the whitelist.

All zone files are current, installed in the proper location, and world-readable. Valid country codes are all properly separated with commas.

Nice concept, but it's not working. For many of us, a blacklist of countries would work better than a whitelist, especially considering that there's certain countries with a reputation as being forum spam friendly (China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Philippines, Belarus, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nigeria)

[Lee G]

I have used this mod for several years and love it
Stops most spam from even being seen
Is there any way of making it compatible with cloudflare

[trifive]

I installed the mod, it had only us and ca could join, an hour after install I get anew spammer 91.207.5.198

That is from Ukraine

How can I fix the problem

Thanks

Otis

For any advice

[Bellsy]

THanks for this. I sure hope it helps.

Dave

[ETDC]

I'd like to install this but what actually happens when a registration is put in Moderation? Is the forum Admin notified by email?

I'm assuming that this kicks-in after the registrant's email has been verified?

Also, once you approve the user, are they then sent the forum 'welcome' email or do we need to do this manually?

[ETDC]

Anyone?

[djbaxter]

I'd like to install this but what actually happens when a registration is put in Moderation? Is the forum Admin notified by email?

This add-on doesn't do that. All you need do is go to the home page of your AdminCp to see whether registrations are in the moderation queue. What I did is color moderated registrations orange (i.e., using usergroup markup) so they stand out on the forum index page.

I think there are also other mods here at vb.org that will send an admin email for users or posts awaiting moderation.

I'm assuming that this kicks-in after the registrant's email has been verified?

Correct.

Also, once you approve the user, are they then sent the forum 'welcome' email or do we need to do this manually?

It's sent automatically like any other registration.

[ETDC]

Many thanks. Installed. :)

[dpnow]

Worked for a few weeks, but now having problems.

I've got Austria in my whitelist (AT), yet registrations from that country are moderated.

China, Vietnam, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are getting through, despite not being on the whitelist.

All zone files are current, installed in the proper location, and world-readable. Valid country codes are all properly separated with commas.

Nice concept, but it's not working. For many of us, a blacklist of countries would work better than a whitelist, especially considering that there's certain countries with a reputation as being forum spam friendly (China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Philippines, Belarus, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nigeria)

It seems the ipdeny.com IP blocks are incomplete. I had a spammer from Vietnam register last night from 117.7.119.3 and this IP address is not in the ipdeny list for Vietnam.

Ian

[ETDC]

Agreed - holes in the armour are starting to show...

[djbaxter]

It seems the ipdeny.com IP blocks are incomplete. I had a spammer from Vietnam register last night from 117.7.119.3 and this IP address is not in the ipdeny list for Vietnam.

Ian

Agreed - holes in the armour are starting to show...

IP lists are changing all the time. You need to download updated lists from http://www.ipdeny.com/ipblocks/ periodically or when you see IPs slipping by. Best practice is to download all-zones.tar.gz (http://www.ipdeny.com/ipblocks/data/countries/all-zones.tar.gz), unpack it, and upload to the /plugins/zones folder on your server.

[djbaxter]

For many of us, a blacklist of countries would work better than a whitelist

Easily done.

Edit file /plugins/whois.php

Find at line 11:

if (!in_array($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'],$excluded_ips)) { $ignore = true; }

Change to:

if (in_array($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'],$excluded_ips)) { $ignore = true; }

Then just enter the names of the countries you want to block or blacklist (instead of the countries you want to whitelist) in the options for the add-on.

[ETDC]

You need to download updated lists...
I did! Plugin still get's it wrong. :(

[djbaxter]

How long ago did you do that?

[ETDC]

I updated the files and literally a day later had a string of spammers from Philipines / India (I only allow UK to register then post).

[ETDC]

Just updated the country files today and within an hour I had a registration from Egypt get through. This mod isn't working.

[imported_silkroad]

Just use Apache Mod_GeoIP, write a few lines of code, and be done with it.

This plugin is junk.

[ETDC]

If I knew how to!