Well, this code only checks the name part. But even so, I think it's true that there will be some valid email addresses with more than one dot in the name part. I guess the idea is that that will be pretty rare compared to spammer email addresses.

You could always add a bademail message that states if you think this is wrong, please contact the Admin at wherever.

I can accept that 'two' dots could be used in the name part of an email, if one was using their full name, including the middle initial:

joe.d.smith@email.com

as an example. So, one would just need to modify:

$max_dots = 1;

to

$max_dots = 2;

and good to go.

The point of my original question and observation, is that spammers use email addresses with multiple periods; more than two; in them.

lol, I suppose we should continue this discussion in the *mod thread*: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=283540

I really don't mind if someone wanted to release a mod with this idea (it wasn't my idea in the first place), but I was hoping for a little more than copying my post verbatim. :(

Hehe.

My question and your code, along with the discussion that ensued, has the potential of being incorporated into a really useful plugin or a MOD. If a MOD, the commentary about being able to specify what characters and how many to check for would be wonderful.

I posted some code in that other thread to handle multiple characters (I hope - I didn't test it).

You know, I'm not even sure that there isn't something like this out there already. I didn't do a search at all.

Well, I consider this important so it is better to have your code as a modification and not in a single reply. Feel free to improve it ;)

Yeah, it's OK, truth is I probably would never have gotten around to it, and you did mark it reusable. It's just that it really should at least be a product and have the "max_dots" as a setting.