Stop the Registration Bots
 

Stop the Registration Bots for vBulletin 4.2.0 PL3 and up.

This mod will check the the time it takes for a vBulletin registration form to be submitted. If the form is submitted faster then humanly possible, the registration will be denied and the admin contact can be emailed about the event.

First we will add a custom hidden field with a hash. Second we will insert a randomly named hidden field with a random value. This should make it a bit difficult to program a bot since the field names on all sites will be different as well as the values.

Time stamps to check the time spent on registration submission are stored in a DB table and private.

Installation is very easy.
Template edits.
Files to upload.
Product xml file to import.

Backup your database before any install or upgrade.

To upgrade from 2.x to 4.0.2, remove the existing Stop the Registration Bots product in the ACP and then follow the installation file instructions.


History

4.0.2
Added 10 minute delete interval
Fixed bug in part 3
updated table query
removed old hook code from product.

4.0.1
modify phrase vars
modified install instructions for 4.2.0 pl3 templates.

4.0.0
modified to work with vB 4.x.

2.0.2
Edited file includes/stb_reg_process.php
Added IP and Proxy IP to email notification.

2.0.1
Added tabindex="1" to input box template edit.
Fixed onsubmit code in input box template edit.

2.0.0
Conversion from vB 3.x version to vB 4.x
Reduced template edits to one.
Edited all arrays to include single quotes.
Removed ACP Setting StopBotReg_rulespage_hash
Removed Rules page instructions. All one page now.
Removed file includes/stb_reg_signup.php
Removed hook register_signup
Edited includes/cron/strb_cron_job.php Removed Rules page query.
Removed `rf_name` and `rf_value` fields from DB table.
Moved register_form_start hook code to register_form_complete hook
New Phrases
stop_reg_bot_please_wait
stop_reg_bot_seconds_more
stop_reg_bot_seconds_remaining
Removed phrase stop_reg_bot_enter_prereg_name
Removed phrase setting_StopBotReg_rulespage_hash_title
Removed phrase setting_StopBotReg_rulespage_hash_desc

Seems to be a great idea ;) Will install and see if it does the job.

Thank you for the Add-ons, good job :)

Thanks for taking a look. We've had this available for vB 3.x versions. Then some folks in the original thread requested an upgrade to vB 4.x.

How does this compare to calorie's isbot?

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=135094

It's very similar I would have to say in some respects. We talked about many details that concerned you in the original thread. Nothing has changed really except that we made it work on vB 4.

BTW, the template edit code for the register template, while it works, is wrong. In 4.0.1 it will be...

Anyone with 4.0.0 will need to redo the register template edit on upgrade. You can fix it now if you wish to.

noob question here,
do i have to edit the template of every theme i have?

Yes, unless edits cascade down from a parent to child style.

Sorry about that. I was offline for a while after posting in that thread and forgot about our conversation. Thank you for pointing it out.

How could I forget a legacy name like Boofo? Not many old timers around anymore.

It seems like the older I get, the better I was. ;)

The modification download has been updated to 2.0.1. This is an update the the instructions. As stated, anyone with 4.0.0 only needs to redo the register template edit to apply this update. You should import the product file to reflect the 2.0.1 version number.

whats a good time frame for the "Minimum Time for Registration Submission" guy's ?

The default 15 seconds ? or be better to make it a little more ?

Thanks,

Most people can't fill out the form in 30 or even 45 seconds. But it's a judgment call.

That's what I was thinking to Mate.

Maybe some bots are smarter than others ( I'll make mine 45 I think )

thank,

This actually works. Thanks.

Thanks for this.

Great mod, essential imo.

Nominated.

Ill check it out

Thanks Noppid

i really like this!
any chances to include the IP of the rejected form poster?

Sure. We can try and send whatever is possible from the globals.

EDIT: vB Supplies two constants that we can use like this...

IP: 67.x.x.11 Proxy IP (if any): 67.x.x.11

Thats a good idea i think ....

this will atleast stop some spam in the forums ......

thanks! this will help to stop any (if possible) false positive...

Version 2.0.2 is posted with the addition of IP addresses to the notification email as requested.

The basic functionality of the mod is working properly, so we have removed the beta status of this mod.

Thanks

Can you please add a feature that will stop spambots from registering if they have a url in their home page field or signature?

This was working great, then i realized that it had completely crippled my registration and when new members tried to sign up it sent them to an error page.

Same thing for me. It worked with 4.0.6 but doesn't work at all with 4.0.7 now :(

Any chance of a fix?

Bump! This mod needs to be updated.

Does this mod work with 4.0.8? :confused:

Thanks installed on v4.0.3 but unsure how to test to see if it is working :).

So I guess I have to wait for the spammers to try and join.

Is it me or are the bots now adding their Birthdays as well??

Seems to be a nice mod, but before installing I'd just like to know if this is verified to work with v4.1.0?

Also, is there a way to block certain IP addresses and/or email-addresses from registering?

From your admincp go to User Banning Options

If you enable aggressive email banning you can ban email domains.

for example two off my list
@goodinternetmoney.com
@skinacneremedytreatmentproduct.com

as long as aggressive email banning is enabled no user will be able to register with those domains.

Is there a way to stop the harvesters that suck up bandwidth coming from proxies? like say torservers.net?

I've had some difficulty with this. I'm running version 4.1.0 once i follow the instructions to install the mod (including the template edit), my registration page is inaccessible. Basically tells me that the page is configured incorrectly.

Anyone else tried the mod on 4.1.0? Once I remove the mod, the registration page goes back to normal.

I have the Minimum Time for Registration Submission set at 65 seconds. How is it possible for someone to still be able to register in 7 seconds? Is there something I can do to cure this? (Currently using: vBulletin 4.1.0 Patch Level 2)

noppid,

Can you please update this for vB 4.1.2 +

Thanks man.....great mod btw!!

An excellent plugin! I've been using the older version with vB 3.x for quite some time now - I had just upgraded last night to vB 4.1.2 and had to shut down all of my 3.8 mods and plugins. This morning I had a crapload of new registrations in the moderators queue - 99% bots <sigh>.

Thank you for upgrading this hack for 4.1.2 - I installed it in minutes and within seconds it was stopping the "bots".

Nominated :D

By the way, I have a number of fields for new members to fill out. For instance "Tell us something interesting about yourself" "How did you find us?" "What are your favorite bands or films", plus more. This takes more than 30 seconds to fill out, so this catches these bots easily (most filling the form out in a couple of seconds - I have this plugin set at 30 seconds). Some do slip through since there are "slow" bots, but since I moderate all sign ups, these are deleted no prob.

how did you create the custom questions??

my site - OS.Care

I think I need to get a combination such as yourself. I am wondering whether it is a mod or an edited .php file(s)..

regards,

-NeNe

If you're using the new vbulletin mobile app with your site, this addon will prevent users from registering.

Disables the Registration process on 4.1.3

Would love an update that works with 4.1.3

Thanks for this, Couldn't figure out why I had 2,000 plus members and no posts. Bots.