Is important to consider also that Not Only Spam Bots register to Spam on a Community Board; there are also Human Spam Operators that Manually Create the Account (or Various Accounts) and then Configure a Spam Bot to Access them and Post the Spam.
Perhaps the Following Ideas Might Help some vBulletin Forum Admins to Control Spammers (Bots and Humans):
1. Is Important to Combine 2 Systems on the Registration Process (and for other Actions), like the Questions and Answers (Mentioned Before in this Post) like the Mod "
NoSpam! for vBulletin", (or other Similar), and also another System; I've tried since some Weeks the "
KeyCaptcha" System that Uses Puzzles and is 100% Effective to Stop Spam Bots because Spam Bots can't Solve a Puzzle, (move the Pieces and Place them in the Proper Places), and Also I Liked that the System don't Allow to Pass the Page Until the Puzzle is Well Solved, so the User don't have to Press the "Previous Page" Button on the Web Browser, (Important in many Pages and Forms).
Humans can Still Register and Spam, but the Next Points Can Help with that:
2. Is Important to Activate the Human Verification System (Questions and Answers and/or the KeyCaptcha and/or Other System of Human Verification Choosed), for "Not Activated", "Pending Approval", and Also "New Approved Members", so that No Spam Operator Registers and then Activate a Spam Bot to Spam the Forums, (perhaps the Human Spammer can Try to Spam but it'll be Difficult the Process and perhaps will be Persuated from doing it, too much Effort for his/her posts to be Deleted as soon as Detected by the Admin). I Like the KeyCaptcha Puzzles because theyre Fun to Solve, so perhaps Good Users won't mind Solving them to Post their Messages on the Forum's Topics, at least until they are Promoted to a Usergroup that don't have that Restriction (Next Point Explains that).
You Can Set a Promotion for Users that Post more than "20" Posts on the Topics, (or the Number You Like), so that the Promoted Usergroup don't have that Human Verification Restriction and from that Moment On they Can Post without Restrictions on the Forums.
3. If You don't Want Fake E-mail Accounts to Register you can Use a Mod like "
vMail - Verify Mail before registration" so that New Users Confirm their E-mails before being Able to Create an Account.
4. Consider Using the "COPPA Registration System", if you don't want Small Kids to Register and Write Wrong Things in Your Forums.
5. Always Moderate New Accounts, so that You Can Review Them Before Accepting Them. (Use the User Profile Fields explained in Nexr Point).
6. Create and Force New Users to be Obligated to Answer some Personal/Particular "User Profile Fields", so that You Can Analyze their Answers or what they Write in those Fields in the Registration Process; many Spammers Will Write Ininteligible or Absurd Answers, so You Can Ban Them if they Do, (a Troll, a Leecher, and a Spammer will try to Pass that Step Fast, a Good Forumer/Member will Answer Carefully and Correctly the Questions, as Happens in Real Life).
7. Set "Follow Forum Moderation Rules If no, posts are always placed into moderation queue" on "Post / Thread Permissions" as "NO", for Usergroups Not Approved ("Not Activated" and "Pending Approval"), so that Every message They Post is Moderated, and that way while you Check their Profiles you can Stop their Spam and don't Allow Anyone to See It, (as Admin You and Your Moderators Will be the Only Ones that Will See it, but Not the Users and Guests, so No Body Will be Annoyed by Spam and Wrong Contente, and that'll Disuade Spammers from Registering).
8. You Can Also Use the Mod "
Throttle Posts/Threads (restrict number of posts/threads by usergroup/forum by time)" to restrict Usergroups (Specially the New Approved Users) from Posting more that "X" Threads or "Y" Posts in a "Z" Period of Time that You Can Define. If You Allow New Approved Users to Create New Threads and for some Reason a Human Spammer Passes All the Registration Protocols, then You Can Restrict Him/Her from Posting more than those Threads and/or Posts on Your Forums, (something Like 1 Thread and 10 Posts in a 6 Hour Period of Time, of the Amounts You Prefer).
9. Do Not Authorize Signature on Usergroups Not Approved (like "Not Activated" and "Pending Approval"), and Perhaps also on New Approved Usergroups; many Spammers Like to Post their Spam Links on their Signatures; before I Implemmented the NoSpam (Questions and Answers) and the KeyCaptcha (Puzzle Human Verification), I noticed that Many Spam Bots that Registered Stopped at the Signature Editing Process, because by Chance I had that Disabled for those Usergroups and that is Part of their Steps to Spam the Forum Boards, so is Important Not to Allow Signatures for those Usergroups.
10. Of Course, the List of Ideas Shared by the
vBulletin Team (
Steve Machol and
Wayne Luke) on the Topic "
How to Reduce Spam and Registration Bots", and Other
vBulletin Team Members on Other Topics, are Very Important to Control Spammers.
I Hope this Ideas Can Help vBulletin Forum Board Admins to Control Spammers, (they Also Help Control Trolls and Leechers because they Won't Like to Register on a Controlled and Moderated Board, and that is Noticed from the Registration Process).
My Best Regards.
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