Miscellaneous Hacks - NoSpam! - an alternative to CAPTCHA images

This hack is for vBulletin 3.6.x. For 3.5.x, please use the one provided in this thread. If you are using 3.7.x, you must use the one in this thread.

This simple hack is meant as a replacement for the default CAPTCHA system in vBulletin. There are two main reasons one might want to do this: firstly, new technology is constantly being developed to crack CAPTCHA images and make spam accounts anyway, and secondly, the more secure the CAPTCHA, the more difficult it is for genuine users to tell what the numbers in the image are. There is also the issue of visually impaired users, and the fact that not all servers are capable of generating CAPTCHA images.

So what does this hack do instead? It asks a question. Any question you want. That's the best part: YOU make up the questions, which means that every forum is unique, which means that it is impossible for spambots to be simply programmed to bypass it at all forums with the hack installed. You can make one or many questions - if you make many, the hack will pick one at random when a guest attempts to register, search, post or send mail through the Contact Us form. Their input is compared with your specified answer, and voil?, if they get it right they're pretty much guaranteed to be human. If they get it wrong, they're given an error message.

It doesn't have to be a complicated question. Heck, you can just make it "Please type 'blah' into this box." Or you can go with inserting a simple image with HTML and ask what is shown on the image. Or you can ask them to tell you two plus two. It's up to you. In fact, this can also be used as a means of forcing people to read the rules by asking for a certain password found there, or if your forum focuses on a specialized subject, ask a question concerning the subject that all your genuine users will be able to answer, but a random troll or "CAPTCHA-sweatshop-reader" will be scratching their head over.

It's simple to install, too: just one product to import, and that's it.


VERSION HISTORY:

3.0: Added functionality to allow users to specify which pages should use NoSpam!.
2.0: Extended the NoSpam! functionality to guest posts, guest searches and guest "Contact Us" in addition to registration.
1.1: Made template edit automatic (with thanks to Cole2026), added ability to have more than one answer to each question, and made answers case insensitive. To upgrade, I recommend undoing the template edit so you won't have to worry about it anymore (replace $nospamfield in the template register with $imagereg, or if you added $nospamfield above $imagereg, just remove $nospamfield altogether), and then reimport the product through the Admin CP (making sure that Allow Overwrite is set to On).
1.0: Initial release.


INSTALLATION:

Please download NoSpam!.zip, not product-nospam.xml, for the tested version. product.nospam.xml is NoSpam! 4.0 adapted blindly to 3.6, i.e. by editing the XML file for the 3.7 version without actually testing it on a 3.6 board. Theoretically it should work, but I cannot guarantee it at this time. If you download NoSpam!.zip and unzip it, it will contain another file called product.nospam.xml, which you should use.

1. Import product-nospam.xml through the Admin CP product manager.
2. Go to your vBulletin options in the Admin CP and select NoSpam! Settings. Once there, turn the system on and input your questions and answers according to the instructions there.

The system should now be functional and running.


UNINSTALLATION:

Just uninstall the product through the Admin CP.


SUPPORT:

Full support will be given here in this thread. All suggestions are welcome.

Thank you and please click "Mark as Installed" if you like it.


If NoSpam! is not working for you or you are looking for something a little different, you might want to check out Advanced Textual Confirmation.

[Videx]

I too can't find it as an additional option in 3.7. 3.7 seems to instead offer a choice between a question and images.

I'd rather have captcha AND a question.

[Lemik]

When the version appears to vB 3.7.x ?

[AdrianH]

Hey there antialiasis, a version for v3.7 would be very much appreciated, the Recaptcha system is all but useless as the bots are now able to walk straight by it.

[Videx]

I dunno, the more I think about it the more I think maybe the 'random' question by itself will work. Certainly better than the cracked captcha anyway.

We've been a week with 3.7 and a question alone and no bots yet (knock on wood!).

[AdrianH]

Read the thread by Andreas over at vB.com

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=272471

Originally Posted by Videx

I dunno, the more I think about it the more I think maybe the 'random' question by itself will work. Certainly better than the cracked captcha anyway.

We've been a week with 3.7 and a question alone and no bots yet (knock on wood!).

They're getting past the questions on my site, but haven't actually been making threads. I've banned a good dozen users in the last week who sign up, create a signature with a link to some random website and never post.

Would also very much like to see this ported to 3.7 so that it can be used alongside Captcha.

[RedWingFan]

We're getting spam registrations from China now, on a regular basis. We have had CAPTCHA turned off for several months, and using the questions alone, we've had very few spam incidents. I'm thinking this recent wave is via human registrations, or they've figured out our questions and how to reply to them. We're redoing our questions to see if they stop the spammers.

[Videx]

This is probably the wrong thread for it, but I sure would like to hear the questions that have been 'cracked".

My forum is a local city forum and I ask a question about local politics. They can get the answer from wikipedia, but [I think] it'll take a human to do it.

[FENIX]

Installed on 3.7 - it seems to be working however it does not display on the registration page. I know it's working, because when you try and register you get an error from NoSpam! saying the question was answered incorrectly!

Will wait for a port, or someone who has it on 3.7 to help

[calopez]

Hi,

I have installed the mod in my vBulletin 3.6.4 and I have a problem.

The question does not appear in Quickreply. The variables $nospamquestion, $spamvalue, etc. have no value.

I've checked several times the installation and I've done everything correctly. Any idea?

Greetings ^^