Miscellaneous Hacks - NoSpam! for vBulletin 3.7

NoSpam! is back and better than ever! The automatic template edits should be smoother than they were in the previous version, in addition to the 3.7 support. Please note that this version will ONLY work for vBulletin 3.7!

NoSpam! is a simple hack that allows the administrator to specify a number of easy questions, a random one of which must be answered correctly in order for a guest to be able to register, post, search or use the contact form. Because you create the questions and they are unique for each forum, it is impossible for a bot programmer to preprogram a bot to be able to answer them without adjusting the bot specifically to one, and thus you will be rid of all spam posted by CAPTCHA-evading advertisement programs.

This functionality was added by default in vBulletin 3.7's Q&A human verification system, so why use NoSpam! for 3.7 at all? There are a few reasons why one could prefer it:

- I have heard reports that vBulletin's default Q&A human verification is faulty and lets bots through. Truth to be told, I would not have publically released a 3.7 version if not for this. I don't quite see how this could happen and have not experienced it myself seeing as I don't use vBulletin's human verification, but if those reports are to be trusted, NoSpam! will do a better job of keeping the bots out.
- It is much easier to add questions and answers in NoSpam! en massé than in vBulletin's default system. If you want a great number of questions, vBulletin's built-in system takes terribly long to add them all in with quite a lot of page loads in between, while a fast typer can add several dozen questions to NoSpam! in a matter of minutes.
- If you have previously used NoSpam!, a simple copy-paste will get all your previous questions into NoSpam! for 3.7, while to get them into the built-in vBulletin system requires a converter.

If the reports of vBulletin's default human verification system failing are incorrect, I will freely admit that most people will do fine with the built-in system. But if you prefer this hack, by all means use it.

NoSpam! can be used with or without default vBulletin human verification. In this version, the automatic addition of the question into the templates should be flawless and not induce the often-reported problem where the question didn't appear in the previous version of the hack.

VERSION HISTORY:

4.0: Redid the automatic addition of questions to be smoother and more or less foolproof. Released for vBulletin 3.7.
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:

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 in this thread. All suggestions are welcome.

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

[leftie]

Originally Posted by antialiasis

People with problems making the question and answer field appear on registration: Edit the template "register"; odds are if it doesn't work, it does not contain $human_verify in it. Put it in where you want the NoSpam! form to appear.

This is in my templates but the field still does not appear in the registration page.

[Charlie98902]

A lot of new types of spamming going on so thanks for this mod. I do have it set to fill in profile fields too just to post etc.... most are .ru email addies and a whole lot of gmail addies as well.

[fly]

Ya, I've got a TON of registrations going on right now.

Just as another idea for NoSpam!, what if there was some sort of checkbox, radio button, etc that we could add? If this has been discussed and shot down, plz excuse me.

[auctionguy]

Thanks so much for this Mod!!! I was totally under attack until I installed this little gem!

This should be the Mod of the Month!

AWESOME!!

[TrumpetMaster]

This mod is great. I no longer need email confirmation. Thank you!

[StonePilot]

Excellent! I got 200+ spam registrations in 2 days. This stopped them alL!

[barcena]

I don't know what's going on lately w/ spams, i used to have the human verification and that was more than enough but now that's nothing.

[vitafon]

All my websites are being attacked big time. Looks like spammers declared war. So far core VB no-spam succumbs to suckers' tide. LOL.

[ascender]

Am just trying to install this but its not showing up so am looking in the register template to see where I can add "$human_verify", but can't seem to find where to put it so it appears underneath the image verification bit.

Edit: Have found it, but the NoSpam! questions still aren't showing on the new user registration page. I'm running 3.7.3 Patch Level 1.

[merlin_de]

Hello,

Originally Posted by merlin_de

Hello,
in the first post is "Translations" checked. Where can i find a german translation for this version ?
Greets,Micha

Originally Posted by thompson

looking for a german version.

two questions about a german translation. Where is the support that is promised in the first post ? Why are these issues ignored?
Greets,Micha