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.

[bloodwrath]

i have also installed this on 3.8.2 and its working great
thanks

[Gamelobby]

This is the single greatest mod ever to battle against spammers, & false registrations. HANDS DOWN.!!


But i have a question.. does the answers need to be exact in capitalization.?
like if the question is..
"Are you male or female.?"

And i have it set to have answers such as..
:Male:Female:Both:Neither

Will they all work if they type it without caps, or in ALL CAPS.?
or do we need to make a different version of each answer.?
MALE, Male, male, MaLe,
FEMALE, Female, female, FeMaLe, etc..

Thanks, i just want to be sure to not have any confusion with the RIGHT people registering.


Again thanks a million.. this has stopped spammers from registering almost completely.!! (i was up to like 5 per day) And now i dont need to approve of each member.

[beishe8]

Originally Posted by Gamelobby

Again thanks a million.. this has stopped spammers from registering almost completely.!! (i was up to like 5 per day)

Make it a million and one!

With vB's default Q and A in conjunction with this hack I have one per month!(Registered manually)

[gamerfu]

I have had this modification installed for about a week and I have had 9 spam bots hit my board... I disabled reCaptcha and had this modification run solo. *called testing* :erm:

Is there a way these bots can access the database answers? Mind you my answers are very tough for any non-english to guess. yeah they are all non-english spammers from china.

[John Diver]

Hey,

I just upgraded from 3.0 to the latest version (Showing as 4.0 in admincp)

I am on 3.7.1 and a LOT of bots were getting through (Id say maybe 1000 minimum) and able to post - Should the latest version stop this and did anyone else have the same problem with the previous version?

Also, is there any way to find the users that did bypass it and delete their accounts?
They will still be able to spam since they have already registered, wouldn't they?

Thanks

[Gamelobby]

Originally Posted by gamerfu

I have had this modification installed for about a week and I have had 9 spam bots hit my board... I disabled reCaptcha and had this modification run solo. *called testing* :erm:

Is there a way these bots can access the database answers? Mind you my answers are very tough for any non-english to guess. yeah they are all non-english spammers from china.

Is the answer in the question..?
Mine works PERFECT, i cant imagine why it wouldn't work for you too.
(PM sent about affiliates)

Originally Posted by John Diver

Hey,

I just upgraded from 3.0 to the latest version (Showing as 4.0 in admincp)

I am on 3.7.1 and a LOT of bots were getting through (Id say maybe 1000 minimum) and able to post - Should the latest version stop this and did anyone else have the same problem with the previous version?

Also, is there any way to find the users that did bypass it and delete their accounts?
They will still be able to spam since they have already registered, wouldn't they?

Thanks

Once they are registered it is too late they are already members, the only thing you can do is sniff them out & change their account to banned (or make a new usergroup) You can usually tell because they fill out the info forms by what most boards ask, but if you have any custom fields they will put something like "USA" when isn't asking where they are from. lol

[gamerfu]

Originally Posted by Gamelobby

Is the answer in the question..?
Mine works PERFECT, i cant imagine why it wouldn't work for you too.
(PM sent about affiliates)

No, Answers are not provided anywhere in the registration.

I have Questions like...

McDonald's is to Hamburgers as Starbucks is to?

So it takes quit a-bit of knowledge for non-english speakers.

I am running the latest of NoSpam!

[Gamelobby]

Originally Posted by gamerfu

I have Questions like...
McDonald's is to Hamburgers as Starbucks is to?

Wow, that seems like it should be keeping them out for sure.!!

Let me register & i'll tell you what i find, are you aure it is enabled. lol

*edit*
one thing i notice is that it keeps saying "You have entered an invalid birthday."
But there is no place to enter a birthday.!?

Not sure if that could be related to anything, but still weird. lol

[gamerfu]

Originally Posted by Gamelobby

Wow, that seems like it should be keeping them out for sure.!!

Let me register & i'll tell you what i find, are you aure it is enabled. lol

*edit*
one thing i notice is that it keeps saying "You have entered an invalid birthday."
But there is no place to enter a birthday.!?

Not sure if that could be related to anything, but still weird. lol

Since it will not let you register... than that means the Spambots are bypassing registration and creating accounts directly to the database.

[Gamelobby]

I'm lost.. but Good Luck.
Sorry i cant help.