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.

[MagicThemeParks]

This is an added layer of spam protection. With vB, you have the built in EITHER question or image verification. I use image verification on vB and then add NoSpam to use as my question/answer for verification. Therefore, you have doubled the protection against spam

[Digital Jedi]

And vB's built in version is lacking in some features this one has. Like you can't use HTML in the default question (I use a lot of image matches for mine). You can't have multiple answers for the same question. And you have to enter each question in one at a time and save each time. This one is much more efficient.

[Wolfegar]

Does anyone know if somebody will be updating this mod to work with vB 4.x when it finally comes out?

[CycleChat]

Works great for me in 3.8.4 - thanks.

[hqlman]

This hasn't worked at all for me, installed it in combination with cyb advanced forum rules making a few random questions for registrant to answer and had two bots sign up today and create about 30 new threads :S

[abdulbasitsaeed]

Dear antialiasis, would you be updating this for version 4?

[MagicThemeParks]

"Asking coders/designers about vBulletin 4.0 and their releases.

Asking them to upgrade their work while vBulletin 4.0 is still in Beta, and probably before the production version of vBulletin 4.0 has been released for some time, only annoys people and will probably not make them release their work on vBulletin 4.0 any sooner. We therefor request not to ask such questions for now in the 3.x release forums. Please keep an eye on the 4.0 release forums to see if a modfication or style is available on vBulletin 4.0."

Source: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru

[user02934123123]

We desperately need a version of this for 4.0. Any chance of porting it over?

[barcena]

Please guys this the best spam killer ever, the best I ever had on my site.

I didn't have a single spammer during the time I had the other versions, well... the good times, will you please upgrade this to version 4.0?.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.

[barcena]

Today i did unable this on my vb4 and it worked perfect for what we wanted anyways, however I have this error message on the registration page and since is screwing the page up i will dissable it for the time been.

Warning: fetch_template() calls should be replaced by the vB_Template class in [path]/includes/functions.php on line 3895