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.

[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.

goforex: What are your questions like? It's impossible for a bot to be programmed to just get around this hack in general unless there is some way I'm not aware of for outside viewers to access your vBulletin options.

rapidphim: This hack does not add any queries. All the data it uses is accessed from the already-available $vbulletin->options array.

[R-D]

Originally Posted by antialiasis

goforex: What are your questions like? It's impossible for a bot to be programmed to just get around this hack in general unless there is some way I'm not aware of for outside viewers to access your vBulletin options.

Don't forget, not every spammer is a bot. The amount of human spammers is ever growing, as bots find it harder to evade anti-spam technology like this.

@goforex: Try some harder or different questions - if you've kept them the same since you installed, then you're right, they probably have been broken. It doesn't take much to record all your questions, figure out the answers, then program a bot to automatically submit the correct answer. Keep changing them regularly - every month at least.

[Digital Jedi]

Originally Posted by goforex

I've had this mod installed since it was released and it was working fine up until a few days ago. All of a sudden the old problem returned so it seems as if the spam bots have found their way around this mod!

No method is foolproof, and as mentioned, all one has to do is register an account and send his bot o'spammin'. And there's no method to prevent that, other then being more relentless then the bot.

[goforex]

Originally Posted by antialiasis

goforex: What are your questions like? It's impossible for a bot to be programmed to just get around this hack in general unless there is some way I'm not aware of for outside viewers to access your vBulletin options.

Originally Posted by R-D

Don't forget, not every spammer is a bot. The amount of human spammers is ever growing, as bots find it harder to evade anti-spam technology like this.

@goforex: Try some harder or different questions - if you've kept them the same since you installed, then you're right, they probably have been broken. It doesn't take much to record all your questions, figure out the answers, then program a bot to automatically submit the correct answer. Keep changing them regularly - every month at least.

Originally Posted by Digital Jedi

No method is foolproof, and as mentioned, all one has to do is register an account and send his bot o'spammin'. And there's no method to prevent that, other then being more relentless then the bot.

Thanks Guys.

I have updated my NoSpam! question and added an additional mod for preventing bot registrations.

Steve

[tarty00]

Thanks heaps for this Mate!! Fingers crossed it totally stops these things! LOL

[spinifex]

can somebody please tell me how i enable this hack for registered members also? guests is no good for me since i disabled confirm email address in registration.

i really do not understand why this hack is only for guests? we all know bots register either manually or auto and become registered!? i think enabling no spam questions to your own preffered usergroups would be a really good idea.

i need to have a question or captcha image to stop bot posts upon newreply or similar.

please tell me how to do this easily,
thanks.

[beishe8]

Originally Posted by spinifex

can somebody please tell me how i enable this hack for registered members also? guests is no good for me since i disabled confirm email address in registration.

i really do not understand why this hack is only for guests? we all know bots register either manually or auto and become registered!? i think enabling no spam questions to your own preffered usergroups would be a really good idea.

i need to have a question or captcha image to stop bot posts upon newreply or similar.

please tell me how to do this easily,
thanks.

Unfortunately this hack is not for you.This hack's main purpose is to disable bots from registration and posting.
Because they cannot register,they are not members,cannot post(provided guest posting is disabled in your ACP).

[canadianrodder]

Hi everyone, I have captcha, email verification and this hack and I still had a bogus registration - one of those ipod / Sony stuff sales. How are they getting through? could someone actually being registering manually? I doubt it.

Thoughts?

Frank

[Digital Jedi]

Originally Posted by canadianrodder

Hi everyone, I have captcha, email verification and this hack and I still had a bogus registration - one of those ipod / Sony stuff sales. How are they getting through? could someone actually being registering manually? I doubt it.

Thoughts?

Frank

As a matter of fact, that's most likely what happened. A person will register and send his bot in to post, or he'll just post it himself. That's why no method is 100%, without barring registrations altogether. You just have to do the best with what you've got.

[canadianrodder]

Thanks for the opinion Jedi. It seems incredulous that, with the myriad of forums/boards out there, that, in this case, someone would choose a hot rod enthusiasts site. This isn't the first time...............Frank