Miscellaneous Hacks - Stop the Registration Bots

Control your vBulletin forum registration process and stop the registration bots.

This mod will check the the time it takes for a vBulletin registration form to be submitted. If the form is submitted faster then humanly possible, the registration will be denied and the admin contact will be emailed about the event. The time is settable

We will start the registration on the forum rules page in two ways. First we will add a custom hidden field with a hash. Second we will insert a randomly named hidden field with a random value. This should make it a bit difficult to program a bot since the field names on all sites will be different as well as the values.

We will use a second set of random hidden fields on the form page as well to add to the confusion.

Time stamps to check the time spent on registration submission are stored in a DB table and private.

A registration will have to come through the Rules page and the form. Every Site will be different.

Installation is very easy.

There are two templates to edit.
One database table is added.
Three hooks are utilized.
Includes uninstall code.
Adds to vBulletin options.
Set time frame option.
Includes Phrases.
Sends Mail to Admin.
No files to upload.
XML product install.
Instructions attached in zip.

Demo usage and view source at http://www.riderinfo.com/

Compatibility
This hack is known to work on vBulletin 3.6.11 PL1 and will likely work back a few versions in the 3.6.x vBulletin series. Of course it works on 3.7.x as posted too.

HISTORY
1.2.2
added admin email on/off setting
moved hook code to files to reduce overhead.
1.2.1
Added Enable/Disable setting.
Fixed coppa includes file probem
Added file upload instructions to readme file.
1.2.0
Added JS timer to registration button.
Added enable/diable for email.
Removed ACP settings for random fields on rules and reg form pages and automated.
Reworded Pharses in ACP.
Recoded rules form and reg form edits.
Renamed variables for better code following.
Added more DB fields per user reg for tracking random automation.
New Hook on start_registration for functions.
Added new functions file. includes/stb_functions.php.
1.0.3
Changed input user name on rules form to random named hidden field with hash value.
Removed \n chars from email phrases.
All changes to registration are transparent to the folks registering.
Renamed DB username field to hash.
New hook on register_signup.
1.0.2
Added new Pre Reg Name hidden field to register form edits and ACP.
Added code to deal transparently with user deciding to change name after pre submitting it.
1.0.1
Fixed typo, changed 36000 to 3600 in product file.
1.0.0
Original Release.

[nhlchuck]

Is there a way to stop the emails everytime a bot is stopped?

[Ohiosweetheart]

I have to say that this mod has definitely slowed down the bots, but a few are still getting through on a clients' site. Something like 5 to every 20.

Originally Posted by nhlchuck

Is there a way to stop the emails everytime a bot is stopped?

HA! I had to set a message rule to delete the emails from the server, there were just to many to deal with.

ALL in all I think this is a great mod

[chubbysonne]

Guten Abend Kann Mir Jemand Helfen Dieses Add Zu Installieren Bitte?

[noppid]

Originally Posted by nhlchuck

Is there a way to stop the emails everytime a bot is stopped?

I'll add a setting to disable emails.

I'm about ready to publish an update I've been testing too. The test was done with no image verification, recapture or q&a enabled for human verification. We didn't even change the hidden field names daily. We got the emails to prove it's working.

[noppid]

Originally Posted by chubbysonne

Guten Abend Kann Mir Jemand Helfen Dieses Add Zu Installieren Bitte?

Ich kann nicht lesen oder kann Deutsch sprechen. Helfen Sie mit einem Problem oder brauchen Sie jemand, dies f?r Sie zu installieren?

[djrapid.com]

Updated thanks, but after i include the day, month and year then click submit it just shows me a blank page, can you help?
I am using 3.7.3

[AdrianH]

Updated according to the instructions for > UPGRADE from 1.0.3 to 1.2.0 <

registration now not working and this error is shown >>

Fatal error: require_once() [function.require]: Failed opening required '/home/****/public_html/includes/stb_functions.php' (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/****/public_html/register.php(81) : eval()'d code on line 4

had to disable product.

[noppid]

Originally Posted by CareyCrew

Updated according to the instructions for > UPGRADE from 1.0.3 to 1.2.0 <

registration now not working and this error is shown >>



had to disable product.

OK, I'll check it immediately!

[noppid]

We posted 1.2.1 to fix the issue. It slipped by, I didn't have coppa enabled.

We added an enable/disable setting too.

[AdrianH]

You might want to change your install and upgrade instructions to include the fact that there is a file to upload to ... /includes

Appears to function now,will check again for any errors.