Miscellaneous Hacks - NoSpam! - an alternative to CAPTCHA images

This hack is for vBulletin 3.6.x. For 3.5.x, please use the one provided in this thread. If you are using 3.7.x, you must use the one in this thread.

This simple hack is meant as a replacement for the default CAPTCHA system in vBulletin. There are two main reasons one might want to do this: firstly, new technology is constantly being developed to crack CAPTCHA images and make spam accounts anyway, and secondly, the more secure the CAPTCHA, the more difficult it is for genuine users to tell what the numbers in the image are. There is also the issue of visually impaired users, and the fact that not all servers are capable of generating CAPTCHA images.

So what does this hack do instead? It asks a question. Any question you want. That's the best part: YOU make up the questions, which means that every forum is unique, which means that it is impossible for spambots to be simply programmed to bypass it at all forums with the hack installed. You can make one or many questions - if you make many, the hack will pick one at random when a guest attempts to register, search, post or send mail through the Contact Us form. Their input is compared with your specified answer, and voil?, if they get it right they're pretty much guaranteed to be human. If they get it wrong, they're given an error message.

It doesn't have to be a complicated question. Heck, you can just make it "Please type 'blah' into this box." Or you can go with inserting a simple image with HTML and ask what is shown on the image. Or you can ask them to tell you two plus two. It's up to you. In fact, this can also be used as a means of forcing people to read the rules by asking for a certain password found there, or if your forum focuses on a specialized subject, ask a question concerning the subject that all your genuine users will be able to answer, but a random troll or "CAPTCHA-sweatshop-reader" will be scratching their head over.

It's simple to install, too: just one product to import, and that's it.


VERSION HISTORY:

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:

Please download NoSpam!.zip, not product-nospam.xml, for the tested version. product.nospam.xml is NoSpam! 4.0 adapted blindly to 3.6, i.e. by editing the XML file for the 3.7 version without actually testing it on a 3.6 board. Theoretically it should work, but I cannot guarantee it at this time. If you download NoSpam!.zip and unzip it, it will contain another file called product.nospam.xml, which you should use.

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 here in this thread. All suggestions are welcome.

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


If NoSpam! is not working for you or you are looking for something a little different, you might want to check out Advanced Textual Confirmation.

[Gastongr]

Just what i was looking for, thanks .

[letsjoy]

A nice one....

[antialiasis]

Originally Posted by Luky

I think that this would be easier to crack, if you look at the source code and find every possible algorithem and then you can make a php file to answer these questions, or most of them.

Um, huh? You're misunderstanding the function of this somehow. Although I don't understand quite what you're trying to say, you seem to believe one of the following:

a) That the answers are somehow in the source of the page and can just be extracted from there (which they aren't; they're stored on the server and only the number identifying the right answer for this particular question can be found in the source).
b) That the questions are always mathematical and can simply be solved by a computerized calculator (which they're not).
c) That the questions are predetermined and thus could be answered using a simple if statement in a script that hardcodes the questions/answers in, which there is not (there are no default questions and they're 100% user-customizable so there are infinitely many possibilities for questions and answers, at least as far as the server can handle).

I assure you that it is impossible to create a script that will get around NoSpam! unless that script contains the best artificial intelligence yet invented, and if it does, then it can sure as hell crack CAPTCHA as well. I guarantee that this will provide you with better spam protection than CAPTCHA ever will, at least if you use proper questions, and if you don't, that's your fault, not mine.

[OrangeFlea]

This work with 3.5, too? My members are tired of seeing board updates so 3.5 is it until 4.0.

[dd4w2000]

Great mod. I installed this on vb 3.6.2 Unfortunately the nospam field didnt show on my registration page. I looked throught this thread and found a template edit fix which is shown below. Did a search in my registration template and no code alteration had been made. Added the 1 line of code and all is now working. Thanks very much.

I think what you do is, go into the Edit template, Register templates, open the one called simply "register".

Then do a search for regimagecheck and you will see:


Code:
<if condition="$show['regimagecheck']">
<fieldset class="fieldset">
I just added $nospamfield above the line like this:



Code:
$nospamfield
<if condition="$show['regimagecheck']">
<fieldset class="fieldset">

[BrandiDup]

I've been having MAJOR problems with spammers lately, getting 10-12+ new ones per day on some days. Since installing this hack, they've come to a screeching halt! I don't think we've had a single one yet. So, thank you SO much. This hack was very much appreciated!

[antialiasis]

Originally Posted by OrangeFlea

This work with 3.5, too? My members are tired of seeing board updates so 3.5 is it until 4.0.

There is a special 3.5 version - you can either search the 3.5 forum or find it in a link at the bottom of my profile.

[larrydude]

hmm. I am running vb 3.64. I love this mod, but it makes the search function not work for guests.

With NoSpam! disabled, guests can search fine, with it inabled they get a "invalid answer" message.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

[hsv z clubbie]

Installed ----- Thanks

[antialiasis]

Originally Posted by larrydude

hmm. I am running vb 3.64. I love this mod, but it makes the search function not work for guests.

With NoSpam! disabled, guests can search fine, with it inabled they get a "invalid answer" message.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

So the NoSpam! question is not actually appearing on the search page?

This is the one most vulnerable to template edits, so something going wrong with it is not too unlikely. If it's not appearing, you might want to make the automatic template edit manually:

FIND

        <if condition="$imagereg">

REPLACE it with

        <if condition="$imagereg OR $vbulletin->options['nospam_onoff']">

Then FIND

            <td align="$stylevar[left]" valign="top" colspan="2">$imagereg</td>

REPLACE it with

            <td align="$stylevar[left]" valign="top" colspan="2">$nospamfield

$imagereg</td>