Anti-Spam Options - vbStopForumSpam

vbStopForumSpam

Mod of the month winner October 2009.... That cant be bad :up:

Apologies in advance, this is a copy of the 3.6/3.7/3.8 mod that has been verified to work in 4.0 (its so that I dont get a billion PMs asking if it works in 4.0)

This provides access to a RBL type system for forum admins, listing known spam IP / email / usernames. The RBL database is provided by www.stopforumspam.com. You do NOT need an API key from the website in order to access the database. only to submit data if you should wish to do so.

At the point of user registration, the mod checks if the IP number / provided username / email addresses appear on a block list and can block the registration.

Whilst this isnt the most perfect way to stop all forum spam, its another step that spammers have to overcome.

What it does

It checks with a remote database of known forum spammers. Their IP number, email address and forum username are tested and based on your configuration, you can reject / log / accept user registrations based on what you get back.

This version doesnt have
- whitelisting or the ability to submit users to the database but it will within the next week.
- automatic user deletion / post / PM purging. There are good tools out there already, this does something else.

Instructions are included in the installation.txt file - PLEASE read it first and dont forget to actually upload the files in the upload folder, otherwise it WILL kill your registration progress and you wont see the log file options in admincp.

Changes to vB
- 3 new database tables
- 2 database table alternations
- No new templates.
- 2 Hook (register_addmember_process & register_addmember_complete)

Ive tested it but had feedback that it works with versions as old as 3.6.2... Support should go back to older versions, as long as they have hook support for register_addmember_process / register_addmember_complete

For code to submit spammers to the database, check this post for code changes
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=288

Reported to work
- 3.6.1, 3.6.2, 3.6.9, 3.6.10, 3.7.0, 3.7.1, 3.7.2, 3.7.3, 3.74, 3.80, 3.81, 3.82, 3.83, 3.8.4, 4.0beta3, 4.0 Gold, 4.2pl1,2

Installers should remember to refresh their ACP navigation window when they first install it so they can see the new log file menu item.

REQUIRES MySQL 4.1.1+

There is a small mod, coded by Wired1 that will allow you to submit spammer details to the database from the admin control panel, here https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=289 This relies 100% on javascript being enabled and makes no tests that it is enabled.

You need to have an API key from www.stopforumspam.com in order to submit data, its free and easy to get... You DONT need an API key in order to use this mod however, only to submit spammer data.

Issues are
- The usergroup permissions / view details etc DONT work. I jumped the gun and put the permissions controls in there before I put the code in. Please delete the includes/xml/bitfield_vbstopforumspam.xml file and rebuild your postbit

Installation
- Follow the instructions in the zip file, that includes the file upload the correct folders.

Please click Installed

The original thread is at https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=176481 where there is a wealth of knowledge about the mod, please ask questions in there.

[Aladav]

Never mind, I found the logs.

[kfrosty]

FYI, I've had this installed about a week and I don't see any change in spam registrations. I've even set it to High and still getting the same amount of registrations.

Our community is relativity small and setup for users in a small geographical region.

[Mastergumble]

Weird i didnt got even one spammer on my vb installs at all and one board was spammers paradise...

[Aladav]

I finally got it installed, and I have seen a vast improvement. I would check my forum every morning and have 3-5 spams to deal with. I have not gotten any since installing this.

However, I have also previously blocked on my own many IP ranges from various servers is China, Ukraine, etc. I have a very long list of blocked IP addresses in the User Banning field. But I started getting spams from IPs in U.S. and I can't block all of a range of comcast or something. So maybe this one is keeping those out for me and not doing so well on overseas ones for you?

[djbaxter]

Originally Posted by kfrosty

FYI, I've had this installed about a week and I don't see any change in spam registrations. I've even set it to High and still getting the same amount of registrations.

Our community is relativity small and setup for users in a small geographical region.

Originally Posted by Mastergumble

Weird i didnt got even one spammer on my vb installs at all and one board was spammers paradise...

It's not really weird at all. The add-on depends on a database of spam reports from other forums. If kfrosty's forum appeals to a small circumscribed geographical forum, it is probable that many of the spammers s/he is attracting are not in the more general spam database. Remember that NOT being in the database doesn't guarantee that the new registrant is not a spammer.

I don't think this add-on is really designed for such a forum. You are probably further ahead using other options for minimizing spam, including:

• requiring admin moderation of all new registrations
• using the built-in Akismet antispam feature to route posts with certain keywords to the moderation queue
• using Valter's add-on to prohibit live links for new members below a certain number of posts
• using banning by IP address for those who slip through

[Aladav]

Don't you need a key to use Askimet? I went to wordpress and could not find out how to get one. What is Valter's add on.

[djbaxter]

Originally Posted by Aladav

Don't you need a key to use Askimet? I went to wordpress and could not find out how to get one.

Here: http://akismet.com/personal/

Free for personal use.

Originally Posted by Aladav

What is Valter's add on.

VSa - Advanced Permissions Based on Post Count
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=233979

[The_Rayman]

Thnx for the good job m8!
Got it running fine here! Finally we get rid of those annoying posts.

Thumbs up!

[ArminTECH]

Tagged

[tommac3]

I found a bug ... if you have the facebook turned on it wont let you register as it thinks you are a spammer.