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.

[noppid]

Originally Posted by Boofo

You DO suck up rather well.

But I think no changes for the user throws them off to what is really happening behind the scenes, which is what we want to do, right?

Well, I didn't really consider that at first. I originally set out to upset that. But the more you and others typed, the more I realized most want transparency. So, no big deal. I'm getting mellower with age.

It's done and working. I need a break and I'll take a look with fresh eyes in a while, run a test and post code. I want to be available when I post in case I missed something.

[Boofo]

If you think about it, transparency is better for something like this as the bots won't see anything different and won't know what is up on the surface. If they experience changes in the way things usually are, they can adapt that much quicker. Simplicity at it's finest, so to speak.

[noppid]

Originally Posted by Boofo

If you think about it, transparency is better for something like this as the bots won't see anything different and won't know what is up on the surface. If they experience changes in the way things usually are, they can adapt that much quicker. Simplicity at it's finest, so to speak.

Posted for your review.

[AdrianH]

installed thanks.

[edward hamilton]

Will this work with 3.6.8?

I'm planning on upgrading but won't have time to reinstall all my mods for at least three weeks.

[jesus likes pie]

Not working for me.

I add the product but then when I hit Register, accept the terms and click continue it says I left a required field blank (never shows the form to register).

I am using this alongside the ajax registration and am using recaptcha as my image verification

[noppid]

Originally Posted by edward hamilton

Will this work with 3.6.8?

I'm planning on upgrading but won't have time to reinstall all my mods for at least three weeks.

It might. I'm running it on www.riderinfo.com on vBulletin 3.6.10

Originally Posted by jesus likes pie

Not working for me.

I add the product but then when I hit Register, accept the terms and click continue it says I left a required field blank (never shows the form to register).

I am using this alongside the ajax registration and am using recaptcha as my image verification

Did you do the template edits in the instructions? Without them, that is exactly what will happen. Check your ACP settings for Stop the Registration Bots too.

[eruby]

Originally Posted by jesus likes pie

Not working for me.

I add the product but then when I hit Register, accept the terms and click continue it says I left a required field blank (never shows the form to register).

I had the same problem. Went back and triple-checked that I had added the correct hidden fields to the correct templates as described in the text file. I had done everything correctly.

However, I had used some really long hidden field names using a mixture of upper-case letters, lower-case letters, and numbers. On a hunch I changed the hidden field names to some 8-to-10 character all lower-case letters and it started working.

[noppid]

Thanks for the heads up. I didn't make any notes on the limitations of those fill ins.

I'm thinking of automating the process 100% and generating everything random on a per registration basis and using the table we have to store the values.

[noppid]

Originally Posted by eruby

I had the same problem. Went back and triple-checked that I had added the correct hidden fields to the correct templates as described in the text file. I had done everything correctly.

However, I had used some really long hidden field names using a mixture of upper-case letters, lower-case letters, and numbers. On a hunch I changed the hidden field names to some 8-to-10 character all lower-case letters and it started working.

I edited the description fields to add text that clears that up. It should help.

We also eliminated 4 of the fill in fields and made them auto generated. We track them via the db and that makes things very random. The only field that won't change names unless the admin updates it is the hash field name on the rules and user reg page. Changing them once in a while will keep things very confusing.

I'm trying to get as close to possible to set it and forget it. We may me able to make a cron job that resets those too so things shake up very often and random.