Administrative and Maintenance Tools - vbStopForumSpam - known spammer lookup for new registrations

vbStopForumSpam

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.

VB4 here https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthrea...hreadid=230921
Its the same code, it works in 3.54 to 4.0


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. You do not need to download the product-vbstopforumspam-3.54.xml file unless you are using a vBulletin version older than 3.6.0

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

Known to work - tested by me
- vBulletin 3.6.8 on Apache 2.2 / PHP 5.1.2 on Linux using cUrl
- vBulletin 3.7 Gold on Apache 2.0 / PHP 4.4.3 on Windows without cUrl (template changes wont work on 3.7 - thats in the next version with auto template changes)

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

Reported in the thread 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

If you have 3.54, then you can use the product-vbstopforumspam-3.54.xml file attached instead of the one in the ZIP file, which will allow older vBulletin versions to access this mods' features. I personally havent tested this version, its a user contribution, thanks to Darrell Mobley, that changes the way the XML works when imported into older versions.

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+

Future versions
- Automatic integration into vBulletin to add users to the stopForumSpam.com database from a form
- Whitelisting of username / IP / email addresses
- AJAX integration to allow for lookups from within the users profile
- Decreased remote query count from three per user to one per user.

Versions / Changes

0.1 Initial Release

0.2 pedigrees special brew birthday release.
- Small security update. If you have 0.1 installed, download 0.2 and replace your existing functions_vbsfs.php with the one in the archive. It just tests to see if its running inside the VB framework before anything else. This is what happens when you code at 2am after drinking wine

0.3
- stopped it processing valid registrations twice
- moved all non-function code into the plugin. Not a big one as 0.2 basically did that
- fixed a typo in the log pruner that stopped it working (404)
- removed unused fields from the database for people with mysql that doesnt support varchar > 255 (ie mySQL4). If you have 0.2 installed and dont need to prune your logs just yet, you dont really need to install this version but can instead wait for 1.0 unless of a massive security update.

0.4
- logs registrations that arent/wouldnt be blocked
- fixed XML errors when username has a space it in
- tightened up the cache so that it doesnt test a username against an email name to give a bypass result (for when a username is an email address that isnt banned where the email address is)
- fixed some basic logic errors in the PHP

0.6
- Should work on PHP 4.4 now - rewrote the XML with PHP4 in mind (tested on Apache2.0/PHP 4.4.3)
- Fixed a caching system where data wasnt being updated correctly which could cause a remote query when one wasnt needed
- Possible false negative situation when a spammer was blocked due to SFS.com being down who then visited again when it was up but within the cache expiry time
- Remote query failure when the result page isnt XML should work a bit better now. It does a very basic test for valid XML results.
- Fixed log purging (again) and it should actually work properly now.
- No longer requires PHP5
- The log viewer now links to a user profile when registration is allowed.

v0.61 - Removed a template change that was invalid vBulletin code. The package you download will still say its 0.60 however

NB : When upgrading from any version to 0.6, you must remove and then add the plugin due to changes in one of the database tables

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 upload the correct folders
- ONLY download the 3.54 xml file if youre using a vbulletin version prior to 3.6.0. use this file to install the mod instead of the xml file in the zip file.

Please click Installed

[Thomas P]

Thanks and kuddos to KW802, nice AddOn to this hack

Originally Posted by KW802

My public vB sites are still 3.8.x so that is why you usually see me do vB 3.x versions first.

Great

[tattooz]

Originally Posted by Wired1

FYI, www.stopforumspam.com was down for a while due to the bandwidth being exceeded.

Also, add a space after the // (like below) to find the edit location (which is on line 522 on v3.7.3 PL1)

// QUICK LINKS SECTION

Pedigree, I messed around w/ your code snippet for a bit, and made it into a plugin. No edit needed, wahoo!

It puts the box at the end of the first column. One plugin is for JUST the USER ID of 1, the other is for the admin usergroup (6 by default). Looking at it more, it needs some tweaking to use the default themes, but otherwise it works fine. Having this built into the "delete as spam" would be awesome. IIRC, someone has already suggested this, right?

Not sure I understand this right. I see the box it added at the end of the profile in the adminCP, but, if the spammer is blocked before they have the chance to actually register, what's the point?

Is there a mod, that will submit ALL the blocked spammer that try to register? That's what I need.

By the way, thank you for your hard work and awesome mod!!

[AndrewRich]

Is the blank screen on submitting to stopforumspam.com a known issue?

[KW802]

Originally Posted by AndrewRich

Is the blank screen on submitting to stopforumspam.com a known issue?

Go back just one page and read posts #1015 onward.

[AndrewRich]

Originally Posted by KW802

Go back just one page and read posts #1015 onward.

Thanks, but I was referring to submitting from the Admin CP, not the postbit menu. I'll take a look at merging your changes with that plugin.

[AndrewRich]

I've merged KW802's changes into Wired1's supplemental plugin (which adds a "submit to stopforumspam" block in the AdminCP) and submitting from the AdminCP now works, and the resulting window shows the submission.

Thanks to both Wired1 and KW802.

[Zookie]

Originally Posted by KW802

You had me going there for a minute.

Try this version instead.... slightly different code but seems to be working with the new site format and will open a new tab/window instead (if people still want it to stay in the same window, let me know).

Sorry but I'm a novice with vBulletin. I set up my forum a year ago and make changes to it so seldom that I really don't remember how to do anything. I downloaded the file plugin_vBStopFormSpam.xml and followed the quoted instructions that said to "import via ACP => Plugins & Products => Download/Upload Plugins". I went to that page, clicked the Browser button, selected the file and clicked the Import button. It supposedly imported successfully. But when I click the Submit button in the vbStopForumSpam area of the User Manager page I still get a blank page (no new tab). I'm using vBulletin 3.8.4 Patch Level 2. Am I doing something wrong?

[KW802]

Originally Posted by Zookie

Sorry but I'm a novice with vBulletin. I set up my forum a year ago and make changes to it so seldom that I really don't remember how to do anything. I downloaded the file plugin_vBStopFormSpam.xml and followed the quoted instructions that said to "import via ACP => Plugins & Products => Download/Upload Plugins". I went to that page, clicked the Browser button, selected the file and clicked the Import button. It supposedly imported successfully. But when I click the Submit button in the vbStopForumSpam area of the User Manager page I still get a blank page (no new tab). I'm using vBulletin 3.8.4 Patch Level 2. Am I doing something wrong?

The plugin I posted is for the user's postbit while viewing a thread (eg: click on a user's name in the postbit while viewing a thread and you'll see a new option there to submit the user to Stop Forum Spam).

For submitting users directly from within the ACP, try the plugin updated by AndrewRich a few posts up.

[Zookie]

Originally Posted by KW802

For submitting users directly from within the ACP, try the plugin updated by AndrewRich a few posts up.

No joy. I again went to ACP > Plugins & Products > Download / Upload Plugins , clicked the Browse button, selected the "vbstopforumspam_usergroup_6_fixed.xml" file I downloaded from post you referenced, and I'm still getting a blank page when I submit from the User Manager page.

Can anyone else confirm that the vbstopforumspam_usergroup_6_fixed.xml update fixed the blank page response when submitting from the User Manager page?

[KW802]

Originally Posted by Zookie

No joy. I again went to ACP > Plugins & Products > Download / Upload Plugins , clicked the Browse button, selected the "vbstopforumspam_usergroup_6_fixed.xml" file I downloaded from post you referenced, and I'm still getting a blank page when I submit from the User Manager page.

Can anyone else confirm that the vbstopforumspam_usergroup_6_fixed.xml update fixed the blank page response when submitting from the User Manager page?

I'll check that version sometime this weekend. I do most of my submits from the postbit so I haven't installed Andrew's version yet.