Version: 1.2, by iMisspell
Developer Last Online: Mar 2009
Category: Mini Mods -
Version: 3.7.0
Rating:
Released: 12-20-2008
Last Update: 12-24-2008
Installs: 52
Uses Plugins Auto-Templates
Re-useable Code
No support by the author.
== What this Plugin does ==
The following product will place a hidden blank text box (humans can not see these text box, but Bots can) in your Register, Posting, Replying and Quick Reply forms. When the post is submitted there will be a check done on this hidden field to see if it was filled out. If a bot has filled in the hidden field the post will be rejected and a "Spam Message" will appear.
This is not hi-tech spam prevention, but does work pretty well and does not interfere with human posting in any way. Ive implement it on Forum Extension which i wrote for the MediaWiki system and it worked out pretty good.
== Theory behind the mod ==
Spam bots automatically fill in any blank text fields they "see".
By placing a text field in the posting form and then hiding it (via css, div hiding does not work that well) only bots can see the field, humans can not. So if the field is filled in during form submission it would have to be filled in by a bot and not a human since the human can not see the field. After the post is submitted it will be checked to see if the field is empty or not. If the field is empty the post will go through, if the field has info in it, the submission will die with a Spam Message (not that the bot will read this, but the message can also work as error control).
This product has been tested on:
vBulletin 3.6.5, 3.7.0
Installation:
Install the plugin via your AdminCP.
AdminCP -> Plugins & Products -> Manage Products -> [Add/Import Product]
There are four template edits which the plugin automatically does for you.
There is a "ReadMe" included which has the edits in there in case you want to know what they are.
Test SpamBot Field
This option will "un-hide" the text boxs so you can test.
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Auto Ban Spammer
When a spambot posts a thread or post they can be automatically banned to the group of your choice.
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How to send Banned message (Admin, Mods, etc.) notifying a bot has been Banned.
You can automatically send out a PM or Email to selected members notifying them a spambot has been banned.
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What to Check
You can turn On and Off what you would like the plugin to check, New Registration, New Threads or New Posts.
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Move spam post
Posts created by a spambot can be placed in a selected forum of your choice.
1.0 to 1.x Upgrade info:
If you have installed 1.0 and are upgrading to 1.x you will have to remove the template edits you made before (sorry about this, wont happen again ).
Search and remove the following from your templates:
PHP Code:
$awc_bot_fields
Plugin Version History:
Ver. 1.2 - Dec 25, 2008
- Added
-- AdminCP page
-- Test Option
-- Move spam post to selected forum
-- Redirect option for registration
-- PM or Email banned member name to selected members
- Changed
- How text field was added to Quick Reply (to make compatible with Vb 3.6.x)
Ver. 1.1 - Dec 22, 2008
- Changed to auto template edits
- Added new hidden field to Register form
- Added auto ban option
Ver. 1.0 - Dec 20, 2008
- Add 3 hidden fields (Quote, New Reply and New Thread) and check:
- Manual template edits
Heres the AdminCP section...
Its been a long time since ive dabbled with vbulletin so im sure there are other ways to implement this.
Any feed back would be great.
Enjoy.
_
Show Your Support
This modification may not be copied, reproduced or published elsewhere without author's permission.
Is this Mod working for 3.8.x ? Anyone has experience in that matter ?
It works as far as not breaking things, but, nothing actually gets past the other defenses I have, so, I don't know if it still works in terms of banning people for filling it in. It's just a simple form, so, I imagine it would, but, maybe a name of something has changed.
Either way though, the automatic template edits are forced, and it causes a W3C Validation error because it injects the CSS directly in the middle of the page instead of at the top. So, I'm probably going to disable this for now, or maybe remove the CSS entry from the plugins and add it back in manually myself.
If a user uses Roboform password manager to generate their password and fill in their name and e-mail, this plug-in blocks the registration. I've had this stop me from registering on a few forums, I had to start over and enter everything by hand. When I first had it happen, I just thought the forum was broken, and I left.
There are millions of legitimate users that use password manager type of tools to fill out forms.
I strongly suggest you add a manual warning to users that they can not use password manager type of tools to sign up for your site.
I strongly suspect your turning away legitimate users with this tool.
I'm contacting Roboform to see if a work-around can be programmed.
SpamBot Posting Protection Details »»
).
About Developer
Uses Plugins 
No support by the author.
05-25-2009, 12:13 PM
