Administrative and Maintenance Tools - vbStopForumSpam

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. This queries the StopForumSpam database (where I am a coder and administrator) to see if a new users IP address/email address/IP number are listed as known spammer sources.

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.

Currently, I would say this is an beta codebase. Please treat it as such.

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.

This is the exact same version that is on the 3.6 forums because it works with 3.54 to 3.84 (at time of wriing, the latest version)

Changes to vB
- 3 new database tables
- 2 database table alternations
- No new templates.
- 2 Hook (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/showp...&postcount=288

Reported in the thread to work
- 3.5.4 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

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+

If you want to submit data directly from the user admincp to the database, then you can install an addon mod (Coded by Wired1) here https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=288

You need to have an API key from www.stopforumspam.com in order to submit data, its free and easy to get... The code above is a quick hack that changes the pages "form" so that it submits to the database. As its a quick hack, this relies 100% on javascript being enabled and makes no tests that it is enabled.

Please click Installed

[ZombieAndy]

Absolutly brilliant modification, i installed this on my forums, we were getting hit bad with PM spammers and this mod catches and prevents around 30 registrations a day at the moment.

Free's up so much time for my staff groups, thank you. amazing job.

[spwolf]

i started getting 100+ new registrations recently, which i think are bots... nothing is helping so far... none of them are doing anything right now, so we will see... mods are waiting ;-)

i will also install mod that allows easy reporting so i can report them...

[WickedWeb]

My installation was logging everything and tagging them as being in the stopforumspam database but even though I had everything set to block the registration it would not block them from registering. They could still register and post.. In one weird case some one without email verification was able to post but I do not know if that was related to this or not but it happened at the same time. I removed everything and all is back to normal. I could not make sense of the registrations not being blocked.

This was on 3.8.3.. I am going to update soon as I can and try again..

[mytweakerart]

simply awesome dude
installed on 3.8.4
youve saved me from those bastages again

http://www.ToyotaBrakeRecall.org

[BGObsession]

I have the mod installed, along with the plug-in to be able to submit spammer info from the admin cp. Seems to be working incredibly well. Only question I have is that when I look at the spam log, sometimes the mod has listed a new registration, but has 'Allowed Registration'. If the modification IDENTIFIED the new registration as a problem in the first place, why would it not block that user from registering? I have it on the default settings, so it should block anyone who has a previously reported username, IP, or email address, right?

It seems inconsistent for the mod to both list the registration in the spam log, but to have allowed the registration anyway? The instances I've seen this occur are ones where the new registration has not yet performed email confirmation. Does that have anything to do with it?

[WickedWeb]

Originally Posted by BGObsession

I have the mod installed, along with the plug-in to be able to submit spammer info from the admin cp. Seems to be working incredibly well. Only question I have is that when I look at the spam log, sometimes the mod has listed a new registration, but has 'Allowed Registration'. If the modification IDENTIFIED the new registration as a problem in the first place, why would it not block that user from registering? I have it on the default settings, so it should block anyone who has a previously reported username, IP, or email address, right?

It seems inconsistent for the mod to both list the registration in the spam log, but to have allowed the registration anyway? The instances I've seen this occur are ones where the new registration has not yet performed email confirmation. Does that have anything to do with it?

Finally I have some additional proof. If you read a couple post or so behind this one I have the same problems as you just stated. It seems though that nobody is really supporting this.

[KW802]

Whoops, didn't realize that I posted this in the 3.6.x thread instead of the 3.8.x thread...

Originally Posted by KW802

After upgrading my vB 3.x sites to vB 3.8.5 it meant, of course, that I lost the manual edits to submit the user to StopForumSpam.com from directly in the ACP.

So... I came up with a very quick & very dirty plugin to add an option in the postbit. That way if a spammer does make it through and posts something, I can view the post, click on their name in the postbit, hit the 'Submit' button from the drop-down list (which then takes my browser window to the StopForumSpam.com site and shows me the result of submitting the info), hit the browser 'Back' button, and then continue BAU on cleaning up the spam.

Only Super Mods & above should be able to see the 'Submit' button but, for your own sanity, test it out on your site.

Attached is the plugin XML and a screen shot of how it'll look. Notice this is a plugin and not a product! That means you import via ACP => Plugins & Products => Download/Upload Plugins and *not* through the Manage Products screen.

Yes, it's quick & dirty but it serves my purposes.

[KProjects]

Installed a while ago - can't believe how many it catches throughout the day.. it's like 7 or 8 an hour!!

I'm starting to wonder if they're all spammers.. heh

[sump]

this mod is awesome !! we went form aproximatly 70 -100 registrations to 10/15 it looks like it get about 90% .. very please

there is some talk here about the alllowed .. the ALLOWED that i see did not find any problems with either IP, username or e-mail, just like if i search the IP in google ...

also all of the people that already registred I still must deal with , but from the minute this was installed it went to work !!

see see no error messages when one IS allowed,, DEFAULT settings ,,,

in the past when i have had problems with hacks .. delete as er instructions if any , redownload, reinstall ....

thanks for this great mod !!

[Theo-zzzz]

This mod is blocking about 200 spam registrations a day.
It saves us so much time.

Nominated for MOTM