Miscellaneous Hacks - Ban Spiders by User Agent

What this mod does
With this mod you can enter User Agents to watch or ban, you can also recieve emails or have an Output.txt created and updated with time and date of visits. It doesn't just have to be spiders, you can watch, log or ban any useragent!

How to install
Simply import the product ban_spider, the mod is active by default but none of the other options are turned on.

What is a UserAgent?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_agent

Understanding a UserAgent string
http://user-agent-string.info/parse

Genuine User Getting Blocked?
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=105

Tools to help
http://whatsmyuseragent.com/SwitchingUserAgents.asp
http://www.botsvsbrowsers.com/SimulateUserAgent.asp

FAQ
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=137

How does it work?
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=381

What's a bot?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spambot

How do i ban a bot?
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=318
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....7&postcount=51

Where's output.txt located?
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=216

Bad bot lists
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=259
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=224
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=281

Tested on vb3.7.x, vB3.8.x , vB4.x.x but should work on any version.

__________________________________________________ __________________
Special thanks to:
Lior
KH99
BoP5
for helping me sort out a few issues

...and beta testers
ForceHSS (Special thanks to Force for latest testing)
ozzy47
GreyHost

If you use this please mark as INSTALLED

History
9th June 2011 Orginal xml added
12th June 2011 Added both email notification and text file logging
22nd June 2011 Version 2.0.0, Added create thread on activity

1. Added match facility you can now use something like Yandex and it will match MOZILLA/5.0 (COMPATIBLE; YANDEXBOT/3.0; +HTTP://YANDEX.COM/BOTS)
2. Added clickable link to visited thread

22nd September 2011 added user redirect url selection
08th October Beta testing started for thread creation.
20th October Beta testing started for emailing.
21st October Beta testing complete Ver 3.0.0 uploaded
29th October minor fix added to cope with empty userid on thread creation
30th October Beta testing automatic redirection to spiders/bots IP
31st October New xml uploaded with automatic redirect to IP
25th November Minor fix for blank forumid fixed
26th November 2011 Fixed version check & create thread Off by default
17th December 2014 Version 3.1.0 uploaded, Hook changed extra logging and statistics added by Ozzy47 (Chris)
18th December 2014 Version 3.1.1 uploaded, prevented spiders being counted when mod turned off.
17th December 2014 Version 3.1.2 uploaded, due to rogue code from another mod
The Bad Bots list is now included in the product
Please prune out all those that you wish to be able to see your site (i suggest you definately prune out "DA" and "Custo" :

Support will now only be given to those who have this mod marked as INSTALLED

[ozzy47]

Originally Posted by Black Snow

Thanks for the update. I can't see any stats in the site statistics on the forum home.

EDIT: It works fine on my test forum. I am running vBOptomise and Total Online Time which both add stats below the "Welcome to our newest member" stats so unsure if this is causing an issue.

EDIT: I disabled vBOptomise and the stats popped up straight away.

Maybe worth a look into the conflict Simon?

I am running vBoptimize and the stats show fine for me.

[ozzy47]

Originally Posted by aicel

in Vb 5.1 new release don't work, i return to old release and work fine

This mod is for vB4 not vB5, it will not work in that version at all, as the required hook system is not available.

[ozzy47]

Originally Posted by Simon Lloyd

New xml uploaded. Ozzy can you remove the in post ones to save confusion for people looking back through the thread?

Done.

[Black Snow]

Originally Posted by ozzy47

I am running vBoptimize and the stats show fine for me.

If I disabled the mod then the bots blocked shows or if I choose not to show how many queries it has saved me on forumhome, then blocked shows

[ozzy47]

That is weird, I have the queries showing on forum home, as well as the stats from this mod, and they both show.

What happens if you disable the Time Online mod?

[Black Snow]

Originally Posted by ozzy47

That is weird, I have the queries showing on forum home, as well as the stats from this mod, and they both show.

What happens if you disable the Time Online mod?

If I disable the time mod it doesnt show. It will ONLY show if I disable the vBOptomise mod OR turn off the option to display the saved queries on forumhome.

[ozzy47]

I don't get it, . If you want. PM me a admin account, and I can try and figure out what is different between your site and my site, since I have it showing, and you don't. I can look into it later today when I get home from work.

[sarasotarepub]

Just installed the latest update, looks good!

[Gadget_Guy]

It's working great here as well.

Question: Having a look at my "Guests" block on the home page.... I take it you updated things so that the blocked bots are no longer showing in there?

D.

[Simon Lloyd]

Blocked bots shouldn't show anywhere except in stats...etc