For an excellent guide to using your myfreeforum forum, you can visit howtodoit
The howtodoit "readonly" forum provides answers and walkthroughs for all common questions.
Am I correct in thinking that if the question is phrased in words (e.g. "What is two and two?") and the answer in figures (e.g. "23") the Bots will find it harder to make the link and supply an answer?
I have also added profile fields which are compulsory, and relate to the board's content. If the would-be member can't tell me which area he's interested in, there's not much point in his being there, so out he goes.
Am I correct in thinking that if the question is phrased in words (e.g. "What is two and two?") and the answer in figures (e.g. "23") the Bots will find it harder to make the link and supply an answer?
I have also added profile fields which are compulsory, and relate to the board's content. If the would-be member can't tell me which area he's interested in, there's not much point in his being there, so out he goes.
It was only a matter of time before the phpBB3 CAPCHA was broken. It lasted well over a year before it did which is not bad going.
Developers thinking I believe is to reduce the number of upgrades (unless an upgrade is security critical which spam is not) following complaints from users and bundle fixes to bugs in as few as possible upgrades.
I have been noticing a lot of inactive users that I am just deleting, but I am wondering if I am just catching them before validation of email or if they are not able to validate the email. I really don't mind, as long as they are not posting. I would rather delete inactive members than ask for more info at registration.
I was waiting to see if they could get past the validation before adding the questions at registration and it seems that, for now, they aren't getting past. _________________ http://arachnophiles.myfreeforum.org
If they're using a fake e-mail address - as most do - they won't be able to validate because they will never receive the validation e-mail. You may well find that you will get it instead, with a note that it has bounced back.
However the (allegedly) human species of spammer may use a real one and get in that way. So if you're getting more of these things than usual, and you're worried about it, make sure that new members have to be validated by an Admin.
Alternatively, you can set it so that all new members are put on moderation. They will be able to post, but only in a hidden area where ordinary members won't see what they have to say, until such time as you decide you can trust them on the open forums.
I still say capital punishment is the best long-term solution, mind.
I got to the point of adding a -massive- list of spam domains to the ban list, and was still getting a bunch of gmail spam accounts that never activated.
The longer it is since you started to get spam, the more spam lists your on and the more you get - stop it when they are small!
I added two simple fields - both briefly explaining they stop spambots, and in 2 weeks I haven't seen a single account even register as a spam account! And all real accounts haven't complained about the anti-spam fields ^_^
I would highly recommend adding the anti-spam questions for phpbb3. _________________
Harsh Reality - Unleash your creativity! Harsh Reality
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but does not address the immediate issue.
