Hi all
We have a forum that is running the latest version of mybb.
We also have the following plugins:
1) Registration Security Question 1.2
2) Stop Forum Spam ( have had to disable this because it would'nt allow members to register, after filling in the register form and they pressed submit, they would get the error " Can't open file"
3) Captcha image
And still spam members are still getting in, if there any other plugins i can use? Also is there a fix for Stop Forum Spam plugin?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Steve
Any thoughts?
Thanks
Steve
i noticed 99% of the spam i was getting was from gmail accounts so i`ve now banned gmail from signing up if there genuine they contact me or use another e-mail
i allso use Registration Security Question and stopforumspam dont get any spam now
whocky,
In regards to "Stop Forum Spam" (SFS), if your'e using a free hosting service they may be preventing access to the SFS DB, hence the "Can't open file" error you members are getting. I had the same issue until I disabled that plug-in one of my free hosting accounts. (I believe it's now a built-in feature of MyBB. It can be enabled/disabled in the ACP.)
I have had very few issues with spammer registrations on my paid hosting site with that feature activated. Unfortunately, there will always be a few that will eventually get through no matter what forum security method you use.
The most reliable method to curb Spammers, in my experience, has been to offer a promotion to trusted, friendly & persistently visiting members, (those that indicate a true interest in your site's topical content and keeping the "baddies" out, but still showing some tolerance for newbies) to 'Moderator' status. Some will refuse your offer, and that's okay, however you may still want to keep them in the "small" loop from time-to-time via PMs so they can see, or participate, in some of the discussions that happen 'behind the scenes' via PMs regarding questionable forum registrations.
I don't encourage rampant banning by any means, but if one of my Moderators does ban someone, I expect an explanation as to why. As admin I can always reverse it, However, in over 8-years I've never had any reason to override their decision to ban a member.
What I'm saying is that regular monitoring of your site's forums by your Moderators and yourself, are your best defense against any potential spammer activity. The automated systems/plug-ins will help greatly. But again, there will always be one or two that will manage to sneak through and will require human intervention.
Use Spamalyser.
Approve first posts of all members (if your community is small enough to be able to handle this).
Remove captcha, security image, and SFS. They are not going to protect you against human spammers.
(2012-06-04, 08:42 AM)CRAIG@VM Wrote: [ -> ]i noticed 99% of the spam i was getting was from gmail accounts so i`ve now banned gmail from signing up if there genuine they contact me or use another e-mail
i allso use Registration Security Question and stopforumspam dont get any spam now
You do realize that a lot of people use gmail over any other email now. Banning one email from registering is a bad thing, imo.
I have to agree with brad on putting Spamalyser on your forum. I've been using it for a while and it stopped the spam completely.
I use Spamalyser and Captcha and I have a group of members who are empowered to use the Report to unapprove function. That way if a spam post gets past Spamalyser et al then the "senior members" just report it away.
I have so much plugins to prevent spam. I haven't really opened registration, so I don't know how well it is going to be.