How to stop spammers register on your phpbb forum
phpbb is probably the most popular FREE forum software on the Internet.
Unfortunately you always get the SPAM idiots who always want to make a nuisance of themselves and spoil something good for everybody. The use automated systems to register at all forums and then collect users’ email addresses from the “members list.
There are various ways software writers try to keep these guys out but most of them just work around the latest solutions.
If you run a phpbb forum and you have a problem with spam idiots this is what you should do…The forum software do have a CAPACHA code but it seems not be be working well. You still get lots of automated registrations.
One way to solver this problem is to add a custom field on the registration page. This custom field must be a compulsory field with predetermined answer. This is how to do this: (writen in June 2009 for version 3.0.4
Log into your phpbb admin panel and go to the “user and group” tab
In the left menu then select “custom profile fields”
Select the “numbers” type for the type of field then select to create a new field
Give it a name
Make sure display profile field is “yes” selected.
At the “visibility options” UN-tick the first option and tick the other 3 (display on registration page, required field, hide profile field)
At the language specific option at “field name” call it something like “security question”
and at field description type your question. The question can be “how much is 9+1?” or “how many letters in the word Toyota?”
Then at the bottom is a button called “profile type specific options” Click that.
You will now have 4 options. At the first “length of input box you make it 2 (if the answer to your question is 10, you will need a 2 character width box.
Lowest and highest values allowed can both be the answer to your question, like 10 and 10
The default value you can set to anything, I used 0 (zero)
And that is it. That should keep the spammers out. If perhaps you see some spam registration again you can just change the question and answer.
The only way a spammer can now register is if it is a real person doing a manual registration and this you will unfortunately nether stop, but you do not get many of those.
What’s up, is there anybody else here?
If it’s not just all bots here, let me know. I’m looking to network
Oh, and yes I’m a real person LOL.
Peace,