Topic: [BETA] Anti-Spam Verification Questions for SMF 1.1.7

[Deprecated]

Would anybody like to help me test my latest modification package? It should be pretty obvious what this one does: it adds verification questions to SMF 1.1.7's registration page, just like the feature in SMF 2.0! I've modeled this as closely as possible to the way that SMF 2.0 works, even using the same text strings where I could.

I believe this could become our last, best hope to defeat the "tidal wave of spambots" currently plaguing SMF 1.1.7. The reason verification questions are so effective is that each forum will have different questions, and spambots can't possibly be smart enough to understand the questions, so they can't answer them! Nor can the spambot masters program the answers into their bot scripts because the questions and answers will be different for every forum.

Here are some examples of types of questions that could work. I usually put a hint in the question so that humans can easily figure out what to enter. Spambots on the other hand don't understand human hints. Examples:

• What year is it? (4 digits)
• Are you a robot? (yes or no)
• Who's your daddy? (you are)
• Please leave this answer blank.

I wrote this modification especially just for all of you 1.1.7 forum operators to see if I can solve your spambot problem once and for all. I've been chuckling as I've been writing my codes, thinking about all the probably weeks of effort that the spambot programmers put into their spammer scripts, thinking that with about 10 hours of my own labor I may have possibly wiped them out completely!

Before you consider installing this BETA modification package, please heed the following warnings:

1. Do not apply this package to a production forum without first testing it. (Not recommended for production forums!)
 
2. Back up your database before applying the package.

3. Back up your files that will be changed before applying the package. Those files are:

• /Sources/Register.php
• /Sources/ManageRegistration.php
• /Themes/default/Register.template.php
• /Themes/default/languages/Modifications.english.php
• /Themes/default/languages/Modifications.english-utf8.php
• /Themes/default/languages/Modifications.english_british.php
• /Themes/default/languages/Modifications.english_british-utf8.php

4. I've taken care in coding this package but it has not been tested by the Custom Team so there are no guarantees that it will work properly.

Please let me know how it works for you and if you had any problems.


Edit: file attachment removed. This mod package was approved and can be downloaded from the mod site.

[mashby]

Installed fine. Works wonderfully. I feel like I'm wearing two condoms. Thanks for this one.

[Marquis12]

Installed it on my test forum (clean 1.1.7 with no mods) and it worked like a charm, I'm going to back up my primary (active) forum and see how it works in conjunction with other modifications. I'll let you know if anything breaks or causes it issues.

[Costa]

Usefull and I'll translate this to portuguese and brazilian, but first...

1. Execute Modification  ./Sources/Register.php  Test failed

[Marcus Forsberg]

Ah, I really want t tst this, but I have to get my computer fixed frst.

Nascar (Computer broked. Using mobile version to surf)

[mashby]

Hmm...not a real big deal, but I am seeing this in my Error log:
8: Undefined index: anti_spam_ver_resp_1
File: /Sources/Register.php
Line: 164

Cool thing is that many of the IPs are from ones I remember when I played Whack-a-Mole. They aren't able to register (same was true by upping the image complexity to high).