(free) Add a reason for wanting to join to registration page

[jbcagle7073]

I have done a lot of research and I have not stumbled across a mod that fits this description yet. If it is out there it must be hidden well.  I would like to have a mod that would add a text box on the registration page where the user would have to enter a sentence or two about why they would like to join the forum. This would make it a lot easier to tell if someone was a legit user wanting to sign up or a bot/spammer. Thanks in advance!

[Arantor]

Please see "How to request a mod" in this section, in particular what version of SMF.

[jbcagle7073]

This would be for 1.1.11 as that is the latest as of this post.

[Arantor]

Easiest solution is to use the Custom Profile Field mod which should be possible to get working on 1.1.11.

[jbcagle7073]

That is designed to work on the profile side, and we are looking to place it on the registration page. My ability to write php is sort of limited, but i think I may be able to use the code rewrites to make it work for the registration page. If I end up bald and streaming profanity I may be back for some help. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

[Matthew K.]

Not saying I will create this, but where will the input be displayed, and who will it be displayed TO? Do you need it to be required? Information like that helps people considering.

Labradoodle-360

[Arantor]

I thought it could be displayed on the registration page. Certainly the 2.0 core feature can do.

[Gargoyle]

I like the idea... Have a field for "enter the reason you are registering to this site" Then have it displayed on the list in the admin area where you approve registrations. Once the registration is approved or activated the data can be auto deleted or some such thing..

I like the sounds of it..

[jbcagle7073]

Not saying I will create this, but where will the input be displayed, and who will it be displayed TO? Do you need it to be required? Information like that helps people considering.

Labradoodle-360

Idealy the input would be displayed with the username and IP information on the confirm screen for pending members. In an ideal world it would be manditory, but if that would be hard to do there could always be some language in the description saying it would make approval faster.

I like the idea... Have a field for "enter the reason you are registering to this site" Then have it displayed on the list in the admin area where you approve registrations. Once the registration is approved or activated the data can be auto deleted or some such thing..

I like the sounds of it..

Exactly, after the user is approved there is no further need for the info. It would be a sentence or two more than likely.

Our forum has been going for almost 4 years now and we are getting more and more requests daily. As the number of requests continues to grow in number and in places around the world it is harder and harder to figure out who is legitimate and who is not. Even with a captuga in place we are still getting bombarded with spammer requests ect.

I have used a similar feature on some professional news feeds and things like that and it seems to work well.

I have taken a couple of stabs at trying to figure out how to do this, but it's not the easiest project for someone not very experienced with php.

[Matthew K.]

I will see if I can fit this into my projects at some point, if someone else gets to it before me not a big deal.

This also gave me the idea of "How did you hear about us?" like some sites have, Google, Facebook, etc. that would allow you to disable/enable about 8 different options including a Other or custom field.

[live627]

...the input would be displayed with the username and IP information on the confirm screen for pending members....

Where is the confirm screen? What's the URL?

[Spoogs]

you only see it when the forum is set to admin approval. You get a notification theres a new member then you can check the log

[jbcagle7073]

Where is the confirm screen? What's the URL?
[/quote]

You would also have to be an admin of the particular forum to see it. Basically we are using it as a way to weed out spammers. If you have your forum set to admin confirm it shows up in the admin screen. There is also a link that takes the admins there from the upper left hand side of the header in the same area that this forum shows your user name and the option to show unread posts and replies to your posts.

Thanks Labradoodle! Your how did you find out about us could be a useful tool for businesses that run forums to see where their marketing is working.

[MCK]

Hi everyone. Great mod. I appreciate all the effort that went into it. I installed it on my v2RC3 site and it works perfectly.

I have one simple question. How can I change the field description text? I would like to change it from Reason for joining to a more context specific question for my forum.

Thank you very much!

[_Wes]

This doesn't work for 1.1.3 - maybe its time to upgrade, I'm just not sure about 2.0 being an RC.

I have a very small site for subcontra bass guitar - and we have over 115 folks requesting registration. . . different IP's - different spammy names - this mod would be good.

thanks

[live627]

And how exactly would such a mod curb spammers?

[_Wes]

By making it more difficult for them to register.

[Arantor]

Except that it doesn't. Most spammers just pump whatever rubbish into the box as before. (The person replying above you actually wrote such a mod for 2.0 I believe, so I think he knows what he's talking about )

[_Wes]

Point taken, but since I have all registrations set to admin approval, it'll make it that much quicker to delete the account, seeing the rubbish.

[live627]

Well I've had four spammers register on my site in the past and none posted rubbish per se... their reasons were generic, like "to have fun" "to have a good time" whatever. I guess that's rubbish compared to what real humans put, which pertains to the site's content.