Verification Questions not displayed

[Jenkat]

Now, I know already, this sounds like an issue that's been covered many times.
I have done my due diligence and searching, and have noted the multiple old threads which discuss the problem of verification questions failing to appear on the registration page.

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=475706.msg3326154#msg3326154
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=439088.msg3083762#msg3083762
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=458260.msg3201676#msg3201676
(and others)

The common solution appears to be "Make sure the value is greater than zero for the number of questions to use".

However, the forum team (that I'm communicating on behalf of) has tried and checked all of the points suggested in these threads.

What happens is that the verification area on the registration form appears blank, and no questions are shown, but an attempt to register will fail because it expects an answer to be provided.


Current installation is 2.0.2,
Duvaar theme,
No mods installed.


I'm not sure if the theme itself could be a culprit, but I don't have the ability to try and test it myself.
I am wondering if anyone has other experience they can weigh in with, in addition to the conventional wisdom which is referenced in the above links.

Thank you for any time or thought you may have for me.

[Arantor]

A link to the site would be useful.

[Jenkat]

Quite so, sorry.
http://forums.playsaurus.com [nofollow]

The questions are not currently enabled, so that registration can occur. You won't see the issue currently reproduced.

[Arantor]

Could you enable the questions temporarily please? I'll be here for a bit yet.

Can't really diagnose it without actually looking at it in situ.


EDIT: Time for bed, won't be on much tomorrow.

[Jenkat]

Please forgive my tardy replies, I know you're trying to help.

I am acting as an intermediary, communicating on behalf of the forum team, but without administrator access to the system myself.
Therefore, unless I can get one of the admin team to engage you directly here, I'll have to filter everything back and forth, which - unfortunately - means some delays.

I know they will not wish to leave it on too long, since it cripples registration, but I'll try to arrange an opportunity.
I will first wait for your return, to know when would be a handy time for you.

(I'll also see if I can get an admin of the forum directly involved - I've just been trying to assist in troubleshooting through research, but am just a community member volunteering to try to help)

[Arantor]

Yeah, it would likely be best if one of the admins comes here themselves. I'm around now for most of the evening.

[Jenkat]

I'm very sorry, work has been busy, and of course collaboration and timing have been a challenge as well.

As of this moment, the verification feature is enabled again at the address noted previously.
I can't say how long it will remain enabled.

If you find that it is no longer enabled by the time you (or anyone else interested) arrive to look, I apologize.

The login page appears so: http://i.imgur.com/7oS5Uoc.png [nofollow]
(/index.php?action=register)

No verification questions are visible, though the "Verification" heading appears on the page


When submitting the page, the following error page results: http://i.imgur.com/mtjkGzy.png [nofollow] 
(/index.php?action=register2)



I would like to ask another question -

I noticed that the settings (seen in this image: http://i.imgur.com/TvoAXnC.jpg [nofollow]) indicate a numeric value of 1 for the number of verification questions to be required, however, there are two actual questions defined.

I couldn't find word on this in the documentation. Do you know if these should be equal?

[Arantor]

Easy question first.

I couldn't find word on this in the documentation. Do you know if these should be equal?

Not necessarily. The number is the number of questions to be shown to users, which can be up to the same number as defined, but doesn't have to be. You might define 10 questions and expect 2 to be answered, and 2 random questions will be picked.

So the verification is definitely configured... the question is why it isn't showing up at all, and that's weird because it should be. I had to see it exactly as-is, not seeing a picture of it, to make any sense of it at all.

Do you have any mods installed that relate to registration (e.g. reCAPTCHA)? Does it work if they are removed?

Also, what are the questions you've defined? I don't need the answers, just the questions.

Lastly, can you attach the forum's Sources/Subs-Editor.php and Themes/default/GenericControls.template.php files here please?

[Jenkat]

I was told "No mods installed", but I note in the screenshot of the config page (http://i.imgur.com/TvoAXnC.jpg [nofollow]), it lists reCAPTCHA; however, it appears not to be enabled.

I will ask further about that. If it is an add-in mod, even disabled, it still bears on the registration system.


The two questions currently defined are visible in the screenshot of the CP, near the bottom.
They are:
1. How many sides does a pentagon have?
2. How many fingers does a human have?


The two requested files (only) are zipped in the attachment.

Thank you again for your consideration.

[Arantor]

OK, so the questions aren't anything funny in terms of symbols, which is what I was really getting at - questions with funny symbols could easily cause this sort of strangeness.

Yeah, I think the files are going to be the next step, because it seems like there's something wrong with the GenericControls one (but both are necessary as they are interlinked)

[Jenkat]

I've edited my previous post to attach the requested files.

[Arantor]

Thanks

OK, so I've taken a look. It actually looks to me as though it's a bug in the way the reCAPTCHA mod is implemented, and I'm not sure without digging through all the internals of the mod but it looks very much like if reCAPTCHA is implemented, the core questions are supposed to be replaced by it.

In all honesty, you could just disable reCAPTCHA and stick with the basic questions; reCAPTCHA has been shown by multiple studies that it is almost as good as keeping bots out as legitimate users who can't read the strange writing (coupled with the fact that its design is deeply flawed, you don't even have to get *either* word right to get through, as long as you get the correct word of the pair correct allowing for one letter wrong, the other word can be any old nonsense)

[doogog]

Hey Arantor, thanks for the help so far! I'm one of the mods at the mentioned forum.

I have tried un-checking the "Use reCAPTCHA Verification System" option in the anti-spam configs, but that yielded the same results. How do I go about uninstalling or disabling the reCAPTCHA mod?

[Arantor]

Yeah, unchecking the option isn't going to be enough, I'm afraid, because the code that supports it is still present. You should be able to uninstall it from Admin > Main > Packages which should remove it.

[Jenkat]

*deletes superfluous post because doogog appeared*

Thank you again for willingness to help, Arantor.

[Arantor]

Not a problem As long as we get it sorted out, that's the important thing.

[doogog]

Yeah, unchecking the option isn't going to be enough, I'm afraid, because the code that supports it is still present. You should be able to uninstall it from Admin > Main > Packages which should remove it.

I don't see anything in Admin > Packages. We're currently on SMF 2.0.2.

[Arantor]

It's not listed in there? Not even in the Browse Packages page? Odd, because it should be.

EDIT: Time for bed, sorry :/

[doogog]

Nope it's not there in packages. I think since 2.0, it's been a built-in feature, and not a mod.

[Jenkat]

So far, everything I can find suggests that reCAPTCHA is still an add-in mod, that it's not part of the default SMF install.