Email Domain Ban

[Elrick]

Hi SMF Wizards!! ~ Season Greetings to you all.

Again I am in need of your expertise with SMF 2.0.2. Very briefly, is there a way to ban specific email domains without affecting existing registered members using those domains?.
Whenever a domain is banned SMF also deletes existing accounts with those domains.

This is a serious inconvenience with SMF as many spammers use spamming software such as XRumer  (XRumer is a search engine optimization program, created by BotmasterLabs, that is able to register and post to forums (forum spam) ) – it also automatically register for email addresses with free email domains.

With other bulletin software an Admin can ban any email domain (and register new members) without affecting existing registered members that use those domains.

Surely SMF could provide this facility??.

With another bulletin software where domains have been banned, the guests trying to register with a banned domain get the following notice:- {Admin can modify this notice to suit)

Code Select Expand


You may not register with, post as a guest or change your email address to one
from the domain @gmail.com or any free, disposable domain.
Please use email provided by your ISP.


Any advice on this subject?

[Kindred]

Well, the best defense is to stop them before they even GET through the registration.
http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Spam_-_my_forum_is_flooded_with_spam,_what_can_I_do

And using the SMF ban system that way is inefficient and will eventually bog down your system.
However, if you insist on doing so...
http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Ban_list#Add_New_Ban.
Cannot register -When you put a registration restriction/ban on an ip, username, e-mail, or ip you take away the right to register at your forum. If they currently have an account on your forum they will be able to use it, however they won't be able to register a new one. This type of restriction or ban is nice if you have some one who registers multiple times.

[Elrick]

Very many thanks Kindred for your prompt reply and advice. It is much appreciated. However, it does not address my questions nor the links provide an answer.

I do notice your advice:

And using the SMF ban system that way is inefficient and will eventually bog down your system.

You might be right in case of SMF, (I do not know enough about it) but I can assure you I use other bulletin software that way and it is exceedingly efficient and it does not bog down my system in the least despite having an extensive email domain ban list, (not email addresses), hence my questions about SMF being able to offer this facility of banning email domains without affecting existing registered members using them. Perhaps SMF requires a Mod to achieve the same function as other software. I just do not know.

My gratitude for your pertinent advice.

[Arantor]

No, it bogs down all of them to varying degrees. I'd make it leaner but I'm not really able to for various non technical reasons.

[Kindred]

I did answer your question.

You add a ban using the "can not register" effect with a trigger on *@mail.ru for email address



And no...   there is no inconvenience to SMF users, nor any mod needed, since SMF, can do it (as I just said) just like any of the other systems.

[Illori]

maybe http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1493 would work better?

[Kindred]

I am confused as to why that mod even exists, since you can alreayd do it using the standrad functionality of SMF....   but anyway - maybe the user would prefer that.

[Illori]

i would think with the mod there would be no hits to the bans list so no performance hit at all.

[Elrick]

You add a ban using the "can not register" effect with a trigger on *@mail.ru for email address

I already know this, Kindred, but that is NOT my question. That facility I already use provided that there is not already valid, bona-fide registered members using that domain as SMF deletes any existing account that uses that domain in addition to prevent further registrations with that domain. That is the problem with SMF (at least that is the problem with the version I am using)

With other bulletin software an Admin can ban any domain and it will NOT delete any existing members registered with that domain (only prevents further registration or change of email with that banned domain) but it will not delete any already registered account.

In addition, an Admin can register a member even if that domain is already banned as Admins are allowed to override the ban. But not on SMF. That is what I found anyway.

By way of elucidation of my questions and issues, if you were to ban the domain *@mail.ru now on this forum, SMF would delete ALL existing registered members with that domain in addition to prevent further registrations. That is the issue!!.

Perhaps my questions were not sufficiently succinct and clear so that it lent itself to misinterpretation.

Many thanks for all your efforts and patience with this matter and I can only conclude that SMF does not contain the referred facility for Admins as other software do. Thanks as well to Illori for pointing that Mod that although helpful mod it does not accomplish the facility mentioned.

Best regards to the wonderful and helpful members of this forum for their support and assistance.

Elrick

[Arantor]

Except that's what he told you that you can do. If you ban with 'cannot register', it will not affect existing accounts.

There are three kinds of bans in 2.0: cannot login, cannot post and cannot register. You want the third one.


EDIT: The problem is not with our understanding of your request, but your understanding of our replies. The fact you're also 4 security versions behind is also not a good sign.