ARPD Forum Updates

[Chief J. Schappell]

Not to worry guys. The website servers are just lagging right now. It will likely be fixed soon. The graphical corruption is caused by the web browsers becoming confused when loading the lagging sites, unsure of how to correctly display the code which is becoming corrupted on transmission.

[Rare]

Not to worry guys. The website servers are just lagging right now. It will likely be fixed soon. The graphical corruption is caused by the web browsers becoming confused when loading the lagging sites, unsure of how to correctly display the code which is becoming corrupted on transmission.

Removed, if u need a picture pm.

[Chief J. Schappell]

Not to worry guys. The website servers are just lagging right now. It will likely be fixed soon. The graphical corruption is caused by the web browsers becoming confused when loading the lagging sites, unsure of how to correctly display the code which is becoming corrupted on transmission.

Removed, if u need a picture pm.

What?

[[Rstar]Paul]

Saturday - 28th of January All spam bots are now removed from the forums, there should be no such thing in future - Took me around 3 days to sort it out with a new feature.. Email services should be back

[Goodandy]

Nice job Paul. 

[Chief J. Schappell]

Took me around 3 days to sort it out with a new feature.

Feel your pain there. When me and Trane went through and got rid of the original ones, there were over 4,000 of the lil ****ers sneaking around in the member's list :P

[Goodandy]

Paul. They have returned. Check Gen Dis.

[Chief J. Schappell]

Did someone set the forum to auto-approve without user email self-authentication? That might be why they are getting through so easily.

[[Rstar]Paul]

Paul. They have returned. Check Gen Dis.

There is a some sort of small annoymous spam bots, but eventually at some point they will be gone.

Did someone set the forum to auto-approve without user email self-authentication? That might be why they are getting through so easily.

For some reason which non of us seem to find, spam bots can somehow activate their own account.
This even happened during the email services which we're down some days ago.

[Chief J. Schappell]

Some bots are able to, or get human assistance with it. That's why I installed so many anti-spam mods on ARFD forums.

Two I would still highly recommend, if you have FTP access to install the second one, are StopSpammer and Mod httpBL, both as SMF mods. I've been using them for a few years now with great success.

StopSpammer checks them against a database of known spammer IP's, usernames, and email addresses. If set up correctly, it will flag any users that register with matches so they must be approved or deleted by an Administrator.

Mod httpBL works in a similar way by checking yet another database of known spammer IP's, but instead of flagging them, it redirects them to a "captcha" style page in which they must answer a couple very simple math questions to get past it. Those that are obviously bots and cannot trick the page don't get past it, and thus never make it to the registration page to begin with.

On ARFD forums, my total stats between the two mods are as follows:

StopSpammer: "19888 Spammers blocked up until today"
Mod httpBL: "Spammers stopped by MOD httpBL: 13318"

However, Gandalf has said in the past that he prefers the Bad Behavior Mod over Mod httpBL, and both use the same database for queries. He never really gave me an opinion on the StopSpammer mod either way, so I'm unsure of his opinions there. Best bet would be to get in contact with him when he returns again, and see what he's willing to allow or do regarding the bots.

[MrTrane]

There is an easier way to stop them than installing mods, just simply add questions on the registration page, like the ones I had added few months ago (What SAPD stands for? - What SWAT stands for? etc) and not a single bot registered since then. But recently I noticed that someone removed the registration questions and since then the forum got filled with Viagra.

[[Rstar]Paul]

There is an easier way to stop them than installing mods, just simply add questions on the registration page, like the ones I had added few months ago (What SAPD stands for? - What SWAT stands for? etc) and not a single bot registered since then. But recently I noticed that someone removed the registration questions and since then the forum got filled with Viagra.

It's still there

Even the questions in the Anti Spam section are still there.
However - i did notice the verification questions we're disabled and it should be okay now.

[Goodandy]

There is an easier way to stop them than installing mods, just simply add questions on the registration page, like the ones I had added few months ago (What SAPD stands for? - What SWAT stands for? etc) and not a single bot registered since then. But recently I noticed that someone removed the registration questions and since then the forum got filled with Viagra.

It's still there

Even the questions in the Anti Spam section are still there.
However - i did notice the verification questions we're disabled and it should be okay now.

How about blocking some of their idiotic names that do not make sense? Would that be possible, if not then I guess add more questions possibly? Higher level thinking skills shall be applied.

[[Rstar]Paul]

Some bots are able to, or get human assistance with it. That's why I installed so many anti-spam mods on ARFD forums.

Two I would still highly recommend, if you have FTP access to install the second one, are StopSpammer and Mod httpBL, both as SMF mods. I've been using them for a few years now with great success.

StopSpammer checks them against a database of known spammer IP's, usernames, and email addresses. If set up correctly, it will flag any users that register with matches so they must be approved or deleted by an Administrator.

Mod httpBL works in a similar way by checking yet another database of known spammer IP's, but instead of flagging them, it redirects them to a "captcha" style page in which they must answer a couple very simple math questions to get past it. Those that are obviously bots and cannot trick the page don't get past it, and thus never make it to the registration page to begin with.

On ARFD forums, my total stats between the two mods are as follows:

StopSpammer: "19888 Spammers blocked up until today"
Mod httpBL: "Spammers stopped by MOD httpBL: 13318"

However, Gandalf has said in the past that he prefers the Bad Behavior Mod over Mod httpBL, and both use the same database for queries. He never really gave me an opinion on the StopSpammer mod either way, so I'm unsure of his opinions there. Best bet would be to get in contact with him when he returns again, and see what he's willing to allow or do regarding the bots.

It's an okay mod.

Anyway, it should be fixed now for the spam bots.

[Chief J. Schappell]

There is an easier way to stop them than installing mods, just simply add questions on the registration page, like the ones I had added few months ago (What SAPD stands for? - What SWAT stands for? etc) and not a single bot registered since then. But recently I noticed that someone removed the registration questions and since then the forum got filled with Viagra.

It's still there

Even the questions in the Anti Spam section are still there.
However - i did notice the verification questions we're disabled and it should be okay now.

How about blocking some of their idiotic names that do not make sense? Would that be possible, if not then I guess add more questions possibly? Higher level thinking skills shall be applied.

First of all, don't attack the admins on their "thinking skills".

Secondly, there is no way to block their names without guessing the trillions of possibilities, including specific keywords that bots tend to skew and change to avoid such blocks.

As for adding more questions, that only puts an inconvenience on normal users trying to register. If they can get past the initial questions, adding more won't stop them.

[Goodandy]

There is an easier way to stop them than installing mods, just simply add questions on the registration page, like the ones I had added few months ago (What SAPD stands for? - What SWAT stands for? etc) and not a single bot registered since then. But recently I noticed that someone removed the registration questions and since then the forum got filled with Viagra.

It's still there

Even the questions in the Anti Spam section are still there.
However - i did notice the verification questions we're disabled and it should be okay now.

How about blocking some of their idiotic names that do not make sense? Would that be possible, if not then I guess add more questions possibly? Higher level thinking skills shall be applied.

First of all, don't attack the admins on their "thinking skills".

Secondly, there is no way to block their names without guessing the trillions of possibilities, including specific keywords that bots tend to skew and change to avoid such blocks.

As for adding more questions, that only puts an inconvenience on normal users trying to register. If they can get past the initial questions, adding more won't stop them.

I was not referring to administration. But was referring to bots, if the questions need higher thinking skills, then its harder to pass them.

[Chief J. Schappell]

There is an easier way to stop them than installing mods, just simply add questions on the registration page, like the ones I had added few months ago (What SAPD stands for? - What SWAT stands for? etc) and not a single bot registered since then. But recently I noticed that someone removed the registration questions and since then the forum got filled with Viagra.

It's still there

Even the questions in the Anti Spam section are still there.
However - i did notice the verification questions we're disabled and it should be okay now.

How about blocking some of their idiotic names that do not make sense? Would that be possible, if not then I guess add more questions possibly? Higher level thinking skills shall be applied.

First of all, don't attack the admins on their "thinking skills".

Secondly, there is no way to block their names without guessing the trillions of possibilities, including specific keywords that bots tend to skew and change to avoid such blocks.

As for adding more questions, that only puts an inconvenience on normal users trying to register. If they can get past the initial questions, adding more won't stop them.

I was not referring to administration. But was referring to bots, if the questions need higher thinking skills, then its harder to pass them.

The same goes for users too. Keep in mind that many of these bots have human assistance, as well. They are just as capable in some cases as regular people are, if not more capable due to their experience.

[Goodandy]

There is an easier way to stop them than installing mods, just simply add questions on the registration page, like the ones I had added few months ago (What SAPD stands for? - What SWAT stands for? etc) and not a single bot registered since then. But recently I noticed that someone removed the registration questions and since then the forum got filled with Viagra.

It's still there

Even the questions in the Anti Spam section are still there.
However - i did notice the verification questions we're disabled and it should be okay now.

How about blocking some of their idiotic names that do not make sense? Would that be possible, if not then I guess add more questions possibly? Higher level thinking skills shall be applied.

First of all, don't attack the admins on their "thinking skills".

Secondly, there is no way to block their names without guessing the trillions of possibilities, including specific keywords that bots tend to skew and change to avoid such blocks.

As for adding more questions, that only puts an inconvenience on normal users trying to register. If they can get past the initial questions, adding more won't stop them.

I was not referring to administration. But was referring to bots, if the questions need higher thinking skills, then its harder to pass them.

The same goes for users too. Keep in mind that many of these bots have human assistance, as well. They are just as capable in some cases as regular people are, if not more capable due to their experience.

Well, I've said my part. I'll leave it to you guys now.

[[Rstar]Paul]

I have gained Administrator / Webmaster rights on the ARPD website.
Which means I'll be working around on it when available.

Oh and there shouldn't be any spam bots anywhere around the forums. 

[Goodandy]

I have gained Administrator / Webmaster rights on the ARPD website.
Which means I'll be working around on it when available.

Oh and there shouldn't be any spam bots anywhere around the forums. 

Congrats!