I'm not sure I understand the problem...I have a phpBB2 board, and didn't implement the CAPTCHA for the longest time. After a couple of years, we started getting spam members (members with suspicious names, and website links even more suspicious). After about a week of carefully deleting all such registrants, I returned the default style to subSilver, and enabled the CAPTCHA.
Bam. Account spam gone. Not a one since, about 6 months ago.
Are there sites with the CAPTCHA enabled that have a problem with account spam? Are these sites certain it's a bot and not a person?
spammers, and rel='nofollow'
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Discussion of general topics related to the new release and its place in the world. Don't discuss new features, report bugs, ask for support, et cetera. Don't use this to spam for other boards or attack those boards!
Discussion of general topics related to the new release and its place in the world. Don't discuss new features, report bugs, ask for support, et cetera. Don't use this to spam for other boards or attack those boards!
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balding_ape
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Re: spammers, and rel='nofollow'
I have Captcha enabled, and still have a few spam registrations creap through once in a while. I couldn't care less whether they are automated or manual (other than if they are indeed automated, it could indicate there is a lot more to come 8O ), what I care about is not getting them in the first place. I don't get that many spam posts. I agree with code reader that an effective way of reducing such registrations would be to add the rel='nofollow' to the links in the member list [edit: whether that is going to have any significant effect on spamming as a whole, I don't know - there seem to be strong arguments both ways]. But really, as I said in page 2, I don't feel much like repeating everything that has been said in this recent discussion about where to add it and where not, etc. Maybe the mods should try the wonderful new merge function on these discussions 
Last edited by Eelke on Fri Aug 25, 2006 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Handyman
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Re: spammers, and rel='nofollow'
I think this could be a mod, but I hope it's not created into phpBB3.
if you use CAPTCHA for new registrants, it shouldn't be much of a problem, and those that are a problem are easily removed.
if you use CAPTCHA for new registrants, it shouldn't be much of a problem, and those that are a problem are easily removed.
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Re: spammers, and rel='nofollow'
I really wish people would also read the other thread I'm not going to start an enormous argument about this, I really don't feel this strongly about it as you might think. But I would like to clearify something.
The whole point that code reader is making is that this can not be a mod. If it's not in the core, it makes no sense at all to create this as a mod, because no spammer in their right mind (
) would check for individual boards if they had this mod installed, by any chance. They would just write a script to target phpBB 3.0 boards, and if a handful of them had this mod, well, it's not that it's going to make a huge difference to the effectiveness of their script (or whatever other method they are using to get registrations on as many boards possible). Now, on the other hand, if all phpBB 3 boards had this, there might just be some spammers that know this and deciding it's not worth targetting 3.0 boards.
Now, read back on this discussion and the one I linked twice to decide whether adding it to the core would be effective and worth the effort on part of the development team (that's really not what I'm arguing here - I've not made up my mind myself and will just be happy whatever the developers decide, I suppose). It's just that we can be absolutely beyond the shadow of a doubt certain that doing it as a mod will be completely useless.
I'm not going to start an enormous argument about this, I really don't feel this strongly about it as you might think. But I would like to clearify something. The whole point that code reader is making is that this can not be a mod. If it's not in the core, it makes no sense at all to create this as a mod, because no spammer in their right mind (
) would check for individual boards if they had this mod installed, by any chance. They would just write a script to target phpBB 3.0 boards, and if a handful of them had this mod, well, it's not that it's going to make a huge difference to the effectiveness of their script (or whatever other method they are using to get registrations on as many boards possible). Now, on the other hand, if all phpBB 3 boards had this, there might just be some spammers that know this and deciding it's not worth targetting 3.0 boards.Now, read back on this discussion and the one I linked twice to decide whether adding it to the core would be effective and worth the effort on part of the development team (that's really not what I'm arguing here - I've not made up my mind myself and will just be happy whatever the developers decide, I suppose). It's just that we can be absolutely beyond the shadow of a doubt certain that doing it as a mod will be completely useless.