Technical advice from the forum mods please

Does exactly what it says on the tin. Some of the nonsense contained herein may be very loosely related to The Sisters of Mercy, but I wouldn't bet your PayPal account on it. In keeping with the internet's general theme nothing written here should be taken as Gospel: over three quarters of it is utter gibberish, and most of the forum's denizens haven't spoken to another human being face-to-face for decades. Don't worry your pretty little heads about it. Above all else, remember this: You don't have to stay forever. I will understand.
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cannon303
Road Kill
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Joined: 13 Mar 2005, 00:36

Hi hope this isn't too much of a naff question and too far off topic but as a web developer I have been asked to set up a forum for a local gaming fraternity. I have set up a phpBB forum before for a disability rights organisation and found that the spam is crushing to say the least. I wanted to ask if this is a concern you have to constantly keep on top of? Do you have modifications that keep it at bay ? if so which? As a user of this forum I've never seen any spam here so thought I could benefit from your advice.

Thanks in advance.

Chris
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markfiend
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In short, yes. We do have to constantly keep on top of it.

As I recall QB has installed some anti-spam mods, but they still get through from time to time.
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
—Bertrand Russell
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DocSommer
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cannon303 wrote:Hi hope this isn't too much of a naff question and too far off topic but as a web developer I have been asked to set up a forum for a local gaming fraternity. I have set up a phpBB forum before for a disability rights organisation and found that the spam is crushing to say the least. I wanted to ask if this is a concern you have to constantly keep on top of? Do you have modifications that keep it at bay ? if so which? As a user of this forum I've never seen any spam here so thought I could benefit from your advice.

Thanks in advance.

Chris
Wich version of phpBB are you using? I'd recomment to use the Q&A captcha in combination with questions/answeres that aren't too easy (like simple math problems) - this is a default feauture in phpBB3 and way better than the other captcha methods.

If that doesn't help enough (I say it should^^) you can set up the "recently registered" user group. Once activated, this will be the default group for new users until they reach a certain amount of postings. You can easily set up that you have to unlock new postings until the user is trusworthy enough to post without this limitation.
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markfiend
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If I recall, there is some sort of Captcha on here too.

That "recently registered" group is a good idea. I think you can make it so that a person needs to have posted more than a certain number of times before they can post links too.
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
—Bertrand Russell
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emilystrange
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they use that on the teachers' forum. you wouldn't think you'd need it, would you, but it's more to protect against people than spam.
I don't wanna live like I don't mind
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Pista
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Another way is to disable auto activation of accounts.
If you stack up new users in a queue & vet them all to ensure they are indeed ACTUAL people at least before activating them, it would give you piece of mind & offer a personal touch.
It may take a bit longer to have newbies activated, but that's the trade off between having genuine members & spammers/ bots & the like
Cheers.
Steve
Just like the old days
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cannon303
Road Kill
Posts: 16
Joined: 13 Mar 2005, 00:36

thanks for your replies. I'm using 3.07 but upgraded to 3.010. I have tried installing some mods but havent worked such as a video capcha and some anti spam mod which was so complicated I ditched it after I realised I hadn't a clue how to work it. I'll certainly try the q & a and also the recently registered group! Ta very much
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