And after doing so, you set up all the different categories and subforums on your phpBB forum. How satisfying! Now all you need is people to come register and make it a pleasant place.
After some days, suddenly you see a lot of signups. Excellent! you think.
However, soon you will realize these new signups have usernames like "outfigjuimi", "intoruroshatt", "asdfgt27t", and whatever non-sensical things. Some of them have more sensible names, but it seems there's no difference in what they are - spambots, out to spam rubbish on your forum, posting in the completely wrong categories, and sometimes posting multiple times in a short period of time. Before you know it, your forum looks like a weed garden of irrelevant rubbish.
These spambots register on forums all over the internet, with the sole intention of spamming. Some of them lay dormant without posting, until they either post or not, because even if they don't post, in their forum profile they still have their websites linked to, and of course all these links on all these profiles all over the internet increase their rankings in search engines.
How to have less spam?
Firstly, you need to have as little as possible automated spambots successfully registering. To do that, here's what you need to do:
1. Log into your forum under your own admin username.
2. At the bottom, you will see a link to log into the Administration Control Panel. Log into it. You'll need to reprovide your username and password.
3. In the "General" Tab, under "Board Configuration", you'll see a heading "Spambot Countermeasures". Go there.
4. Here you will see "Available Plugins".
Now, under this heading you will see Q & A, GD 3D image, Simple Image, GD Image and reCaptcha.
Now for some reason, if you use those, it seems it should work to combat automated spammer registrations, but it doesn't. Q & A means they have to answer a question you specify, like what is 1 + 3. The other methods have letters that seem jumbled up or are on a "3D" surface, probably meant so that automated software can't read it. However, it seems spambots have long cracked all these methods, because even with those activated the spambots still come.
So, what will work?
5. Choose reCaptcha. You will need a Google account to use it. If you already have a Google account, you can register easily by just clicking once or thrice. Now you can use the reCaptcha.
reCaptcha is currently the only spambot countermeasure that seems to have any effect in reducing automated spambot registrations.
When reCaptcha is set up, click Submit.
6. Now, on your Administration Control Panel page's very lefthand menu, where you selected "Spambot Countermeasures", still under the heading "Board configuration", you now select "User registration Settings".
Under User Registration Settings you should see Account Activation, with settings to select that confirmation be done either by the user, the admin, or to have no confirmation email sent. Here, select "By User". (You may also select "By Admin" here, so that you will be sent an email everytime someone registers and you can click a link to activate the user, or not click to activate them if they seem iffy from their profile. However, you may start to get irritated with all the activation emails coming in.)
Click Submit.
Now you should get anything from very little to no spambot registrations, as all registrations will have to be done manually by prospective forum members. Of course some of them may still be real human spammers or just register and then use automated software to post, but at least because of this extra effort on their part, you will see a dramatic reduction in auto-spammers on your phpBB forum.
It won't be perfect and you still will get maybe one or two spam posts on your forum a day, but nothing you can't easily delete and ban the offending member. If it becomes irritating for you, maybe you should just bugger the forum altogether, for it can be a pain in the butt to keep clean. Maybe it's just not you. But maybe you still find it worth it.
Let's also hope that you didn't have too many spambot members that slipped in already before you activated reCaptcha, but if there are, just delete those members and their posts whenever they pop up by clicking "Administrate User" on their profiles and selecting "Delete Posts" under "Delete User" and clicking Submit. Before long you should have most if not all spambot members deleted.
Viola! Your forum should now be a better place for all. Now let's just hope you don't have too much trouble finding new real people to sign up, which is also something that's becoming more and more difficult.
UPDATE August 2021:
I now believe that the Q&A (Question & Answer) one also works well. I've used that and it seems to also stop the spambots, as long as whoever is hardup to send their spambots to your site doesn't add your answer to some kind of spambot registration database. I believe usually they're not looking for your site specifically, so as long as your question and answer is unique and not in any such spambot signup database, you'll be fine and they won't bother to come bother you on your site.
Download GAMES for PC straight from Japan! Browse games here
Do your COMPUTER SHOPPING at B&H! Laptops, desktops, Macs, Hardware components & more
Hello Coding - Anyone Can Learn to Code
Domain names & hosting available at 1-GRID
Check out these funky computer & gaming keyboards!
Full-Stack Web Development In 7 days
VR GAMING COMPUTERS for sale! Gaming laptops & more
Browse LAPTOPS to suit every need! Basic, Work & Business, Creative, Gaming, MacBooks & more
Try NORTON 360. Enhanced security for your devices and VPN for online privacy
SOUNDCARDS for computer for sale. Creative Labs Sound Blaster, Startech, Sabrent & more
Unlock the Future of Tech and Gaming with the Complete Unity/Unreal AI and ChatGPT Bundle+
Buy TABLETS, COMPUTERS, MEMORY CARDS & MORE ONLINE! Shipped internationally
Domain names & hosting available at 1-GRID
Empower Your Child's Future with Our Ultimate Kids Coding and Game Development Bundle
Browse iPads, Tablets & E-Readers for sale! Check out great deals
Buy 3D PRINTERS & FILAMENT here! Shipped worldwide
Buy MICRO SD & TF CARDS here! Shipped worldwide
The Complete AI Digital Artist Masterclass
The Complete Excel, AI and Data Science Mega Bundle
The Complete Python, Machine Learning, AI Mega Bundle+
Godot Game Development Machine Learning Masterclass
EGroupware - Online Collaboration Software
Raspberry Pi for Beginners (Mac+PC)
TikTok Marketing - viral Secrets of TikTok
Become a DIGITAL NOMAD: Take your laptop and start traveling around the world!
The upsetting story of my youth, chapter 1
THE PLANETS: An Ideal Coffee Table Book
Atmos 566 - A Perpetually Powered Watch?
3D Holograms On Flat 2D Surfaces
LIZARD FOUND ON MARS!!!! WHAAAAA!!! It's coming to eat all of us!!! Save me!!!
Nibiru's Influence on Our Solar System
So the human race is tired of earth and want to live on Mars now?
On the Air That We Breathe: Nitrogen and Oxygen
Portable LCD Digital Microscope G1200 1-1200x magnification
Hyperloop: Transportation for people and goodies that is like really fast and cheap!
Nile River in Egypt: Nile Delta, River Cycles and Why the Valley is So Fertile
What is Infusoria, the Little Animals?
The End Of The World is here. Again. And Again. What might actually kill us in the end?
How to Have a Family Christmas Together when They All Plan to Be Somewhere else over the Holidays
How to Criticize and Find Fault
15 Signs You're Dealing With A Narcissist, From A Therapist
Don't want to go on vacation because I'll miss my dog too much
To become a millionaire or not become a millionaire? That is the question
Can't decide if "Convection" heater is effective
Is it even possible not to get fat?
Does humanity still have time to play with our dogs?
Should I get a Kobo? Who has one and how often do you actually use it?
What is the purpose of Russia's space creatures?
The Simpsons: Is it worth suffering for?
Getting slim by never eating again
Is stroking a dog therapeutic for you?
Do duvets make delicious giant pancakes?
Should the poor be taxed more heavily?
Chinese workmanship: You get what you pay for
Do you like the sun or the moon more?
You think I'm good? I'M BAD I TELLS YA!!! BAAAADD!!! Bad.
Google Streetview: Go for the ride of your life!
My fight against chaos... a battle I always lose!
Doctors make their money by doing what doctors do
A good way to enjoy sitting at a desk and a computer
Schedules.... schedules.... what are they for?
Discount!!! Whoohoooo!!!! Ok, maybe it has to do with expectations
An improvement of the tip to eat dark chocolate for your health
Can't stop petting my maltese poodle
What's the point of breathing?
Can't find information on this anywhere
I didn't have chicken. I had lasagna
Portrait Professional: Turn humans into freaks!
Jamlosia: What did you think of this movie?
Crisis looming regarding the naming of video resolution standards
Moviemaking, a journey choice cracken shake moo
What do you think of Schmakaboshu? Does it attract you?
Infra red, the pretty invisible color
phpbb: How to add an advertisement after first forum post
phpbb: How to change link colors in forum post window?
phpbb Restore doesn't work on new installation of phpbb forum!
phpbb: How to embed html games into your phpbb forum
phpbb: How to change the font color of your forum description line
phpbb: How to change plain background colors to background image textures
phpbb: How to remove the border around an attachment image
phpbb: How to turn off the birthdays listing on your forum
phpbb: How to change the text on the buttons of your forum
phpbb: Links with ? or funny characters disappear when viewing posts
phpbb: How to create a meme tag
phpbb: How to bump a topic when the bump option is not available
phpbb: How to remove the bumped message and line
phpbb: How do I remove the attachment paperclip icon from the forum's topic listing?
phpbb: The NEW TOPIC button is not showing, even when my permissions are set right!
phpbb: How do I remove the file download name, file size and view count that appears under an attachment?
How to Stop Spammers from Overrunning Your Newly Created PhpBB Forum
How do you have photos, images and pictures scale automatically to fit your phpbb forum's window width?
How to change the color of the date and time stamp under post heading
Setting font sizes: I can't find where to change font size!
phpbb: Where to change the font of posts & more places
phpbb: Embed YouTube videos easily without adding an extention
phpbb: How to embed a youtube playlist in posts
phpbb: How to remove the round picture (read/unread icon) in the forum and post list row
DIE BESTE AFRIKAANSE ALBUM IN DIE WêRELD ... OOIT! Volume Een
The Great Composers and their music 1: Beethoven Symphony no. 5 in C Minor Opus 67 magazine
Can't stand MTV anymore because there's no music? Here's where to go now...
White Earphones in Public: You One of Those Apple Ipod People?
Elvis Presley brought back to life via hologram
Meet Elvis Presley's Daughter, Lisa Marie Presley
The best Christmas background music for Christmas meals
Why pewdiepie still beats stuffchat in amount of videos and views
Fiverr.com A Good Place to Find Freelance Graphic and Logo Designers?
The "video look" - Filmmaker's talk
Filmmaking: Authentic realism look
Load more...
(c) Goodinfo.Stream
Goodinfo.Stream may earn commissions for referrals to products on Amazon.com & others
Disclaimer