PHPBB Question

[Moonwynd]

Hi all. I have forums for an organization that I run - it is a PHPBB based forum. I have it set so that when users register they have to enter a string of numbers to confirm they are not bots. I then receive a notification that a user has registered and I have to approve them for access.

My problem is that I get an insane amount of spammers registering. Am I to assume these are not bots and they are real people as they are getting beyond the input of the displayed 5 digits they have to input?

Is there any way to prevent these spammers from registering if they are bots?

Thanks for any advice.

Be well,

Moon

[Boogahz]

I remember seeing several places online where methods of beating the random image generators were posted. If that's what you are using, getting one that has more variants (font, color, image distortion, etc) might lower the amount of unwanted registrations.

[Zaelath]

FYI, the random image dealie is called "captcha". So google "phpbb captcha" if you want to find a replacement, I can't say which are better than others though.

Also, some of them are trivial to defeat, this site can test yours to see if it's flawed (guessing it is) http://www.phpbb-security.com/check.php

Likely they have some other tips to help out, but I didn't bother looking too closely.

[Xouqoa]

The new one in phpBB 3 is way better than the previous, almost useless, one.

I used one called freecap as a replacement when I was running 2.x on another board.

[Sargeras]

Xouqoa is cheating on us with another forum.

[Xouqoa]

Xouqoa is cheating on us with another forum.

For work!

[Boogahz]

Xouqoa is cheating on us with another forum.

For work!

uh huh, riiiight, work, gotcha

[Moonwynd]

Thanks for the input, everyone. I looked at some of the Captcha replacements - they all look decent - I only wish I had the skills to get in there and get this done correctly. I built the entire site using HTML and CSS - I created my PHPBB2 forums - I even managed to somehow be successful and implementing an image gallery for the members -

I guess I will back up everything before I attempt to change something...

[Bubba Grizz]

While on the topic of phpbb, can someone tell me how to adjust post count? I am setting up a new board and want to adjust the post counts for a few people who care about those kind of things.

[Xouqoa]

While on the topic of phpbb, can someone tell me how to adjust post count? I am setting up a new board and want to adjust the post counts for a few people who care about those kind of things.

I *think* the only way you can adjust it is by going into the database table for each user and updating it in their user record. That's what I had to do years ago to make kyoukan's negative.

[Bubba Grizz]

erf screw that they can all start fresh for all I care now. bahahah Thanks though.

[Boogahz]

While on the topic of phpbb, can someone tell me how to adjust post count? I am setting up a new board and want to adjust the post counts for a few people who care about those kind of things.

I *think* the only way you can adjust it is by going into the database table for each user and updating it in their user record. That's what I had to do years ago to make kyoukan's negative.

The irony of that action was just SO beautiful!