bbAntiSpam: Discuss how to stop web spam

[Seth Pepper]

Hi Oleg,

I installed your antispam software a month ago.

And since then, good new: no spam. Bad news, not one new registration.

So I tried it myself, and it is INCREDIBLY confusing, especially this part:

Say hello *
Answer the Textual Confirmation question to prove you are not a spambot.

We need to figure out a much more "user-friendly" option. No one is using the forum anymore.

Very disappointed.

The Best,
Seth

http://www.thepepper.com/tucson_community.html

[tranquocminh]

Seth Pepper,

I had a look at your forum and there is nearly no posts...

I do not know what happened but I do not think it is only due to the Advanced Textual Confirmation question.

[admin]

Hello Seth,

thanks for writing here in forum.

[Guest]

"do you have an idea what could be user-friendly to you?"

JUST TELL THEM IN PLAIN ENGLISH:

PLEASE TYPE: HELLO

(no quotes, nothing, just keep it simple)

They need to know why they are doing it. These are regular people who would NEVER really care why.

I would really really really appreciate this change.

Our site gets a ton of traffic and should have many more posts.

I appreciate it.

The Best,
Seth

[admin]

Hello Seth,

here are the instructions how to make what you want:

* On your forum, go to the Administration Panel
* In the left menu, click on "Textual Confirmation". The setting appear on the right panel.
* In the text input field, change the old text to the new text:

[Guest]

I appreciate your thorough explanation. I'm making the changes now.

Per your suggestion of "keeping" the explanation below, I changed it to:

"Typing "HELLO" proves you are human, not a machine."

[Ares]

you should note, that you're not limited to "say HELLO"-style questions

I put all sorts of questions in my Textual Confirmation. I put in some math problems, "is anna nicole smith alive" style questions, etc. It is even theoretically possible to do image-captcha (spelling is wrong I know, hehe) style questions with TC, I think.

Just a side note, there's NO easy way to get people to sign up on your forum, especially if there's not an existing forum/feedback community to begin with.

I personally have about 1000 posts on my personal phpBB forum, but that was only because the phpBB gaming community that I originated from, shut down one day. I got about maybe half a dozen of the regulars from the old community to join my site.

My suggestion, Seth, is to cut down on the # of discussion forums on your site. Just start out with 3-6 discussion forums, to start. Once (and if) you start getting a few posts on your forum (having regular posters helps ALOT), you can add a few more (getting user feedback on this also helps - ask them what they want).

[admin]

Hello Seth,

I'm glad you've customized the question, and thanks for sharing your approach!

Thanks Ares for giving recommendations, I agree completely.

It's very hard to get the first message, it's hard to get the first 10 messages, then getting new messages is easier. And why wait for strangers? Find a colleague, and start talking on you own.
_________________
Oleg Parashchenko, bbAntiSpam
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[Guest]

Yeah, I appreciate you all taking your time to share, it is very invaluable.

Can anyone tell me how to cut down on all these intimidating questions below the confirmation HELLO (they really can be too much for the first-time user -- for me, less is more):

This information will be publicly viewable
ICQ Number:
AIM Address:
MSN Messenger:
Yahoo Messenger:
Website:
Location:
Occupation:
Interests:
Signature:
This is a block of text that can be added to posts you make. There is a 255 character limit

HTML is OFF
BBCode is ON
Smilies are ON

Preferences
Always show my e-mail address: Yes No
Hide your online status: Yes No
Always notify me of replies:
Sends an e-mail when someone replies to a topic you have posted in. This can be changed whenever you post. Yes No
Notify on new Private Message: Yes No
Pop up window on new Private Message:
Some templates may open a new window to inform you when new private messages arrive. Yes No
Always attach my signature: Yes No
Always allow BBCode: Yes No
Always allow HTML: Yes No
Always enable Smilies: Yes No
Board Language:
Board Style:
Timezone:
Date format:
The syntax used is identical to the PHP date() function.

[Ares]

you could edit the HTML in your /templates/YOUR_CURRENT_THEME/profile_add_body.tpl file. Edit the HTML, so that the ICQ, etc, fields are hidden. You could use the <!-- and --> tags to hide whatever you want. Or you could use CSS styles to hide the rows.

[admin]

Yes, you have to dig into the phpBB internals to tune your forum. (And it's so for any software, not only for phpBB.) I think you don't want to spend time on it, therefore you'd better ask for professional services at PhpBBinstallers.net. You really need someone, as following the advices (even the right ones) on your own might cause problems and dissatisfaction.
_________________
Oleg Parashchenko, bbAntiSpam
Do you love our tools? Please sponsor further development!

[Guest]

I appreciate your help.

It looks great:

http://www.thepepper.com/phpBB2/profile.php?mode=register&agreed=true

The Best,
Seth

[admin]

Congratulations! It looks very very nice.

I'd suggest to remove also "If you are visually impaired..." and "Confirmation code: * ". It doesn't add any security, but annoys visitors. To disable:

* go to the Administration Panel,
* click "Configuration" in the menu at left,
* change "Enable Visual Confirmation" to "no",
* press "Submit" to save the change.
_________________
Oleg Parashchenko, bbAntiSpam
Do you love our tools? Please sponsor further development!

[Ares]

Just a note:

hiding those lines using <!-- and --> in the profile_add_body.tpl file will likely hide them in the main Profile modification page for your users, as well.

99% of the users on the Internets don't use ANY of those fields to begin with, so you're probably ok, though.