SMF2.1:Anti-Spam: Difference between revisions

Work in progress, expect frequent changes.

The Anti-Spam page is for configuring options to help prevent spam in your forum, and to prevent spam bots from registering. As you set up these various verification methods, remember that the more challenges and the more difficult the challenges, the more spam will be prevented, and/or the more bots will be deterred from registering. However, you should also realize that your human members may also be annoyed by this, if you make the challenges too difficult. Weigh these factors carefully, together with the purpose for your forum, as you decide how to set these options.

Anti-Spam Verification

These options help to prevent spam from being posted in your forum.

Require verification on registration page - If this is enabled, potential new members must pass whatever verification methods as are required on the Registration page.
Require verification on all guest searches - If this is enabled, guests must pass verification when they use the Search feature.
Guests must pass verification when making a post - Guests with this number of posts or fewer, must pass verification to be able to post a message.
Maximum number of recipients allowed in a personal message - Set the maximum number here. Note that users with permission to send newsletters are exempt from this restriction.
Post count under which users must pass verification when sending personal messages - Users with fewer posts must pass verification.
Number of personal messages a user may send in an hour - Admins and moderators are exempt.

Configure Verification Methods

This is a technique to verify whether a potential new member is a human or a spam bot. It lets you choose how complex the image is, from which a sequence of characters must be decyphered. The more complex the image, the harder it is for bots to read.

Visual verification image to display - Select options from None, meaning that this option will not be available at all, to Extreme complexity of the image. While the most extreme is the hardest for bots to decypher, it's also hardest for humans; so experiment and choose carefully which level is best for your community.

reCAPTCHA Verification System

A reCAPTCHA system also helps to deter spam bots from registering. If you want to use it, either in addition to, or instead of the image verification above, you can configure it here. This sytem requires two official keys, which you can acquire by clicking on the text link "Get your reCAPTCHA key here."

Use reCAPTCHA Verification System - This enables this feature.
Site Key - Enter the site key which you've requested here.
Secret Key - Enter the secret key here.
reCAPTCHA Theme - Choose whether a light theme or dark theme would be best for your forum.

Verification Questions

Another way to prevent spam bots from registering in your forum, is to set up one or more challenge questions, which potential new members must answer. Think of one or more questions related to the subject of your forum, which only your members will be able to answer.

Number of verification questions user must answer - Choose how many verification questions you want your potential new members to answer. You can create as many questions as you want, but your potential new members will only have to answer how many you set here. If they get a question which is too difficult, they can refresh the registration page and get a new question.
[ Add another question ] - This is a text link, and clicking it opens two new fields - one where you can compose a question, and the other where you write the correct answer. Every time you click this, two more fields open.
[ Add another answer ] - Under the Answer field is another text link, to provide more than one answer for a question. While a question may have more than one answer, the potential new member only has to give one of the correct answers.

Note that if you have installed extra languages on your forum, you will want to compose the same number of questions and answers for each language you've installed.

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