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Run a vBulletin Forum? Inside: Tips to Limit Spam

by Tom Addams
4 replies
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There was a time when I worked around the clock running vBulletin communities. And I'm only slightly exaggerating. 18 hour days, 7 days a week.

I find myself getting back into vBulletin (I won't bore you as to why) and I'm currently taking myself back to school in many ways; lots of new vB developments.

What you have below are links that might help you limit (never defeat) automated and human spam, should you in fact own a vBulletin forum.

I really cannot take credit for any cleverness here, since these are links I've seen current experts (I presume) recommending, and nor can I vouch for their effectiveness. In other words, due diligence required.

However! I figure it might help out a few of you.

Spam-O-Matic

 "Spam-O-Matic 2.x (SOM) is a spam firewall for your vBulletin Forums version 4.x and later. It prevents known spammers from registering on your forums. If they can't register, they can't spam!"

Visit Spam-O-Matic.

Spambot Stopper

"This mod rejects registrations where the form is filled out in less than a minimum time."

Visit Spambot Stopper.

vB Super PMs (I took the liberty of putting the apostrophe in the right location)

This appears to give you more control over private messaging in vB.

Pertinent features:

"No Links in PM's: Admins have the ability to set no links in pm's.

Minimum Posts To Send PM's: Admins have the ability to set minimum amount of posts to send pm's.

Excluded Usergroups/Users From Sending PM's: Admins can set usergroups to not be able to send pm's.

Days Registered To Send PM's: Admins can set minimum days registered to be able to send pm's.

Throttle PM's: Admins can set a limit on how many pm users can send in a given time period."

Visit vB Super PMs.

Minimum Posts Before Posting Links Spam Protection

"This is a small mod that will allow admins to set a minimum post count before users can post links in posts and threads."

Visit Minimum Posts Before Posting Links Spam Protection.

No Signature Until x Posts

"Stops members from adding signatures until they reach a post count you set."

Visit No Signature Until x Posts.

One thing to mention is that not all spam is obvious. You might get a new registration who adds a signature and makes a single post, usually with a juicy title intended to get people talking and thus keeping the post visible for longer. The No Signature Until X Posts is helpful in this case.

KeyCAPTCHA

"Unlike many other captchas, it does not require any text typing."

Visit KeyCAPTCHA.

The above represents a fairly robust solution to the problem I think. If any of you do own vB forums, or if you might do in the future, hopefully it'll prove helpful.

Cheers - Tom
  • Profile picture of the author David Beroff
    And then there's the simple approach of charging people to join. When WF did that, the spam problem dropped to nearly nothing. Go figure.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tom Addams
      Originally Posted by David Beroff View Post

      And then there's the simple approach of charging people to join. When WF did that, the spam problem dropped to nearly nothing. Go figure.
      If we're talking WF, it wouldn't be an ideal model IMO, David. As far as monetization goes, and again just my opinion, I think WF have it pretty much right. They could be doing more, but the essential model (free area + paid area) is right for this community. It generates more eyeballs on advertising and the majority of the audience here need a taste before they bite (from WF or from the local ads). Most industries have adopted the free model and adult has been using it for years. Most recently, we're seeing the gaming industry drop paid in favour of free, with either an upgrade to paid or entirely free but with in-game purchase systems. I agree, though, if you went paid - fully-paid - you'd kill spam. But you'd also kill the business.

      - Tom
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      • Profile picture of the author David Beroff
        Originally Posted by Tom Addams View Post

        I agree, though, if you went paid - fully-paid - you'd kill spam. But you'd also kill the business.
        I don't know how long the model was in place here, but personally, I had to pay to get in. (It was some nominal amount, maybe $10 for the first 20 years.) All I can say is that the daily numbers were much higher then than they are now, and there didn't appear to be much spam at all.
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        • Profile picture of the author Tom Addams
          Originally Posted by David Beroff View Post

          I don't know how long the model was in place here, but personally, I had to pay to get in. (It was some nominal amount, maybe $10 for the first 20 years.) All I can say is that the daily numbers were much higher then than they are now, and there didn't appear to be much spam at all.
          Freelancer paid $3.2 million for WF and I believe they got a substantial deal. When you own a property like WF decisions that impact income are never made lightly and when mistakes are made they get corrected fairly quickly (at least long enough for projections data). This was the case with the $10 account fee. It came. It went. The fact that it was unsuccessful is in evidence right now: accounts are now free, as they were before the temporary move to paid. Without running WF through SimilarWeb.com (et al) and dissecting them and perhaps throwing them into a bad light (which really wasn't the intention of the post; it was to help out with the spam problem here and elsewhere), I'll say this:

          1. You make a forum paid, you lose traffic.
          2. You make a forum paid, you reduce spam.

          If I had to guess, I would say the move to paid may have hit the WSO section, but it would just be a guess. After all, Amazon.com isn't paid. Imagine if I had to pay $10 a year to go hunting for the latest Stephen King book and then fork out more money for the book. Quite crackers it would be. Whatever ended up getting hurt, put it this way: it was enough for them to go back to free and endure increased spam.

          The solution to a mastermind forum, however, which attract decidedly less people, would indeed be a paid option. I can think of at least one very high profile PPC forum using the model. But a forum like WF? One that attracts thousands upon thousands of people who might be interested in IM? Newbies who lack any knowledge, including the knowledge about whether IM is for them or even works? No. Paid was never going to work. Not on a general IM forum, especially not when competing forums (and I mean directly competing) are free and use the free + paid upgrade model. Like I say: would never have worked. They tried it. It failed. They moved on.

          It would be like having 2 shops next to each other in town, both selling exactly the same items.

          Shop A) Sells each item for $10;
          Shop B) Gives away everything for free.

          If you're interested in the items, which shop do you pick?

          Anyway! I'd really rather not dissect WF too much. I still believe WF is the best IM forum on the planet and I would imagine measures to combat spam are under discussion. The aim of the OP was to offer a workable solution to combat spam, for anyone with a forum, WF included.

          - Tom
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