First use and a request for documentation

Hi,

Total Joomla newbie here so apologies for any mistakes!

Firstly this is the FIRST Joomla extension that I have ever installed! I have latest version of Joomla (currently 2.5.6) and SpambotCheck version 1.1.4. I am using a test system that is in a sub-folder of one of my domains.

1. Is there a complete "Dummies Guide" for installing and setting up SpambotCheck?

2. I have the setting "Events to monitor" set to "Registration + Login". I'm using the StopForumSpam data and tried to register one of the latest top email addresses and Joomla sent an email for confirmation. Surely it shouldn't even attempt to register anew user that is an indicated spammer? When I set up a user with Joomla with a spammer email address and tried to sign on the user was prevented from signing on.

3. I have "Log Spambot to DB" set to yes. As I wish to see a log of prevented registrations and log in attempts. Where do I find that informational log?

4. What are the best settings for SpambotCheck version 1.1.4?

Many thanks,

Hi and thanks for your post.
I'm sorry, that you had to wait two day for answers, but I've just returned from holiday, so it took me a bit longer.

1. there is no "Dummies Guide" for installing and setting up SpambotCheck jet. Installation is easy and just as with any Joomla Extension and there are descriptions for every parameters.

2. When you were testing registration with one of the latest e-mails on StopForumSpam you received a message that an e-mail with activation link had been send. But in truth that message is just a fake. There was no e-mail send and if you check your user-list you will see, that the user is not even created.

3. If you have "Log Spambot to DB" to yes, every attempt is log into a table _spanbot_attempts ind your Joomla database. You habe to look directly in the database to find the information about spambot attempts.

4. Best settings: The more spambot databases you use, the better the protection. So I would set all sources to yes, but I think the most important ones are Stopforumspam and spambusted.com . If you want to use ProjectHoneypot.org you have to register there and get a key. "Allowed frequence" or "Allowed Threat Rating" should allways be 0. Set your admin e-mail on e-mail whitelist and if you use a local wamp test system "127.0.0.1" on IP whitelist. If you set "Notify Admin via E-Mail" to yes you may recieve many e-mails, espaccialy if your site is heavily attact by spambot. So that's a bit critical. You have to decide by yourself. Set "Check Username" to no, the username is not a good (specific) parameter to find spambot. That's it.

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Regards, Aicha

Hi Aicha,

Many thanks for your reply. There was no trouble waiting for a reply. I hope that you had a good holiday.

1. It’s a shame that you don’t have a "Dummies Guide" for installing and setting up SpambotCheck. I understand that there are descriptions for every parameter, but a guide would be useful for Joomla newbies like me, especially when it’s the first extension that you want to install onto a new installation.

2. I have now had time to test more and of course you are correct. Yes the email is not sent and the user is not created in Joomla. This is so good to keep user database clean!

Do you think it is worth adding the option/ability (if possible) to SpambotCheck to send a different message than the standard “Your account has been created and an activation link has been sent to the email address you entered. Note that you must activate the account by clicking on the activation link when you get the email before you can login.” message if SpambotCheck decides that the person fails the test, i.e. “We are sorry but you have been flagged as a spammer”?

3. I have set "Log Spambot to DB" but I’m very sorry, as a newbie, would you mind telling me how to look directly in the database?

4. Thank you for your recommendations, I’ve set the settings as you have recommended

Finally, many thanks for this Joomla add-on. It is fantastic. I have heard many time that Stopforumspam.com is one of the best ways to stop (or at least reduce/fight) spam. I don’t want to use CAPTCHA, unless there was no other way, because I think they are difficult to read.

Many thanks for your help.

Hi Robert,

I'll think about your suggestions for a documentation and choosing spammer message by parameter.

How to look direktly in the database that depends on your server. You need an application to do so; most often it's phpMyAdmin.

If you use a local wampserver or xamp server there will probably be a trayicon. Click on it and look for the entry "phpMyAdmin". Or just try typing "http://localhost/phpmyadmin/" in the adress line in your browser. You'll see an administration panel for your databases now. It's easy to use. Just click on the name of your Joomla database in the database explorer on the left side and you'll see a list of tables. Now look for the table _spambot_attempts (with your Joomla table prefix) in the table explorer on the left side and click on it. There you are.

If you use a webserver, you have to look in the administration panel for your webspace which database application is available.

Regards,
Aicha

Hi,

plgSpambotCheck can be installed by using the steps described on docs.joomla.org/Installing_an_extension
You habe to enable plugin before it will work and set up parameters (i.e. as described above).

Regards, Aicha

Hi Aicha,

Thanks for the reply.

Thanks for the instructions on how to look directly at the database and also what to look for. I now need to spend a bit of time getting used to MySQL.

Thanks for the link for installing Joomla extensions.

Do you think that you will be able to add to ability to choose a spammer message by parameter to SpambotCheck, i.e. produce a friendly message to inform that registration (or login) has been prevented because user has been flagged a spammer and if not the case then contact the website's admin?

Kind Regards,