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View Full Version : PHPBB custom profile field anti-spam question in old PHPBB - how to tutorial



Fli
08-06-2024, 06:28 AM
Old PHPBB does not have Q&A "captcha" module. To enable custom antispam question on a registration form, login PHPBB Admin panel,

click users and groups tab -> custom profile fields

You can use multiple antibot challenges:

1. Field type: number

Display profile field: yes
Display in user control panel tickbox: unticked
rest of the tickbox fields (3) - except "showing in topics" one, i set to: ticked
Field name/title presented to the user: !!! rewrite this to be your math question, you can obfuscate the text a bit not to be easy to read by the possible AI bot and challenge with a multiple math operations or pointing to an external (non dictionary/encyclopedical) sources to get the correct numbers
Field description: Broader explanation to the user

[Profile type specific options]
Highest/lowest allowed number is the same and it is correct answer one
Default value: you can enter some different number here

by default, PHPBB will suggest correct value to the bot if he submits wrong value. To hide the value, you can edit language/en/ucp.php , search for "FIELD_TOO" in that file and possibly remove part that leaks the essential information ("%2$d")

2. Field type: Dropdown box (select correct answer)

Display profile field: yes
Display in user control panel tickbox: unticked
rest of the tickbox fields (3) i set to: ticked
Field name/title presented to the user: !!!!!! rewrite this to input your antispam question
Field description: Broader explanation to the user
Entries: that is where you set only 2 !! possible answers (one incorrect, other correct), one per line

[Profile type specific options]
Default value: wrong answer here
Option equal to non entered value: wrong answer here

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- If you do not understand this, you may understand this tutorial: https://www.phpbb.com/support/docs/en/3.0/kb/article/custom-profile-fields-as-an-anti-spammer-tool-obsolete-use-q-a/
- I do not know if this is related to custom profile fields, but i would check registration settings in General -> User registration settings -> Registration attempts: maybe make it <4