Using Profile Fields in Phpbb3 to Stop Spam Bots

A walkthrough guide to using phpBB3's custom profile fields to help prevent spam bots registering on your forum.

Introduction

Custom profile fields are a feature of phpBB3. They allow you, as admin, to easily add fields that a user can fill out to their profile - such as location, age and so on. It is possible to use a custom profile field to help and prevent spam bots from registering on your forum.

Adding a new custom profile field

Firstly you need to login to your admin forum and click the Users and groups tab
From the left hand menu select the Custom profile fields from the Users menu
This will show all the custom profile fields currently added. Add a new one from the box in the bottom right of the page.
Use a name in the textbox such as 'stop_spam' or 'no_spam' (17 characters max, a-z and underscores only allowed). Select Dropdown box from the dropdown box and click Create field

The settings

You'll now be shown a more detailed form. The field type and identification fields should already be filled in. Make sure that the Display profile field option is set to Yes and the Display on registration screen and Required field options are checked.
Enter some text for the bottom 3 boxes. In this tutorial the Field title is Are you a spambot?, the description is Sorry we have to ask and the options are just Yes and No.

Once you've entered this text click Profile type specific options and you'll be taken to the next stage in adding the custom profile field.
The default settings here should be fine. Both drop down boxes need to be set to Yes. This means that "Yes" is the default option when on the registration page and that a value of "Yes" will cause an error. This means that whoever is registering will have to change this value to "No" - the idea being a spam bot would not know to do this so won't be able to sign up to your forum. Click the Language specific options button. This will allow you to translate the text you entered (Are you a spam bot, etc) in step 1 to any other languages installed on your forum. Once that has been completed click Save.

That's it! This won't stop all spam bots however it will help to prevent some spam and it is a very easy system to implement.

HappY SurfinG!!! (: