jennbell — Fri, 18 May 2007 11:26:55 +0000

Is there anyway for me to block that in my htaccess or robots.txt from bots reading that php page?
I know that bots dont always follow directions, and stuff, but I wonder if that would work if there is a way to block bots from reading it, thereby keeping them from spamming?

jennbell — Fri, 18 May 2007 11:17:59 +0000

Busy;219347 wrote: Is your spam repeative? same junk ? if so then it's probably a bot not a person spamming your guestbook.

Well I dont think it is the same websites, but it is the same type of junk, and the email addresses are usually similar, like something dot hotpop dot com or something dot ru
Those are usually who they are from.

I have realized that they arent bot proof, by the amount times I have renamed the folder and the php file and still get the spam.

I guess it looks like I have to go to a forum, which I dont really want to do, but looks like have to, since I dont know how to rewrite scripts, but do know how to modify them.

Well thanks for your help though.

Busy — Fri, 18 May 2007 11:10:55 +0000

you'd be better off just adding it into the reply/post box option page, but you have to remember these aren't bot proof.
Is your spam repeative? same junk ? if so then it's probably a bot not a person spamming your guestbook.

What these spammers do is download free scripts etc and adapt spam bots to spam them, the only way around it is a forum based (but even these can be effected) or some major rewriting of the script, changing variable names and values as well as validation ... which can be very time consuming

jennbell — Fri, 18 May 2007 10:00:53 +0000

Thanks!
I have looked at hotscripts, and that is where I found this guestbook, but none of the other guestbooks have the features I need, or spam protection.
Is there anyway I can force a password screen to pop up before people are allowed to post, like when they hit submit a screen pops up and then they have to type in the valid password in order for the post to be accepted?
I can not figure out how to do it, and the people who wrote the script are not too helpful.
There is another version of that script adapted but I dont see how it is any more secure.
And the author of the script just told me he was aware of the problem.
So I guess my options are to find a way to force a password, or to find a new guestbook or fourm even.

Busy — Fri, 18 May 2007 05:27:40 +0000

It sounds like a spammers heaven

maybe look around places like hotscripts.com etc for another guestbook

jennbell — Thu, 17 May 2007 10:45:57 +0000

I have used phpbb on a different site up until about a year ago, but never had much luck with that, because it kept getting errors, and wiping my database clean.

My only problem with using a fourm, is that many people that post on the board, use different names each time they post or have several different aliases, so they would have to have several different accounts in order to post, that is the main reason for not wanting to put a fourm up instead of a guestbook

jennbell — Thu, 17 May 2007 10:25:29 +0000

I just figured out how to get the other captcha to come up, but now, I can not figure out how to get the guestbook to recognize it. It keeps telling me one of the fields in not valid. (it has been switched back to the original version temporarily)
has anyone ever used the guestbook called "Advanced Guestbook" and successfully changed the captcha?

demonhale — Thu, 17 May 2007 04:23:31 +0000

Actually, if you could hire a coder to better implement your captcha as the simplicity of the guestbook maybe whats attracting your visitors.

But if you need to update to a forum, I also suggest phpbb and SMF...

Busy — Wed, 16 May 2007 21:39:26 +0000

phpbb is a free forum, has lots of skins and addons, and I believe it has option to choose which parts of it you actually use, you could use this as a temporary measure until you find one you like and in doing so may stop the spammers

jennbell — Wed, 16 May 2007 10:57:40 +0000

And I want to thank you guys for your help. I really apprecaite it.