Setting Up New User Group to Control Spam

A

Alfuzzy

Well-known member
Hello all. Having a problem for a while now with newly registered user spam. None of the XF built-in Captcha options seems to be stopping these spammers from registering.

Q&A CAPTCHA (which I know some members say is the best Captcha)...is not working either...even when using Q&A that is site-niche specific. Seems the spam-bots must at some point be "learning" what the answers are...and then they get right thru the site registration process.:( Or maybe the spam is being sent by actual humans (actual humans doing the registrations)...and they're "Googling" the answer to the Q&A Captcha questions.

What I was thinking of doing is:

  • Creating a new user group called "Newly Registered".
  • Have one of the permissions/settings for this user group is all threads/posts by these new members require manual approval by an Admin/Moderator.
  • When a member in this user group hits 5 approved posts...member is promoted to the regular "Registered" user group.

The one setting I was having difficulty finding was how to insure posts for new members in this user group require manual approval.

Is this possible to set up?

Thanks
 
Ohh yes that's excellent Brogan. The XF manual example is EXACTLY what I want to do!!!

Thank you sir!:)
 
I'm trying to use the method Brogan mentioned via the XF manual...and I'm trying to 100% understand things. After doing some reading...my understanding is XF is coded with some default user groups that cannot be removed ("Registered" being one of them).

Am I correct...all new members (by default) are automatically placed in the "Registered" user group...and the "Registered" user group is the "bottom of the ladder" when it comes to promotions (beginning point for everything)?

  • Right now most site members are in the "Registered" user group...and the permission for "Submit content without approval" is set to "Yes".
  • Following the XF manual...if I want the first 5 posts of new members to be moderated...the "Registered" user group permissions for "Submit content without approval" must be changed to "No".
  • Then a new "Trusted" user group needs to be created where the permission for "Submit content without approval" is set to "Yes".
  • Finally...my understanding is a new "Promotion" needs to be created...to promote members from the "Registered" user group to the "Trusted" user group (5 posts being the promotion parameter).

If everything above is correct...good deal. If not...please clarify.

My 3 big questions are:

1. Assuming all current members (who are currently in the "Registered" user group)...have at least 5 posts...once the changes mentioned above are activated...will all of these current members be automatically & smoothly promoted from the "Registered" to "Trusted" user group?

2. If this is true...when will this change/promotion take place (so I know everything went according to plan)? Will it be the next Cron Entry for User group promotions...or if I want it to take place sooner...can I do the "Run Now" option for User group Promotions?

3. For each user group there's a "Styling Priority" setting. If the "Registered" user group is at the bottom of the ladder...and "Trusted" is a step up. Should the "Trusted" user group have a higher Styling Priority value than the Registered user group? For example... styling priority for Registered = 5, Trusted = 10.

Thanks Much
 
The default user groups can't be deleted. So any new members you want moderated, you need to change the permissions for the registered user group and then create a user group promotion for the next group after so many posts.

Yes, or you can run the user group promotion cron manually. However, it may not work on inactive users until they login.

I'm not sure about answer to number 3
 
Thanks jeb35.

Yes I read that there are something like 4 default XF user groups that cannot be deleted (Registered being one of them). Which is why my understanding is the Registered user group needs to be modified in order to moderate the first 5 posts of newly registered members.

Then a new "Trusted" user group needs to be created (for example)...and a user group promotion be created to handle the promotion from Registered to Trusted.

Thanks:)
 
Alfuzzy said:
1. Assuming all current members (who are currently in the "Registered" user group)...have at least 5 posts...once the changes mentioned above are activated...will all of these current members be automatically & smoothly promoted from the "Registered" to "Trusted" user group?
Click to expand...
Yeah.

Alfuzzy said:
2. If this is true...when will this change/promotion take place (so I know everything went according to plan)? Will it be the next Cron Entry for User group promotions...or if I want it to take place sooner...can I do the "Run Now" option for User group Promotions?
Click to expand...
During each cron run, users which have been active in the last two hours will be promoted if they meet the criteria. You can run the cron manually to promote users active within the last two hours immediately.

Alfuzzy said:
3. For each user group there's a "Styling Priority" setting. If the "Registered" user group is at the bottom of the ladder...and "Trusted" is a step up. Should the "Trusted" user group have a higher Styling Priority value than the Registered user group? For example... styling priority for Registered = 5, Trusted = 10.
Click to expand...
There style priority only affects user title overrides, banners, and username styling. Registered is at the "bottom" of the promotion hierarchy since it is the primary group for all users, but there is no true permission hierarchy.
 
Alfuzzy said:
my understanding is a new "Promotion" needs to be created...to promote members from the "Registered" user group to the "Trusted" user group
Click to expand...

Alfuzzy said:
...will all of these current members be automatically & smoothly promoted from the "Registered" to "Trusted" user group?
Click to expand...
No they are not promoted from one to the other.

Trusted is added as a secondary user group. Registered remains as the primary.
 
Jeremy P said:
Registered is at the "bottom" of the promotion hierarchy since it is the primary group for all users, but there is no true permission hierarchy.
Click to expand...
Thanks Jeremy for the help...explanation...and the link.:)

In the link for the permission guide written by Brogan...it says this:

* All members should have the Registered user group as their primary group - that includes moderators, administrators and super administrators.

primary-user-group.png

Just to be 100% sure...does this mean that virtually all (100%) members on an XF forum should have the "Registered" User Group as their primary group...and then any additional Secondary user group boxes checked as appropriate for a member?

My site was migrated from vBulletin 4.2.5...and I never thought to check if every member was setup correctly. I will have to do some spot-checking.


* Also...in the Permission Guide it says this (in red):
Screen Shot 2022-05-17 at 5.34.59 PM.png
Does this only apply to the Registered user group?

Thank You
 

Attachments

  • primary-user-group.webp
    primary-user-group.webp
    8 KB · Views: 1
New user group (Trusted)...and new User group promotion was setup. If I wanted things updated as soon as possible...which Cron Entries should I run right away?

Thanks
 
If a new member needs to have their posts approved...and there's a delay between that member composing their post & it getting approved by a staff member...how does this new member know that their post is waiting on approval (before other members see it & can respond to it). Do they get any sort of notification when their post/thread is approved?

I would hate for a new member to get confused...and compose & submit the same post multiple times...not realizing it's waiting on approval.

Thanks
 
Alfuzzy said:
I would hate for a new member to get confused...and compose & submit the same post multiple times...not realizing it's waiting on approval.
Click to expand...

The new post is shown as "Awaiting approval before being displayed publicly" to the post author, they will see this:

1652838339603.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Frode789
  • Solved
XF 2.2 User promotion - users that meet requirements not being added to the new user group
Replies
8
Views
681
mattrogowski
mattrogowski
N
  • Solved
XF 2.2 Add user after 10 warn points to new user group
Replies
1
Views
480
NiceL
N
Donske
  • Question Question
XF 2.1 Setting up new Moderators (Approve / reject users selection not working)
Replies
0
Views
282
Donske
Donske
frm
Possibly add new user group for some to participate in "Customer Forums"
Replies
4
Views
471
frm
frm
PeterChen
  • Question Question
XF 1.5 User Group Promotions, move user to new user group.
Replies
2
Views
1K
PeterChen
PeterChen
Back
Top Bottom