Welcome to RCF - WHF

circleofatlantis · Jun 11, 2007

I had easymod installed on a forum.

I was forced by my host to upgrade phpBB using their upgrade facility, because they otherwise would not believe I was using the most up to date version. (this follows my site being hacked, and they beleive it was through phpBB, but I dont.)

I find now that the entire mods directory structure has been removed, but phpBB still thinks easymod is installed so it wont reinstall.

I ran the decrease version php that I'd downloaded a long time ago just in case, and it seems to run in the top level of the forum directory, but the easymod install php still thinks its already installed.

Where do I need to run the decrease version php from for it to work ? From the top forum directory ? Admin ? Mods ? Running in the Easymod directory doesnt work.

The download site in the docs doesnt seem to exist anymore so I cant check it out.

If this wont work, how can I get the easymod to install ? Can I edit something to remove the test ? If so, what and where ? I have no experieince with database changes, but I can use notepad to edit a php if I know what to look for. But I'm not experienced with scripting.

Any help is appreciated.

Nightrider · Sep 25, 2004

Welcome to RCF circleofatlantis!!! Applause

The EM Version number is stored in your phpbb_config table. Here are three options you can use to decrease the EM Version so that you can reinstall EM on your board...

EM Version Change

If you have had EM installed before, you need to decrease the EM version number before you can reinstall it. The EM Version number is stored in your phpbb_config table. Here are 3 different ways to decrease EM's Version number...

EM Version Change

Before you can reinstall EM, you need to decrease the EM version number in your phpbb_config table...

EM Version Change Option 1

I created this DB Update file that you can run from your browser. Download and unzip the following file, then upload it to your phpBB root and run it from your browser:

em_db_decrease_version.zip

The path to the unzipped file might look something like this in your browser:

http://yourdomain.com/forum/em_db_decrease_version.php
EM Version Change Option 2

If you already had EM 0.3.0 installed, then you will need to change the EM Version back so that the install will think that this is an Upgrade. You can use this tool to change your EM Version so that you can reinstall EM on your board:

EM_Version_Changer

Once the EM Version Changer is installed, set the EM version to 0.1.13 or 0.2.0...

EM Version Change (Manual Option 3)

If you want to manually change the EM version, you can do so in your phpbb_config table. Just look for the record beginning with EM_version. Then you can change the related field to 0.1.13. You could also delete all the records in the phpbb_config table that begin with EM_ and delete the phpbb_easymod table too to have the new install recreate everything...

phpMyAdmin - Manually Changing the EM Version Number

The following is how you manually modify your EM password using phpMyAdmin. You can get into your database through your CPanel by clicking on phpMyAdmin. Follow the following instructions:

I'm sure that every host is different. I will tell you how I run my queries manually and hopefully it will be close to what you have available to you. The following may or may not be similar to what you have...

Log into your domain Control Panel and find the database icons. You should be able to find the phpMyAdmin icon. Click on it...

Hopefully that will log you into your phpAdmin panel. You may need to provide a username and password...

In the phpMyAdmin panel, click on the Databases hyperlink...

Hopefully that should take you where you can select your database. You may only have one. Select your database hyperlink...

That should open up the display of all the tables in your database. Ignore them. Somewhere on the page, you should see something similar to this:

Click on the phpbb_config table in the Left column navigation bar:

Then on the top left of the right window, click on the Browse button:

Then to display all the records, change the row settings to 500 starting with record 0, then press the Show button:

Scroll down to the EM version field, then click on the little pencil icon next to the record to edit it:

Enter the following into the config_value Value editbox. Any version less than your current version will work...

Code:

0.1.13

Then press the Go button. You should now be able to reinstall EM...

If you are still unclear on how to do this, send me a PM and I can probably reset your EM version for you...

Welcome to RCF circleofatlantis!!!

Laughing

circleofatlantis · Jun 11, 2007

Much appreciated Smile

Options one did the trick.

I already had this zip file, but the file didnt work, even though it appeared to run. Downloaded again, it worked first time and easymod and my mods are now hapily reinstalled Smile

Any chance you can point me to some mods that actually work on the latest version of easymod and phpBB2 ? Most of the ones I've downloaded have refused to install, and I suspect are older versions of phpBB based and never updated.

I love the adding up for registration here, is there a mod to do that ?

I also to be notified of any new post made anywhere in the forum, as soon as its made. Is there a mod you can recommend for that ? (Downloaded one off your mods list but it wouldnt install).

Thankyou for the first and usefull help Smile

Nightrider · Sep 25, 2004

EM can install just about every MOD available at phpBB.com and a great many from other sites too. The problem with MODs is that there wasn't any real modding standard before EM came along. So every MOD author used their own modding style. The advent of EM brought about modding standards that are strictly enforced at phpBB.com. Unfortunately, the same isn't always true for other sites. I can usually adjust any MOD code that isn't written in the correct format so that you can install it using EM...

Another problem with MOD authors is that they are not all created equal. Some are more skilled than others and some write better MODs than others. Some write very EM Friendly MODs while many don't know or don't care to do so. So it isn't suprising to find MODs that are overwritten to the point where they won't install cleanly into very many boards without need for adjustment. I wish there was a modding class that MOD authors were required to take before submitting any MODs to the phpBB MOD Database. That could alleviate most install problems if they did...

If you run into any problems installing a MOD, simply create a topic for the MOD and post the Critical and Warning errors that you are seeing. Also, if there are any Unrecognized commands, you can post them as well. It would be nice to provide a link to the MOD topic and/or download too. I have many of the MODs that you will probably want to install, but there is no guarantee of that and if I do have the MOD, it is possible that you would be attempting to install a newer or older version than what I have. So the more information you can provide, the easier it will be for me to help you to modify the MOD script to work for your board...

Eventually once you learn the easy to learn tricks that I employ to get these MODs to install cleanly into most boards, you will be able to quickly and easily do it on your own. Most modding problems are simple to fix once you understand the basic install tricks that I can try to teach you...

I think this is the Security MOD you were asking for:

Math Question During Registration

headbang

circleofatlantis · Jun 11, 2007

Thanks, that installed fine Smile

Hopefully that will cut down a lot on what gets through.

Nightrider · Sep 25, 2004

Yes, this will help to stop spam bots from registering, but it won't stop human spammers from doing the same. There are many Security MODs that you can install to minimize spam registrations and posts, but you probably will always get human spammers who can get past any security you install. So you just have to learn to delete them as fast as they can register. Eventually they will get tired of trying and leave you alone...

That's what happened here. For a while, we were getting between 12-24 spam registrations every single day. But we deleted them quickly and now we rarely are bothered by them, knock on wood. I think they realized that this isn't a safe haven for them...

banana

circleofatlantis · Jun 11, 2007

I get about a average of 3 per day per forum (I have 3).

And I delete them as soon as I see them. And have been getting very very sick of it.

We really need deletion ability with banning of IP, email address and username clickboxes, as admin functions on the standard view profile page when your logged in as an admin. That we we can delete, and ban appropriately with a couple of clicks. The current method of having to go into admin and lookup each user is driving me insane. Must be much worse for people getting your level or worse.

I did have the forums set to only admin activation and still got that amount. But you cant really tell whos logging in to be a lurker or whos logging in to spam. I delete anyone with a email that bounces (now theres a good thing to try and work out how to automate - email bounce gets reported into phpBB2 and username deleted) and always delete anyone with algerian language.

But I wonder how many potential lurkers (who are ok) I've deleted by mistake.

Now with a couple more mods in, I've put them back onto email activation and hope this cuts them down some more.

Nightrider · Sep 25, 2004

There are MODs that you can install to do just about everything that you mentioned. This is what the Profile looks like here in RCF for admins:

One thing we noticed is that many of the spam registrations were using the same exact birthdate. So they were easy to spot and delete. Another clue is that they enter the same information in several profile fields. That is an indicator of a dumb bot registration that couldn't differentiate between fields, so something was entered that may or may not apply to the field. Those could be quickly deleted...

Banning IP addies is pretty much a waste of time since many use dynamic IPs. So you may end up banning valid members who were unlucky enough to be assigned the wrong dynamic IP addy...

I really tried not to delete anyone unless they were pretty obvious. I gave those that weren't obvious a chance to hang themselves and once they did, they were gone too. With the Delete option in their Profile, it was easy enough to delete them once I could confirm that their intentions were to spam the community...

Another thing is to remove the Website and Signature fields during registration. That's what many use to spam the community. Even if they never post, the Search bots still pick up their information and it can be found doing a simple Google Search...

Also, you may want to install the Zero Poster MOD. This hides members who have never posted. So even if some of these managed to get spam into their registration, it can't be picked up by any of the Search engines until they have posted at least once...

Once you remove all the options for spamming your board and once they realize that they will be deleted faster than they can register, they will give up on your site and leave you alone....

headbang

circleofatlantis · Jun 11, 2007

Nightrider · Sep 25, 2004

No Search engines can't find the members if they aren't displayed. So the Zero Posters MOD would prevent spammers from using their registrations to perpetuate through the Search engines, unless of course they go ahead and post at least once...