Using joomla 1.5 (but legacy is turned on); I installed the plugin, enabled it, and now I get:


Parse error: parse error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting T_OLD_FUNCTION or T_FUNCTION or T_VAR or '}' in /home/content/******site******/plugins/system/cedit_blockdisposable.php on line 340

My main page is not accessible nor is the admin console.. how do I get rid of this plugin?

Ok.. I renamed the two files and I was able to get back in; i'd really like to use this because I keep getting registrations with spam accounts for *@mail.ru

Any ideas on what the problem might be? Thanks!

mail.ru is actually a big Russian webmail company - this plug-in won't block addresses from them. I have a few sign-ups from mail.ru - it's similar to Hotmail, so while some may be spam/duff addresses, it's not a domain I personally want to block completely.

As for the problem, what version of Joomla are you using? The plug-in works on this site, which is 1.5.9 with Legacy enabled.

What other modules/components have you installed? It may be a conflict - if you haven't too many, let me know and I can install them on my test site until something breaks (or not).

Also, what version of PHP are you using? Line 340 references a function definition. The only other thing I can think is that in earlier versions of PHP maybe static isn't supported (I am running the latest PHP on this site).

I installed this plugin lastnight and added mail.ru to the list because this is one that I do want to ban.

Yes I had a bounced spam signup by this morning from mail.ru.

There was nothing to suggest that mail.ru would be ignored when added to the list.
I think it should be up to the site admin as to which domains are in the list. For example, I wouldn't want to add gmail, but some people might want to ban gmail from some countries?


Richard

The plug-in started as simply a way to block disposable email addresses, originally all it did was query undisposable.net as to whether the address was valid or not. Due to constant problems with undisposable (which actually seems to be working at the moment), I added an internal list of disposable email addresses.

The site-admin does have full control over which domains to block. If you want to remove the internal list entirely, you can simply select them all and then delete - the list supports multi-select, so this is fairly painless. It will still check undisposable though. Once the list is clear you can add your own domains as you wish.

I will at some point add an option to skip the undisposable check.

Funnily enough, since I wrote and installed the plugin, I haven't had many people trying to sign up with disposable email addresses anymore. The ones that do seem to then continue to try and access restricted parts of the site and other dubious behaviour... I have had to ban a few IP addresses because of this.

When you say you had a bounced spam signup... do you mean the plugin worked as it should (i.e. didn't let mail.ru sign up once you had added it), or it actually let it through?

It let it through.

I interpreted your post above to mean that mail.ru was given a deliberate exception because it is considered a valid legitimate email service. I don't know anything of the disposable list - I just want to ban a list of email domains that I can add to on a (hopefully not too) regular basis!

(the bounce was because they used bad email address - this is happening with a lot of spam signup attempts)

Richard

Yes - I've just tried it myself with a dummy mail.ru email address - and it let me sign up.

If it matters, I also have SecurityImages installed ( www.waltercedric.com/ ) to add a numeric captcha.


Richard

I've just tried deleting the entire list and adding two (including mail.ru).

When I save, exit, then go back into the component settings, I find the other domain (onllinevideo.cn) disappears. It has done it twice now.

Richard

Hmm... Odd.

I've just blocked mail.ru on my test site, and I cannot now register an address for mail.ru (it gives the expected "Cannot register this address" message).

I've also tried adding several domains, and they are all still there when I go back into the settings. Which version are you using? There may have been an issue with the updating domains in an earlier version - I had to various tricks to be able to get a proper editable list as a parameter (Joomla doesn't have anything similar built-in). So long as it appears in the listbox, the domain should be saved. They are sorted alphabetically in the latest version, but appeared at the bottom of the list in previous versions.

I also use SecurityImages on this site and the plugin works as expected. It being a plugin, it is fairly unlikely that there are going to be compatibility isses with other extensions.

1.5.8 but running in 1.0 legacy mode.

Strange thing is that I've just tried a different component (JLord Restricted Registration) and it is also ignoring my domain settings, unless I'm doing something wrong (still investigating). It is keeping the domains in the list though.

Hopefully this is a silly question, but always worth asking... Did you enable the plugin?

I was wondering which version of the plug-in, rather than Joomla... For reference, this site is 1.5.9 with legacy enabled - but the plugin was working on 1.5.8, there shouldn't be a problem with any 1.5 Joomla site.

I'm a software developer so I know the silly questions are worth asking! Yes it is enabled.

I can't claim to be a Joomla plugin developer, but I've been having a poke-around. I've disabled the SecurityImages plugin from the registration page for good measure.

I've put some diagnostic "echo" statements in your onAfterInitialise() event. Guaranteed to screw up the presentation, but at least I can see some of what is happening.

The $option variable always seems to be empty.
The $task variable is usually empty. It is set to "register" when I'm on the registration page, but goes back to empty when I press the Register button and I get my front page with my standard registration-accepted message at the top). Does this make sense?

If $option is always empty, then that will certainly be a problem. $option should be which component is being utilised, and $task is which task is currently executing. If either is empty, the plugin won't execute.

The plugin works with CB1.2 and standard Joomla - standard Joomla should have $option="com_user" and $task="register_save" set just before the user is registered. The plugin intercepts this, and if the details aren't ok, redirects and cancels the save.

Do you have any other kind of registration system installed? It is the only thing I can think that would affect the variables - they are standard Joomla variables, so should be available.

...and this would explain why the other plugin that I was trying wouldn't work either.

At the moment I still can't see what is wrong. I don't think I have any registration-type things installed. There's JomComment and Fireboards.
The problem with Joomla is that it needs a lot of plugins/etc to get it to do almost anything. The implementation of the interfaces works pretty well - far better than phpBB2 for example, but of course the quality of individual plugins is variable. I'm not looking forward to upgrades...

The option is being set for the back end but doesn't look to be for the front end user component?

I think I've tracked down the bug with the list though. Yes when I add "mail.ru" (for example) to the list it appears. I press save. I go back into the plugin options and it is there. I press save (or apply). Then go back and look, and it has gone. So it looks like it is reverting to the default settings + only the new additions. Previous additions are lost.

Ah, that's very interesting. Following that process, I can replicate your problem with the domains disappearing. Not sure why looking at the code, but I'll look into that and post an update sometime tomorrow.

I used to use Fireboard... This board is now Kunena, which is essentially what Fireboard has become. It has lots of bugfixes (though a couple still remain) and is faster, so you may want to check that out.

I agree with the quality of the plugins. I have tried many, and most were uninstalled immediately. I looked at JLord Registration before I wrote my own plugin; both plugins use the same technique so if one doesn't work then the other won't.

I am not sure either what the problem could be to stop them working. I don't use JomComment. If I get a chance I'll install it on my test site and see if that breaks it.

Since Joomla became 1.5 I think it is pretty good. While you need to be selective about plugins and templates, there are some good ones out there. It's a shame you've often got to wade through various crap ones to get there!

I did a quick test with jomcomment disabled but that doesn't look to be it.

re. the tip about Kunena: Thanks, I'll have a look. My site is still only 2-3 months old. Although I'm getting articles, traffic, and comments, the forums are very quiet. This means bugs haven't really come to light - or perhaps they're the reason for the silence. Hmmm...

As for my original problem of banning domains. In the end I hacked components/com_user/controller.php directly. Nasty I know (especially after what I was saying about maintenance) but this was already hacked for the SecureImages plugin to work. I've also added easy to find comments. I cribbed my hack from someone who was banning gmail.com/etc! Instead I'm just banning the three main domains that I'm having problems with. I can add more if I need them. A test with mail.ru worked.