We are pleased to announce IP.Board 2.3.6 is now availableThis update includes all previously released updates and introduces enhanced spam prevention measures.
- The included CAPTCHA system in IP.Board has been enhanced in an effort combat spam-bot (automated script) registrations.
- Introduces support for reCAPTCHA
What is reCAPTCHA?The reCAPTCHA service is a widely-used system to minimize the impact of spam-bot registrations and form submissions all over the Internet. While no system is perfect, we believe that by implementing a system like reCAPTCHA which is constantly being updated will help to mitigate spam registrations. The reCAPTCHA service is updated remotely so updates can usually be "pushed" to your community without any intervention from you. This means that as spammers get more creative: so does your forum's ability to combat them.
The upcoming IP.Board 3.0 release already includes support for reCAPTCHA by default.
How to use reCAPTCHAThe code needed to implement reCAPTCHA support is included in IP.Board 2.3.6 automatically. Simply check that it is enabled in your IP.Board AdminCP under the Security and Privacy section of Tools and Settings or try to register a new account to verify. All new installations of IP.Board 2.3.6 will have this setting already enabled.
IP.Board 2.3.6 has a special global key for reCAPTCHA shipped with it which enables reCAPTCHA without you having to configure IP.Board at all. You can also go to
http://www.recaptcha.net and get your own keys for your own use if you do not want to use our included keys.
Note: reCAPTCHA is optional and the standard IP.Board CAPTCHA system still exists in 2.3.6 (and has been enhanced) if you prefer this system over the reCAPTCH service. You can change those options in the AdminCP under Security and Privacy in Tools and Settings.
Downloading IP.Board 2.3.6You can download IP.Board 2.3.6 in the IPS client area. You can also download a package which contains changed files only from 2.3.5 to 2.3.6 for easier upgrading.
Please contact our technical support staff if you need assistance. As always with new releases, responses from technical support may take slightly longer than usual as we work through the requests.
Component UpdatesWe have updated our components to use the new CAPTCHA system as well. These updates are only needed if you use the guest-posting CAPTCHA functions in these components. If you do not use that capability (i.e. you do not allow guest posting) then these updates may not be required.
- IP.Blog 1.4.2
- IP.Gallery 2.2.4
- IP.Downloads 1.2.2
Again, the updates for the components are only for compatibility with the new CAPTCHA system which is
only used in components with guest posting enabled. No other features or enhancements are included in these updates. It is only necessary to upgrade if you use the guest-posting CAPTCHA in the components.
Our thanks to reCAPTCHA and Ben on their support team for assisting us in releasing this update quickly with a global key. Thousands of IP.Board users thank you for your service that helps to mitigate spam headaches.
We have released an update to IP.Board 2.3.x to improve the Captcha spam prevention system. IPS has received reports of boards receiving registrations by "spam bots" which register and post a high number of spam posts in the forums. These bots are automated scripts which, depending on your registration setup, can bypass the current Captcha system included in IP.Board 2.3.x series.
While annoying and troublesome, this does not present a security threat to the safety of your board's database, member information, or passwords.
Important: You must have the Advanced Captcha enabled in your Admin CP under Tools and Settings -> Security and Privacy for the system to work.
What is Captcha?
The Captcha system is the method by which the software attempts to ensure that the request to register an account is being submitted by a human and not a software program. Many web sites and software programs present the user with random characters on a unique background which can be read, and typed, by a human but not a software program or script.
Applying Captcha Improvement
The current download of IP.Board 2.3.5 has been updated to include the improved Captcha. If you download IP.Board 2.3.5 after the date of this announcement these updates will be included.
Existing Installs of IP.Board 2.3.x
The updated xmlout.php attached to this announcement will work on any 2.3.x IP.Board installation. Simply download the attached PHP file and upload it to: sources/action_public/xmlout.php
Optional Updates
Also attached to this announcement are new background images and fonts used for generating the Captcha images. Applying these new images and fonts are optional but may serve to further enhance the capabilities of the default system. Simply download captcha.zip and fonts.zip attached to this announcement and upload the background images to style_captcha/captcha_backgrounds and the fonts to style_captcha/captcha_fonts in your board install.
Please contact our technical support department through the IPS client area if you have any questions or need assistance applying this update.