BotScout Installation Instructions for Phorum, ver 5.2.9

1) Edit the "BotScout.php" file and uncomment the line that corresponds to the Phorum. Change this:

// for Phorum
//$apptype='PHRM';

To this:

// for Phorum
$apptype='PHRM';

You may also want to turn on email notifications for the first few days so you get a notice when BotBuster stops a bot, otherwise just leave it set to "off". 


2) OPTIONAL - If you have an API key from BotScout (recommended), enter it on the line that says:

// your optional API key 
$APIKEY = '';

Put your API key between the quotes. The API key is a 10 to 15 character mix of letters and numbers. You can do a limited number of API lookups every day without an API key, but if you need to do more than a few you're better off getting an API key. API keys are free, so why not get one? Go here to get an API key: http://botscout.com/getkey.htm


3) Save the "BotScout.php" file and place it in the main directory where you installed Phorum. (You can place the BotScout.php file in a different directory if you want to- just make sure that the path you set in the next step matches where you place it.) 


4) Open the file in the main Phorum directory named "register.php". Search for this code:

-------------------
	// Process posted form data.
	if (count($_POST)) {
-------------------

Directly below this code, add these lines:

////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// BotScout.com "BotBuster" check
include('/path/to/your/forum/BotScout.php');
////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Change the part that says "/path/to/your/forum/" so that it goes to the same directory you placed the "BotScout.php" file in under Step 3. 

That's it. Now when anyone tries to register on your forum the email address will be checked against the BotScout.com database. If a match is found, the registration will simply halt. Since "real" users won't have the same email address as a bot they'll be able to register without any problem. Again, if you get more than ~20 attempted registrations per day, you'll need to get an API key: http://botscout.com/getkey.htm


You can also change the "BotScout.php" file so that it checks IP addresses and/or user names, but in most cases the email address is probably the best thing to check. 


Enjoy, and Happy Hunting!

MrMike / LDM
http://BotScout.com