Title: Stop Signup Spam
Author: lelandf
Published: <strong>May 8, 2017</strong>
Last modified: May 31, 2017

---

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This plugin **hasn’t been tested with the latest 3 major releases of WordPress**.
It may no longer be maintained or supported and may have compatibility issues when
used with more recent versions of WordPress.

![](https://s.w.org/plugins/geopattern-icon/stop-signup-spam.svg)

# Stop Signup Spam

 By [lelandf](https://profiles.wordpress.org/lelandf/)

[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/stop-signup-spam.zip)

 * [Details](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/stop-signup-spam/#description)
 * [Reviews](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/stop-signup-spam/#reviews)
 *  [Installation](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/stop-signup-spam/#installation)
 * [Development](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/stop-signup-spam/#developers)

 [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/stop-signup-spam/)

## Description

Stop Signup Spam will prevent user registration of anyone trying to sign up with
an the email address or IP address that has been reported to [Stop Forum Spam](http://stopforumspam.com/).

Contrary to what the name implies, Stop Forum Spam can be used with any web service,
not just forums.

At this time, Stop Signup Spam integrates with:

 * The core WordPress registration form
 * Restrict Content Pro
 * MemberPress
 * Give

By installing this plugin, you consent to an API call sent from your WordPress site
to Stop Forum Spam after every attempted user registration. The API call includes
the user’s email address and IP address.

It is a similar concept to [Akismet](https://wordpress.org/plugins/akismet/), except
instead of checking for blog comment spam, it checks for user signup spam.

Unlike Akismet, no API key is required to query Stop Forum Spam’s database. Partly
because of this, I decided not to include a settings page in the Stop Signup Spam
plugin. Just activate and you are all set.

The plugin does not log any user registration info. Any data sent to Stop Forum 
Spam would fall under their [privacy policy](https://www.stopforumspam.com/privacy).

Please note that Stop Forum Spam is a third-party service that I have no affiliation
with. I just found it, could not find any existing WordPress plugins that worked
with it, and built one myself.

It has helped me cut down on signup spam on a free membership site that I run, and
I hope it will help you do the same.

## Installation

 1. Upload the plugin files to the `/wp-content/plugins/stop-signup-spam` directory,
    or install the plugin through the WordPress plugins screen directly.
 2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ screen in WordPress
 3. That is it. There is no settings page.

## FAQ

  Installation Instructions

 1. Upload the plugin files to the `/wp-content/plugins/stop-signup-spam` directory,
    or install the plugin through the WordPress plugins screen directly.
 2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ screen in WordPress
 3. That is it. There is no settings page.

  Stop Forum Spam thinks I am a spammer. Can you help me?

No. I am not affiliated with Stop Forum Spam. You can request removal on their [Removal Request](http://stopforumspam.com/removal)
page.

  I want to temporarily disable the plugin. Can you add a settings page so I can
do that?

No. Since the plugin has a very specific purpose, and I would like to keep setup
as seamless as possible, it would be best if you deactivated the plugin if you wanted
to temporarily disable it.

  I use another plugin to handle registrations to my WordPress site. Will you integrate
with it?

Please understand that this is a free plugin, which I built out of necessity because
spammers were flooding my RCP-powered membership site with bogus registrations. 
I do not have time to integrate with every membership plugin under the sun.

With that said, I am not opposed to [pull requests](https://github.com/lelandf/stop-signup-spam)
if you would like to contribute an integration of your own.

  A spammer signed up to my site even though this plugin was active. Why?

At this time, all this plugin does is check the registration email address and IP
against the Stop Forum Spam database. If either the email address or the IP address
appear to be spam according to Stop Forum Spam, this plugin will not allow registration.

If Stop Forum Spam reports a false negative, feel free to [report it](http://stopforumspam.com/add)
to them so they can have a more accurate database.

  Will your plugin ever do anything more than simply check email and IP addresses
against Stop Forum Spam’s database?

As I discover new, accessible ways to thwart signup spam, I may amend this plugin
to reflect those. In the meantime, if you have any ideas, I am not opposed to [pull requests](https://github.com/lelandf/stop-signup-spam).

  Can I block spam bots from ever accessing my site with this plugin?

No. It is probably best you block this traffic at the DNS level anyway. Services
that provide web application firewalls, such as Cloudflare and Sucuri, may be able
to help.

  I am confused. What is the difference between Stop Forum Spam and Stop Signup 
Spam?

Stop Forum Spam is a third-party service that maintains a database of spam reports.
Stop Signup Spam is a WordPress plugin that integrates with that service.

## Reviews

![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6b8906127d135d63392435de930e5337b1ba8ff340bb089a0203e82524ded0a2?
s=60&d=retro&r=g)

### 󠀁[Works perfectly](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/works-perfectly-1271/)󠁿

 [](https://profiles.wordpress.org/johnny_n/) October 19, 2017

Noticed around 4 spam user registrations a day (at least) when using an email logging
plugin for other purposes. Installed this 8 days ago, just checked and not one since.
Simple and it works.

 [ Read all 1 review ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/stop-signup-spam/reviews/)

## Contributors & Developers

“Stop Signup Spam” is open source software. The following people have contributed
to this plugin.

Contributors

 *   [ lelandf ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/lelandf/)

[Translate “Stop Signup Spam” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/stop-signup-spam)

### Interested in development?

[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/stop-signup-spam/),
check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/stop-signup-spam/),
or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/stop-signup-spam/)
by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/stop-signup-spam/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).

## Changelog

#### 1.1.0

Add Give integration. Props: https://github.com/lelandf/stop-signup-spam/pull/4

#### 1.0.3

Add MemberPress integration. Props: https://wordpress.org/support/users/cartpauj/

#### 1.0.2

Use HTTPS for Stop Forum Spam API URL to prevent HTTPS sites from throwing connection
errors. Props: https://github.com/wolffe

#### 1.0.1

 * No longer trust HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR, which can be spoofed

#### 1.0.0

 * Initial release

## Meta

 *  Version **1.1.0**
 *  Last updated **9 years ago**
 *  Active installations **300+**
 *  WordPress version ** 2.7.0 or higher **
 *  Tested up to **4.7.33**
 *  Language
 * [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/stop-signup-spam/)
 * Tag
 * [spam](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/spam/)
 *  [Advanced View](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/stop-signup-spam/advanced/)

## Ratings

 5 out of 5 stars.

 *  [  1 5-star review     ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/stop-signup-spam/reviews/?filter=5)
 *  [  0 4-star reviews     ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/stop-signup-spam/reviews/?filter=4)
 *  [  0 3-star reviews     ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/stop-signup-spam/reviews/?filter=3)
 *  [  0 2-star reviews     ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/stop-signup-spam/reviews/?filter=2)
 *  [  0 1-star reviews     ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/stop-signup-spam/reviews/?filter=1)

[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/stop-signup-spam/reviews/#new-post)

[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/stop-signup-spam/reviews/)

## Contributors

 *   [ lelandf ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/lelandf/)

## Support

Got something to say? Need help?

 [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/stop-signup-spam/)