Upgrading from vb 3.8 - Custom design

[John Diver]

Hey,

I have a custom design on 3.8 - The site is Http://www.DeuceAce.com

It cost quite a bit so I really want to keep it, plus I like it

My main question is what is the main difference between vb4 and vb5 - I really want mobile / responsive and hope it can be done using as much as possible of the design.

The huge problem Im having with 3.8 is spam - I have actually stopped any registrations because there is so many registering as bots, even with spam filters from vb.org.
I just dont have the time to go through every registration and thread posted, theres literally thousands.

I just want a stable, spam free and fast running version that a designer / coder can migrate my theme to.

Thanks for any help

[BirdOPrey5]

Unfortunately upgrading to either VB4 or VB5 will mean the complete loss of your custom style. Each major version uses drastically different styling, there is no hope for re-using a custom style on a different major version.

If you upgrade to 3.8.9 or 3.8.10 (technically in Beta but stable) you can keep your custom style but it's not clear that it would do much to reduce spam. Were you using Question and Answer verification with strong questions? (Questions bot could not easily answer?) That is the best way to reduce spam bots but human spammers can get by almost any defense.

[John Diver]

Hey Joe,

Thanks for the reply.

I was using everything possible including mods from vb.org but nothing was stopping the spam. Its the only reason I wanted to upgrade to be honest.
I need to check if anything else is available now as I gave up on the site for a while because of the spam and time just managing it. All questions were custom and a bot wouldnt have answers

[Mark.B]

Upgrading will not magically stop spam. The only way to do this is with a combination of a good anti-spam modification from vbulletin.org, coupled with good Q&A at registration. You need at least TEN different questions, and they need to be related to your niche. Don't use stuff like 'what is 3 + 2?' or 'what is the second letter of the title of this website?' because bots can easily get round these.

As Joe said though, determined human spammers can get round anything. There is no magic fix and you just need to be vigilant and keep deleting / banning them as soon as they appear.

[MDawg]

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/forum/vbulletin-5-connect/vbulletin-5-connect-feedback/4317893-upgrading-from-a-vb3-forum-to-a-vb5-my-experience-over-all-positive