Boonex is GARBAGE

Seriously, 

I have noticed so many freaking bugs in this thing.  I made uploading a photo during registration a requirement and was wondering how spammers are still getting in? Well, the upload photo feature didn't work.  Hence the system is looking at it as yes, they meet the requirements and still allows them to get thru.  I disable the Promotion registration, yet, all new members are still registered as a promotion membership, then states, " Module not available " whenever I try and change?  Where the heck did it go? I never disabled or removed the freaking thing.  Seriously considering just taking the site down and restarting from scratch.  I didn't know who was spam or who wasn't so I just went ahead and deleted EVERYONE from my database.  This script has been the utmost WORST EXPERIENCE I've ever had.  I'm hoping the newest version isn't is bad, but then again it's BOONEX! So it wouldn't surprise me. 

Regards, 

Seriously annoyed and disappointed! 

Have you try this anti spam mod from Deano? -  http://www.boonex.com/m/dolphin-anti-spam

Also if you change settings don't forget to clear cache in admin and in server via FTP.

cache
cache_public
tmp

 There may be a few problems but nothing like you have describe i would use anti spam mod from Deano.  http://www.boonex.com/m/dolphin-anti-spam

I have seen some serious infected sites, with new spam registrations every several seconds,  but this was mainly up to Dolphin 7.1.4. Together with some of those sites I developed the Bot Stopper and those sites are now spam free.

Although the Bot Stopper only costs $15, it's highly effected against bots. I am so sure it will stop most spam signups, or that I can introduce new functionality to stop further spam within a week, that I will give FULL REFUNDS if I can't keep that promise.

http://www.boonex.com/m/bot-stopper-automatic-spam-fighter

First of all, Dolphin is the platform, Boonex is the company.

Calm down, Dolphin can be made secured against bots and spammers with a little effort and the information can be found in the forums and in asking for help in the community.  Just realise that you may get a few spammers that sit down and join through the required steps because some spammer farms employ live people to register spam accounts on sites

In my opinion, you need to have patience. You need to have understanding. You also need to understand that if you have been working with Dolphin for any amount of time, Boonex has managed to bring Dolphin up to par by a lot. It's always had good options and functionality as well as support...but now, it is much cleaner, nicer, faster and giving many others a run for their money. The Boonex Team are a great bunch and offer great support.

As far as your little spam problem, it happens. Step back, use a little thinking process and figure out how you can control it. There are a number of options to do to secure your site.

If you can't do that, maybe you should form a group on Facebook and invite your friends there...you won't have anything to manage then.

It's that simple.

Dolphin is not without its faults and drawbacks, some of them quite severe.  that said, with some time and dedication you can use it to build a really robust site.

as for spam, I simply split my join form to 2 pages, the just 2nd being AndrewP's Tic Tac Toe Captcha, and have not had a single spammer join successfully

There have certainly been a lot of times where I didn't like something Boonex did, and at times working with Dolphin has been quite frustrating. In 8 years however, I have never felt Boonex was deserving of being called garbage in all caps. 

Last night when I first saw this post, I nearly moved it to  the "Rubbish" forum where I felt it belonged.  I decided not to, but I did struggle with it.

Dolphins is the most feature rich social platform you can get. As for spam, I have none, after doing a few changes on 7.1.6. In addition to its built in antispam:

1. Block all China IPs
2. Use a sliding Captcha
3. Add a Human question that requires thought and a specific answer.

I also only allow my IP into Admin folder, so you must be logged in as the Admin from my computer to make changes to the settings.

As far as your membership problem, that is a mystery that I have not experienced, because I disable Promotional and added four other membership levels.

I'm sorry to hear you've had so many issues. To be clear, those issues are not from a normal install (well, spammers are, but there are ways to handle them). Did you install Dolphin via Softaculous or another auto-installer, or was it automatically installed with the account? Sometimes automated installers cause broken installs, which can cause any number of issues.

If you'd like, I can try a fresh install for you and make sure the server meets all requirements.