# vbulletin & mutiple identity detection



## Dangler (Feb 25, 2015)

I am an admin at a vbulletin 4.2.2 web site, and the plug in we were using no longer detects/reports when a member creates a 2nd identity on the same computer. 
This plug in stopped after the last 2 vbulletin upgrades.
Our programmer does not seem to be able to find a working plug-in or other solution.

Can you suggest a remedy, or solution ?

Thanks in advance
Dangler


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## DDAoN (Mar 19, 2011)

Welcome to TSF, Dangler!

I'm afraid that the only solution is to either wait from the plug-in author to update the plug-in, or do it yourself. It'll probably easiest to send a message to the plug-in author requesting an update to the plug-in, though it may not even by an issue with the plug-in. A problem frequently encountered with BBS' when upgrading anything is that the plug-ins don't usually fit together. You may be able to update the core system, but doing so may break the interactions of plug-ins, resulting in some, or all, to not work. To avoid these complications from appearing on a live board, many administrators will make a copy of the live board and go through the upgrade process on that to verify there were no issues from the upgrade. Even then, a back-up will usually be kept for several versions to ensure that, if an issue is found on the live system, it could still be reverted (if that extreme a bug).

What plug-in are you using? Are you using any other plug-ins? How did you do the upgrade?


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## Dangler (Feb 25, 2015)

The actual programmer has allowed Admins limited access, limited menus.
So, understand I am just doing research, and cannot see a listing of plugins being used.
That said....
I can see in Settings/Options/*User Registration options *
Allow Multiple Registrations Per User is set to No.
We've also:
*Multiple Account Detection & Prevention Options*, which had been working, using a cookie Name of 'IDstack'.
and
*Multiple Account Detection & Prevention Reporting*, where notifications were posted in a designated forum.
The notifications appeared as


> " _auser seems to have multiple personalities using Mruser and auser sharing the same computer. No soup for you! and you! and you!_ "


We've had zero notifications in months, and I am left to do multiple new registrant audits 3-5 times a day. 
(mainly to look for underage/bot accounts/crazed registratins by poorly programmed bots, etc)
Thanks for your time and input.


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## Dangler (Feb 25, 2015)

Upgrades were done by the programmer, I believe on a copy of the system, so as to check for troubles, before going on line.


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## DDAoN (Mar 19, 2011)

Unless I'm mistaken, that's the Multiple account login detector (AE Detector) plug-in, which was developed to support v3.5.4. If that's what you're using, then the problem is understandable.

I can't find any modern multiple account detector plug-ins. Your best bet is to have the programmer, well, program. If he know that the plug-in broke when the board was updated, then he needs to look at what the update changed and compare it to how the plug-in works. Then he should be able to identify the problem and fix it.

I'm afraid there is simply not a whole lot to work with. Sorry.


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## Dangler (Feb 25, 2015)

Thanks for your reply and your time, DDAoN. Maybe one day vBulletin will implement one that works. I'd suspect they have been asked.


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## DDAoN (Mar 19, 2011)

I'm sorry it's not a better answer, but TSF doesn't support commission work. If your programmer works on the issue and has trouble, they're more than welcome to consult us on resolving the issue, but we won't do all the work ourselves.

I hope they are able to get the plug-in working for you. ^^


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## Dangler (Feb 25, 2015)

I've referred a couple of observations to the programmer and asked his input.
1. Given him the last known date when the plug in worked, and requested that he report what sys changes had occurred, keeping an eye open for 'interactions' of sorts.
2. The *user account *, which was authoring the 'no soup' alerts, has been deleted; also requested an explanation of what happened.


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## DDAoN (Mar 19, 2011)

If the plug-in is dependent upon a particular account, that might be the problem. Recreating the account may restore functionality, but I make no promises. Even if the plug-in I linked isn't the one being used, I couldn't find any that were built for v4.x.x, only 3.x.x.

Let us know if they fix it, or refer them here if they need help with making the fix, but we'd need more detailed information. ^^'


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## Dangler (Feb 25, 2015)

Success. 
Discovered that the 'user' that had its ID plugged in, to be the actual 
author of the reporting,* had been deleted.* 

Multiple Account Detection & Prevention Reporting
- Multiple Account Reporter id:######
(User ID of the account that will report multiple accounts.)

So I simply built a moderator, 'IDBot', titled it 'Multiple Account Detective' , plugged in its ID, and the plug in resumed operation.

I did notice, that the verbose statement (no soup for you) is no longer there in the reports, instead, it appears like:



> Multiple login detected from pbob.
> 
> Other recognized logins for this user are:
> 
> snaredminded


Which is fine with me. 
Still have not heard back from programmer on what transpired in his 'neck of the woods'


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## DDAoN (Mar 19, 2011)

I'm glad you were able to figure it out and for letting us know what the issue is. I wish you the best with your vBulletin and all your future programming efforts.


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