Frequently Asked Questions
If you are installing now, start with the guide for your forum platform. This page is for the questions that usually come up before or after installation.
General Questions
What is Forum Fortress?
Forum Fortress is a spam protection service for online communities. It helps prevent spam registrations, posts, and other unwanted content from appearing on your forum without putting legitimate users through extra verification steps.
How does Forum Fortress work?
When someone registers, posts, or performs other monitored actions on your forum, the Forum Fortress plugin sends details to our analysis service. We check this against spam patterns, intelligence feeds, and behavioral signals, then return a decision: allow or block.
Do I need a portal account to use Forum Fortress?
No, you can install and use the plugin without creating a portal account. The portal is useful for reviewing activity, managing settings, handling moderation queues, and accessing advanced features, but it's not required for basic spam protection.
Which forum platforms do you support?
Currently supported platforms: - Flarum 1.8.x and 2.x (2.0 RC5 or newer) - XenForo 2.x - phpBB 3.x - Invision Community 4.x - SMF 2.1 - MyBB 1.8.x (1.0 beta plugin)
Is there a free plan?
Yes. The Free plan offers ongoing protection for one forum. See Product, trial and plans for the published limits and plan comparison; your portal is the source for the options available to your account.
Installation and Setup
How long does installation take?
Most installations take 5-10 minutes:
- Download the plugin (1-2 minutes)
- Upload and enable in your forum (2-3 minutes)
- Configure basic settings (2-5 minutes)
Do I need technical expertise to install Forum Fortress?
Basic forum administration skills are helpful, but detailed installation guides are provided for each platform. If you can install other plugins/extensions on your forum, you should be able to install Forum Fortress.
Will Forum Fortress slow down my forum?
Forum Fortress is designed to keep its impact small. The exact behaviour depends on the forum platform, action being checked, connection quality, and plugin settings. If a forum becomes slow after installation, use the plugin connection test and collect the time, error, forum version, and plugin version before contacting support.
Can I test Forum Fortress before enabling it on my live forum?
Yes. Install on a staging copy first if you have one, run the plugin connection test, and use the portal's activity and Decision log to understand recorded outcomes. The public blocklist checker can help investigate a suspicious URL or text without creating a test post on a live forum.
What happens to existing spam on my forum?
Forum Fortress only protects against new activity after installation. It doesn't automatically clean up existing spam. You'll need to handle existing spam through your forum's normal moderation tools.
Privacy and Security
What information does Forum Fortress collect?
Forum Fortress analyzes information needed for spam detection, including: - IP addresses and network information - Email addresses and domains - Usernames and display names - Post content, signatures, and profile information - Registration and behavioral patterns
See Privacy and network access for complete details.
How long do you keep my forum's data?
- Raw event details such as IP addresses, email addresses, usernames, user-agent values, submitted content and links: no more than five days
- Allowed events: deleted after that period without creating retained abuse intelligence
- Qualifying adverse events: the outcome, reason codes, signal classes and non-raw technical metadata may remain for the active account after raw identifiers are removed
- Shared abuse-prevention signals: retained only without forum, event, content or cross-identifier attribution
The Privacy Policy is the authoritative current description. Ask the support team to review any retention, rights or legal question about a particular person or situation.
Is Forum Fortress GDPR compliant?
Forum Fortress is designed with privacy in mind, but GDPR compliance depends on how you configure and use the service. Review our privacy policy and consult legal counsel if you're unsure about your obligations.
Can I use Forum Fortress with a privacy-focused forum?
Forum Fortress is designed to minimise unnecessary data and uses limited raw-data retention. Review Privacy and network access and your own legal obligations before enabling it on a live community.
Technical Questions
What network access does Forum Fortress require?
Your server needs outbound HTTPS access on port 443 to hosts ending in *.ffapi.net. No inbound connections are required.
Will Forum Fortress work with my hosting provider?
Forum Fortress works with most hosting providers. Some providers with aggressive security policies may require configuration changes to allow outbound connections. Contact your host if you have connection issues.
Can I use Forum Fortress with a CDN or firewall?
Yes, Forum Fortress works with CDNs, firewalls, and security services. The plugin makes outbound connections from your server, so inbound protection doesn't interfere.
Does Forum Fortress work with other anti-spam tools?
Forum Fortress can work alongside other anti-spam measures, but may be less effective if other tools block legitimate users before Forum Fortress can analyze them. Review your security stack to avoid conflicts.
What happens if Forum Fortress is unavailable?
The outcome during a service or network failure depends on the installed plugin and its configured availability setting. Check the setting in your forum admin area before relying on a particular behaviour. Most plugins expose a connection test so you can confirm normal reachability.
Features and Plans
What's included in the free plan?
The Free plan includes ongoing spam protection for one forum, 2,000 checks per month, up to 50 automatic blocks per day, basic explanations and logs, seven-day Insights, and one qualifying evidence-backed pattern. It also includes 24/7 AI telephone and live-chat support plus standard handling for human support tickets.
Check forumfortress.com for current free plan details.
What advanced features are available?
Advanced features may include: - Interactive Graphs, exports and longer/custom analytics periods on Pro - Cross-forum moderation tools - Advanced behavioral analysis - Priority human ticket handling and human telephone support on Pro - Higher rate limits - Custom integration options
Feature availability varies by plan.
Can I upgrade or downgrade my plan?
Use the Plan page in the portal to see the plans and change options currently available to your account. It shows the terms that apply before you confirm a change.
Do you offer discounts for multiple forums?
Multi-forum plans and discounts may be available. Contact support through the portal for pricing information if you manage multiple communities.
Moderation and Workflow
How do I handle blocked items?
- Log into the portal
- Go to the Decision log
- Review the item details and context
- Use your forum moderation tools to restore or approve anything blocked incorrectly
- Adjust sensitivity or report false positives if a pattern repeats
Can I customize how aggressive the spam protection is?
Yes, most plans offer sensitivity settings to balance spam protection with user experience. You can adjust these in the portal or plugin settings.
Will Forum Fortress interfere with my existing moderation workflow?
Forum Fortress integrates with your forum's existing moderation system. Allowed requests proceed normally, while blocked requests are logged for review in the Forum Fortress portal.
Can I moderate multiple forums from one portal account?
Yes, if you have multiple connected forums, you can manage them all from one portal account. Some plans offer cross-forum moderation tools.
What if Forum Fortress blocks a legitimate user?
You can: - Restore or approve them through your forum moderation tools - Adjust sensitivity settings to reduce false positives - Use the portal's moderation tools to override decisions - Contact support if you see patterns of incorrect blocking
Troubleshooting
The connection test fails. What should I do?
- Check that your server can make outbound HTTPS requests to
*.ffapi.net - Test with:
curl -v https://api.ffapi.net/health - Check firewall, WAF, and hosting security settings
- Contact your hosting provider if needed
See the full Troubleshooting guide for more solutions.
Forum Fortress isn't blocking obvious spam. Why?
Possible causes: - Protection isn't enabled for all relevant actions - Sensitivity settings are too permissive - The spam is using new patterns not yet detected - Connection issues preventing proper analysis
Check plugin settings and portal activity to diagnose the issue.
Moderation actions are not syncing. How do I fix this?
- Try clearing your browser cache and logging back in
- Check if your forum's moderation system is working normally
- Review the decision log and plugin settings for specific error messages
- Contact support if actions still do not sync
My forum appears slow after installing Forum Fortress. Is this normal?
Forum Fortress is designed for minimal performance impact. If you notice slowdowns: - Check server resource usage - Review hosting configuration - Consider if other changes happened around the same time - Monitor during different usage periods
Billing and Account
How does billing work?
The published plans use simple annual pricing:
- Free is $0
- Core is $10 per year
- Pro is $40 per year
Check your plan details in the portal for specific billing information.
Where can I check cancellation or renewal details?
Open Plan in the portal. It shows the current billing and renewal controls for your account. For a billing dispute, refund, or account-specific question, use Contact in the portal so support can review the account safely.
What payment methods do you accept?
Payment methods vary by region but typically include major credit cards. Check the portal billing section for options available to you.
Do you offer refunds?
Refund policies vary by plan and circumstances. Contact support through the portal to discuss specific situations.
Support
How do I get help?
- Check this FAQ and the troubleshooting guide
- Chat with Forum Fortress support at chat.forumfortress.com
- Use portal Contact for account-specific issues: portal.forumfortress.com
- Check service status at status.forumfortress.com
What should I include when contacting support?
- Your forum URL
- Forum platform and version (e.g., "XenForo 2.2.13")
- Plugin/extension version
- Specific error messages or screenshots
- When the issue started
- What you were trying to do when it happened
How quickly will I get a response?
Response times vary by plan: - Free: standard human ticket handling - Core: accelerated handling and faster human replies - Pro: priority human replies, plus human telephone support during configured availability
Forum Fortress does not publish a response-time promise unless a specific commitment is shown in your account. AI telephone and live chat are available around the clock and identify themselves as AI.
Can I request new features?
Yes, we welcome feature suggestions. Use the portal Contact form to submit ideas. Popular requests may be prioritized for development.
Technical Integration
Can I integrate Forum Fortress with custom forum code?
Advanced integrations may be possible depending on your needs. Contact support to discuss custom integration requirements and availability.
Do you have an API for developers?
Forum Fortress primarily works through forum plugins, but limited API access may be available for specific use cases. Contact support for developer resources.
Can I export my data from Forum Fortress?
Data export capabilities vary by plan. Contact support to discuss your data export needs and available options.
How do I migrate between forum platforms?
When migrating forums: 1. Install Forum Fortress on the new platform 2. Connect to the same portal account 3. Configure settings to match your previous setup 4. The protection will continue with your existing account and history
Contact support if you need assistance with complex migrations.