How can PHP beginners ensure the effectiveness of their Toplists scripts by incorporating IP-Spam prevention measures?

To prevent IP-Spam in PHP Toplists scripts, beginners can implement measures such as limiting the number of submissions from a single IP address within a certain time frame, using CAPTCHA verification, and banning known spam IP addresses. By incorporating these prevention measures, beginners can ensure the effectiveness of their Toplists scripts and maintain the integrity of the rankings. 

// Check if the same IP address has submitted within the last 5 minutes
$ip = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
$time_limit = time() - 300; // 5 minutes
$query = "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM submissions WHERE ip_address = '$ip' AND submission_time > $time_limit";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);
$count = mysqli_fetch_row($result)[0];

if($count > 0) {
    // IP address has submitted too recently, handle as spam
    // You can log the attempt, display an error message, or take other actions
} else {
    // Proceed with processing the submission
}

Keywords

PHP Toplists scripts IP-Spam prevention security measures beginners

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