Level 1: Self-Service
Included (€0 / $0)
Download archive, installation guide, license activation, and independent filter configuration and cleanup execution.
Stop Spam Bots and Reclaim Control Over Your OJS User Database
Every journal running on Open Journal Systems faces the same exhausting challenge: open registration inevitably attracts massive waves of automated spam bots. Within months, databases become bloated with tens of thousands of dormant, useless accounts. The native OJS user grid grinds to a halt, taking ages to load, while forcing managers to delete or disable users one by one.
Worse yet, running manual SQL delete queries in phpMyAdmin is a high-stakes gamble that can corrupt database relationships or accidentally wipe active reviewers and authors.
SRPRO Bulk User Manager & Spam Sentinel is the first enterprise-grade, fully automated security and user-cleanup suite engineered specifically for OJS 3.3+. It cleans existing database clutter while standing guard at the registration gateway.
How It Works: Dual-Action Protection
1. Risk-Free Bulk Purging (Intelligent Detection)
The plugin scans your user records in real time, cross-referencing account activity against core scholarly workflows:
- Safe-to-Delete Detection: Only accounts with zero author submissions, zero co-authorships, zero assigned peer reviews, and zero editorial tasks are marked eligible for deletion.
- Hardware-Grade Staff Protection: Journal Managers, Section Editors, Assistants, Site Administrators, and users with active paid subscriptions are strictly protected and locked from selection.
- Dedicated Role Filters ("Protect Readers"): Choose the “Exclude Readers” filter to protect genuine registered readers and isolate only phantom bot profiles.
2. Complete Cascading Deletion (Zero Database Bloat)
Deleting a user should not leave corrupted fragments behind. Spam Sentinel performs a surgical, cascading purge across six relational tables: users, user_settings, user_user_groups, email_log, event_log, and notes. Your MariaDB/MySQL database stays compact, optimized, and fast.
3. Proactive Honeypot Trap (Automated Bot Trap)
Spam bots parse web forms and aggressively populate every input field. Spam Sentinel injects an invisible, CSS-concealed honeypot into your registration page. Real humans never see or tab into it, but automated bots fill it out every time. When triggered, registration is rejected instantly without creating an account, and the bot’s email address is immediately blacklisted.
4. Registration Gatekeeper (Sub-Millisecond Blacklist Verification)
Whenever a spam account is purged, its email address and root domain are recorded in the local srpro_spam_blacklist table. When any new user attempts to register, Spam Sentinel validates the email against the local blacklist in less than 1 millisecond. Blacklisted domains and throwaway emails are barred at the gate with a clear notification.
5. The Global Reputation Network (SRPRO Spam Shield & 24h Sync)
Spam Sentinel turns independent OJS installations into a united defense network:
- Purging spammers on your journal automatically and securely feeds threat indicators to our central API server.
- Once every 24 hours, your OJS installation silently pulls the latest crowdsourced global blacklist via background sync.
- If a malicious bot targets a journal in Europe today, your journal in North America or Asia is already protected tomorrow.
Technical Specifications
- Platform Compatibility: OJS 3.3.0-x LTS, engineered and tested for PHP 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, and 8.3.
- Architecture: 100% native OJS AjaxModal workflow with zero page redirects and zero 404 routing risks.
- Internationalization (i18n): Native GNU gettext .po standard with included English and Serbian Latin locale files.
- Licensing and Performance: Lightweight SDK with 7-day local caching and 14-day offline grace tolerance.
Official license pricing and related services
Regional pricing (Serbia & region — EUR)
Serbia is invoiced in the RSD equivalent at the NBS middle exchange rate, while the region can be invoiced in EUR. SEF e-Invoices and Treasury Administration payments are supported.
| Package | License capacity | Model A: Perpetual / one-time | Maintenance & updates · Year 2+ | Model B: Annual subscription | Included protection |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 1 instance (1 journal) | €190 | €65 / year | €110 / year | Safe-to-delete algorithm, six-table cascade cleanup, registration honeypot, local blacklist, and 24-hour Global Spam Shield sync. |
| Standard | Up to 10 instances | €480 | €150 / year | €280 / year | All Starter features for up to 10 journals on one OJS installation; ideal for faculties and institutes. |
| Pro | Up to 20 instances | €790 | €240 / year | €460 / year | Full functionality for up to 20 journals and cleanup of large databases with tens of thousands of accounts. |
| Campus | Up to 40 instances | €1,250 | €380 / year | €720 / year | For larger faculty groups and university journal portals. |
| University / Enterprise | Up to 300 instances (fair-use unlimited) | €1,890 | €550 / year | €1,090 / year | Institution-wide deployment for up to 300 journals/proceedings and high-volume server cleanup. |
International pricing (Global market — USD)
Payment is available through Stripe (cards), PayPal, or international SWIFT bank transfer.
| Tier | License scope | Option A: Perpetual / one-time | Maintenance · Year 2+ | Option B: Annual subscription | Key inclusions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single Journal | 1 instance | $249 | $80 / year | $140 / year | Safe bulk purge engine, six-table cascade wipe, invisible honeypot, local blacklist, and 24-hour Global Spam Shield sync. |
| Standard | Up to 10 instances | $599 | $190 / year | $350 / year | Full protection for up to 10 journals on a single OJS installation; ideal for faculties and societies. |
| Pro | Up to 20 instances | $990 | $300 / year | $580 / year | For active multi-journal publishers suffering heavy spam accumulation. |
| Campus | Up to 40 instances | $1,550 | $480 / year | $890 / year | Campus-wide protection for multi-faculty OJS clusters. |
| Enterprise / University | Up to 300 instances | $2,390 | $690 / year | $1,390 / year | Institutional deployment for up to 300 journals, high-volume API sync rate, and priority SLA. |
Setup, database audit & training add-ons
Because user deletion affects production databases, assisted first cleanup and database-audit services are available as one-time add-ons.
Level 2: Standard setup & first controlled cleanup
+ €70 · Global: $90
For 1–10 instances: plugin installation, user-table backup, 24-hour sync cron configuration, spam-account analysis, and safe first bulk cleanup performed with your team.
Level 3: Campus / Enterprise configuration & database optimization
+ €180 · Global: $240
For up to 40 or 300 instances: complete MySQL/MariaDB analysis, defragmentation and optimization after high-volume cleanup, and server-level honeypot rules.
Administrator walkthrough & security protocols
+ €80 · Global: $110
Up to 60 minutes remote training for administrators and chief editors: safe-to-delete criteria, domain blacklist management, legitimate-user whitelisting, and threat-log analysis.
What maintenance and annual updates cover
For perpetual-license users from Year 2 and annual-license users (included in the subscription), the SLA includes:
- Continuous access to the Global Reputation Network (SRPRO Spam Shield): daily updates of bot-domain blacklists and IP patterns from the SRPRO server.
- Detection-algorithm updates, including honeypot adaptations for new techniques used by AI bots to bypass web forms.
- Compatibility with PHP 8.1, 8.2, and 8.3, plus all OJS 3.3 LTS subversions.
- A 50% discount on the OJS 3.4/3.5 version upgrade, or a free upgrade for active annual subscribers.
- Priority support for incidents and plugin assistance within 24 business hours.
Licensing rules and activation scope
1 instance = 1 active license
A license is bound to a specific journal or proceedings volume at the moment of activation.
Multi-domain & multi-server freedom
A purchased package of 10, 20, 40, or up to 300 licenses may be allocated on one central OJS installation or across fully independent servers, domains, and subdomains—for example, among faculties and institutes within a university.
Central activation records
The SRPRO licensing system tracks in real time the number of simultaneously active licenses linked to your license key.
Anti-abuse & anti-shuffling
A license remains assigned to its activated journal or proceedings volume for the license term. Repeatedly moving, activating, and deactivating the same key across domains to bypass purchased capacity violates the terms and leads to automatic license-key suspension.
Perpetual license without maintenance
If Year 2 maintenance is not renewed, the plugin does not stop working: the local honeypot, local blacklist, and manual cascade purge remain functional indefinitely. Automatic daily global-blacklist synchronization ends.