Stops bots from registering accounts when Anyone can register is unchecked in Dashboard > Settings…

acub

<p>Un-checking “Anyone can register” in Settings only hides the sign-up link from login page, it doesn’t disable user registration and bots can continue to create users programatically.</p>
<p>This plugin stops them. Activate it, uncheck “Anyone can register” and the only way to add new users will be from Dashboard, being logged in with an account having the <code>create_users</code> capability, by going to <code>Users > Add new</code>.</p>
<h4>Very Important Notice</h4>
<p>If you managed to lock yourself out of the admin area and are trying to create a new user with <code>administrator</code> role by uploading and executing a <code>php</code> file on your server, this plugin will effectively block the attempt. You will need to rename or delete the folder of this plugin (in order to deactivate it) to be able to add users from scripts without being logged in into an account having the <code>create_users</code> capability.</p>
<h3>Uninstall</h3>
<ol>
<li>Deactivate from Plugins list in WordPress Dashboard…</li>
<li>…or rename/delete plugin folder (<code>wp-content/plugins/disable-user-registration</code>)</li>
</ol>


Disable User Registration

The 1 star rating the plugin has is from a user upset about the fact that the plugin actually worked. They kept getting emails about new users being registered but all were blocked (the accounts were not created). 

The plugin only blocks the registration process, it doesn't deal with the associated hooks (among which are the emails sent to admin). 

If one wishes to no longer receive those emails, they can be disabled it from WordPress settings.

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