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+--- Thread: Need Captcha with my FormTools (/showthread.php?tid=175)
Need Captcha with my FormTools - just me - Jun 1st, 2009
Hello community,
I am using the 2.0 version and I really like it a lot. I have had it up and running just fine for a couple months.
My problem is that I've been getting spammy submissions for many weeks now. They are junk, and I've been spending a LOT of time blocking each IP address that comes through - to no avail though, because they come up with a new one every day.
I've tried incorprating CAPTCHA from instructions on the old version, but they don't work (http://www.formtools.org/forums/index.php/topic,931.0.html), or at least I've not been able to get it to work.
Searching the forum here, I've seen a RECAPTCHA, but apparently only for use in something called API - which as a *NOOB* to all this stuff, is totally over my head.
Has anyone successfully added CAPTCHA to their forms? My inquiry form is in .htm format, and like I said works very well... I'm getting all sorts of SPAM submissions, so need some sort of deterrent there and am in need of some sort of CAPTCHA.
Is there a version of FormTools that has CAPTCHA built in, or do I need to be (or to hire) a programmer to get this to work?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!
RE: Need Captcha with my FormTools - Ben - Jun 3rd, 2009
Hey!
Thanks for your post - and I'm glad it's been working well up to now.
Quote:Searching the forum here, I've seen a RECAPTCHA, but apparently only for use in something called API - which as a *NOOB* to all this stuff, is totally over my head.
Haha :-) But yes, the API's CAPTCHA script is only hooked into the API and can't currently be added to POSTed forms. This is something I plan on addressing at some
In the meantime - any one else solved this problem to their satisfaction?
Personally, I use the "hidden fields" technique to foil spam. It doesn't work as well with already established forms, since the spammers have already figured out what fields are valid, but it can still help. The idea is that you add some hidden fields to your form with names that are attractive to spam scripts, like "email", "comments" and so forth (it's kinda like fishing!). Then, in the post submission, detect to see if those fields have any values and if so it means the submission is from a spammer.
This can be done pretty easily using the Submission Pre-Parser module, as described here:
http://modules.formtools.org/submission_pre_parser/documentation.php?page=spam_detection_example
Not sure if that helps... but it might be worth a shot!
- Ben
RE: Need Captcha with my FormTools - just me - Jun 4th, 2009
(Jun 3rd, 2009, 8:37 PM)Ben Wrote: Hey!
Thanks for your post - and I'm glad it's been working well up to now.
Quote:Searching the forum here, I've seen a RECAPTCHA, but apparently only for use in something called API - which as a *NOOB* to all this stuff, is totally over my head.
Haha :-) But yes, the API's CAPTCHA script is only hooked into the API and can't currently be added to POSTed forms. This is something I plan on addressing at some
That would be really great if some sort of CAPTCHA could be integrated; and folks could turn it on and turn it off at will. I did find a script that did incorporate CAPTCHA, but am not enough of a coder/progrmmer to get it to work in the FormTools, but it works great as a stand-alone Contact Us form:
http://www.maianscriptworld.co.uk/free-php-scripts/maian-mail/free-contact-form/index.html
(Jun 3rd, 2009, 8:37 PM)Ben Wrote: In the meantime - any one else solved this problem to their satisfaction?
I thought I found something CAPTCHA-wise from version 1 forum. I had to tweak and fine tune some things, but was only able to get it to *almost* work. I could get the CAPTCHA image to show, but couldn't ever get it to submit without utilizing the purpose of CAPTCHA; in other words, all I was able to successfully do is add the image, not the function. But for anyone wanting to try their hand at it, here are a few of the links from the FormTools 1 formum I used:
http://www.formtools.org/forums/index.php/topic,752.0.html
http://www.formtools.org/forums/index.php/topic,931.0.html
http://www.formtools.org/forums/index.php/topic,1049.0.html
http://www.formtools.org/forums/index.php/topic,666.0.html
(Jun 3rd, 2009, 8:37 PM)Ben Wrote: Personally, I use the "hidden fields" technique to foil spam. It doesn't work as well with already established forms, since the spammers have already figured out what fields are valid, but it can still help. The idea is that you add some hidden fields to your form with names that are attractive to spam scripts, like "email", "comments" and so forth (it's kinda like fishing!). Then, in the post submission, detect to see if those fields have any values and if so it means the submission is from a spammer.
This can be done pretty easily using the Submission Pre-Parser module, as described here:
http://modules.formtools.org/submission_pre_parser/documentation.php?page=spam_detection_example
Not sure if that helps... but it might be worth a shot!
- Ben
Yes, I did find something along this line at the version 1 forum too (your link above looks workable as well, but didn't find anything about that until you posted here... may have saved myself some time if I had!). This addresses spam-fighting with the use of CSS and "hidden fields": http://www.formtools.org/forums/index.php/topic,973.0.html.
Again, I had to fine tune (by trial and error... with LOTS of errors!) to come up with something that worked for me (for instance, inclusion of the text/css line in my .htm file wasn't enough - I had to add a .css file), and after some severley spoken words and a bit of hair pulling, was able to get it to work. The thing that nobody mentioned though, was how you TEST the hidden CSS to see if it was working? Duh, must me the *noob* in me, but I just "un-hid" the hidden text area, tried to submit, and was unsuccessful - as a spammer would be if they'd tried to submit the form and fill out the (normally) hidden text field.
For now, I'm going to have to settle for this method. You're right I'm sure though about the SPAMMERS already having the form fields tagged, so will revamp my form also. A LOT of work, especially for a non-coder like me, but hopefully CAPTCHA and the CSS Hidden Code can be put together for a better way to use FormTools without being targeted as much for the dang spammers. :-)
Thanks Ben for the reply - it is apprecaited!