Version: 1.00, by steadicamop
Developer Last Online: Dec 2014
Category: Miscellaneous Hacks -
Version: 3.6.2
Rating:
Released: 01-26-2007
Last Update: 01-26-2007
Installs: 61
Uses Plugins Template Edits
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No support by the author.
Title : Contact Us Visual Authentication
Version : 1.0
Coder : Andy Calderbank & Jason Williams
Purpose : Make your Contact Us page more secure using an image based verification system.
Why : From my other hack it was requested to make this for the Contact Us page - and this is the same hack to secure the Contact Us page from Spam Bots sending messages.
How : This extra feature uses images which are harder for a spam program/bot to interpret than text characters. The user has a choice of 4 randomly displayed images, and the answer is given below. The user must click on that image to proceed, if the incorrect image is selected an error message is shown. The images are randomly shown (from however many are in the directory - you can have as many as you want, just has to be more that 4!) and are automatically created from the images/verification/ directory - all on the fly. Sample images are included with this release, but you can use your own - I recommend using 100 x 100 pixels, in .jpg format and naming the image with a meaningful title (ie A House.jpg) - the extension is stripped so only the filename itself is shown.
To further enhance security, the images are passed through a script which means that none of the images on the screen have file names - and cannot be associated to the question by title alone.
I have been testing this on my forum and have found it to be effective - I cannot guarantee that this will stop all spamming, but this relies more on human input than a computer "reading" the image.
Important : This has been tested on 3.6.2 - I cannot guarantee it will work on anything above, please test with caution - and as always BACKUP FIRST! This will not work on anything below 3.6.0.
Installation :
Please note - if you already have my other hack installed you do not need to upload the images - just go to step 2.
1. Upload the verification/ directory to your images/ folder - make sure .htaccess and show.php are present - if you have problems with the .htaccess file, this isn't vital and will work without.
2. Import Product - product-secure_contact_us.xml
Requirements : GD Libraries installed
File uploads : 39 (including images)
Files to Import : 1
New Templates : 1
New Phrases : 5
Uses Hooks : 1
New Queries : 0
History :
v1.0 - Original release
Done - if you like please click install!
Don't forget you don't have to use the provided images - you can customise these to any you wish - I've used ones that are hopefully universal and everyone will recognise.
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This modification may not be copied, reproduced or published elsewhere without author's permission.
I installed this but the images do not show. htaccess and show.php are there. All permissions are set correctly on the files. v3.6.4
Is your forum in a sub-directory from the root? That is something I need to clean up about forum root locations - you can make some simple changes to reflect this if necessary.
I installed it and it only works under a single usergroup. I have its counter installed, the one for registration. The directions say just import the xml file if that one is installed, which is all I did. If I sign in under my own admin account it works, but no users aside from me hit the verification page before the contact form. Should I just reinstall?
I installed it and it only works under a single usergroup. I have its counter installed, the one for registration. The directions say just import the xml file if that one is installed, which is all I did. If I sign in under my own admin account it works, but no users aside from me hit the verification page before the contact form. Should I just reinstall?
I installed it and it only works under a single usergroup. I have its counter installed, the one for registration. The directions say just import the xml file if that one is installed, which is all I did. If I sign in under my own admin account it works, but no users aside from me hit the verification page before the contact form. Should I just reinstall?
My apologies for not getting on top of this one - which usergroup is affected? It wasn't designed with any usergroup intended, just as a way of slowing spammers down. Let me know which usergroup and I will look into it...
Contact Us Visual Authentication - prevent Spam Bots from sending messages! Details »»
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05-25-2007, 09:11 AM
