I have started to get some spam emails from my online form, It uses php.

 

I thought that would prevent some spam or does php forms just make it more secure.

 

So I need to add a Captcha or simular to stop it.

 

What is best easiest to add.

 

Thanks.

Yep, use Captcha http://www.captcha.net/

Captcha should really remain the last line of defence, use it when all else fails.

 

Logging ip's with form submissions is a good idea, also you can throw in some hidden inputs, if they're filled in by a spam bot you can block the message. Their are plenty of different techniques that don't impair or inconvenience the user experience as much as a captcha.

Thanks Darren,

 

I had a look at your website and blog, very nice.

 

but I noticed on your site in F/Fox the sublinks were behind the top flash or slider.

 

How do you get etail complete e-commerce.? I'm looking to learn an e-commerce system.

 

Cheers Dan.

Captcha should really remain the last line of defence, use it when all else fails.

 

Logging ip's with form submissions is a good idea, also you can throw in some hidden inputs, if they're filled in by a spam bot you can block the message. Their are plenty of different techniques that don't impair or inconvenience the user experience as much as a captcha.

 

Ok i'll look into this...any links to help me get started?.

 

Thanks Bocaj.

Hi Dan,

 

Thanks for the good feedback.

 

but I noticed on your site in F/Fox the sublinks were behind the top flash or slider.

 

Which website are you looking at? It's obviously a glitch, but I've never seen it before.

 

I'm looking to learn an e-commerce system.

 

If you're looking to get into eCommerce, I wouldn't recommend etailcomplete. It's a software I used to work with but don't any more. If you're looking to learn it, I highly recommend looking into Magento - it's becoming the next big thing in eCommerce. A bit of a learning curve, but it's the future.

 

Darren

Darren,

 

it's on your online selling site.

But I am using an old Firefox.

 

Cheers I'll look into magento.

 

How does the email marketing work? do you need a certain program.

 

Dan.

Thanks for the tip about my website. I see what you mean now, Firefox 2 displays them in a vertical list.

 

For email marketing, I've used a few different systems before. The system I use now is Campaign Monitor, a very good Australian system. I've also used DotMailer which is OK, and listmailpro, which isn't very good (but totally free I think).

 

Hope this helps,

 

Darren

have a look at Jem's form, - she's a bit of a PHP security buff

Thanks guys,

I have gone with re-capture for now.

I need to learn more about php.

I think i'll have to buy a book.

Although Jems site looks lke a good source.

Hi there,

 

I had exactly the same problem you had with spam about a year ago and I didnt want to use captcha to stop spam so I came up with the following (Im sure others have done this aswell) I have never had any spam since (touch wood!)

 

Add the following to your CSS file:

.botcatch {
visibility:hidden;
}

 

Add a text field to your contact form and assign it the class you made

<input name="fieldname" type="text" value="" class="botcatch" />

 

then in your PHP code do the following

<?php
// If the Send button is pressed
if ($_POST['submit']) {

// If a bot is attempting to send spam
if ($_POST['fieldname'] !="") {

//Boot it out of the server
die();
} else {

//Enter mail code here 

       }
} else {}
?>

 

This works for me

 

Let me know what you think.

 

Thanks,

Chris

It's a good method, it's worked for me in the past. Isn't it referred to as the honey pot method?

Im not sure what its called, but it is sneaky and stops the need for those captacha forms to annoy people..

 

It has it's flaws though, accessibility for one. Those with css disabled etc. Although they can be minimised, especially naming it something like "only complete this field if you're an automated programme" or something more catchy.

 

Personally, i think they're far more accessible than captcha though. I have 20/20 vision, and even i struggle with some captchas.

 

 

 

Tell me about it, captcha annoys the hell out of me, even with 20/20 vision it sometimes takes me 3/4 attempts to get the stupid phrase right!

 

I would rather use this honeypot technique than annoy my visitors with captcha

OK Captcha worked, no more spam.

But as you say it's a pain for visitors etc..

I will try the honey pot.

 

Cheers Chris & Bocaj.

 

Much appreciated, I hate spam.

Honeypot

 

MM honey tastes good. Never heard of this way before. Nicely nicely.