Recently I had several sites that have been picked up by spammers who like to create junk accounts and spam the forums. Dealing with spammers is a waste of time. I thought adding captcha to my signup form could be a way to slow them down. It will not stop them but maybe I can reduce the number of junk signups.
A great project for adding image verification is reCAPTCHA and luckily several developer have created Joomla plugins and extensions that allow you to add reCAPTCHA to your site. I installed and tested several options to see which would work best for me.
The Task.
Add reCAPTCHA image verification only to the user account registration page. The majority of my contact, review and event signup forms are already being protected with image verification. Make as few changes as possible, so that the code is easy to install and upgrade. Do not slow down the site with additional code.
The Winner
We are still in the process of testing so we do not have a winner yet.
JCCreCAPTCHA
Overview
JCC reCaptcha installs well and has quite a few options including language selection.
Site is in Portuguese so it takes a bit of work to understand how to add the code. There is a language translation button (I missed it the first time) it helps but the site seems to have several dead links.
Looks like there are some additional features where you no longer have to add the code by hand.
Project Details
- Developer:
- Extension Type: Plugin
- JCCreCaptcha Plugin Project Page
- English JCCreCaptcha Project Page
- Download Page:
- JED Listing: http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/access-a-security/captcha/9356
Pros
- Several configuration options that the other plugins do not have
- Ability to select CAPTCHA language
- Actively being developed (Latest Release was Jan 16, 2010)
Cons
- Directions can be hard to figure out.
- Site in Portugues and English translation does not work well.
- Many dead links on the site.
Conclusion
This is one of the plugins with better features and integration. If we can get some good documentation this may be one of the better plugins with lots of great features.
Joomlaxi
Overview
Project Details
- Extenstion Type: Plugin and Full component in Alpha testing
- Developer: JoomlaXi
- Project Page:
- Download Page: http://www.joomlaxi.com/downloads/free-products.html (registration required)
- JED Listing:
Pros
The only option if you are looking for a full component
Cons
Need to sign up for an account to download
Conclusion
JoomlaEZ
Overview
Not sure how I came across this plugin, it is now listed in the Joomla Extension Directory. It seems to be well coded and works.
I was able to get it added to the registration page by using a template override. On their site registration page they have a very cool sign up page, when information is wrong or missing the box turns red to inform the user.
Project Details
- Extenstion Type: Plugin
- Project Page:
- Download Page:
Pros
Easy to set up
Support forum if you have questions
They developed other Joomla Plugins
Cons
Not listed in the JED
Conclusion
Works well and good support, especially for a free product. If you are interested in fine tuning your sign up page they have some good ideas to help.
Additional Resources
reCAPTCHA project site
All Joomla CAPTCHA extensions http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/access-a-security/captcha
JED stands for Joomla Extenstion Directory Page
