ReCaptcha, Great Tool… Poor Documentation…

So I needed to install a Captcha into a static HTML web form, simple right? Not really…

The first step was researching and finding the best tool, this was easy, I went with the most popular… ReCaptcha. So I started the integration to only find the worst documentation. Although the tool is great, lots of documentation, there was nothing on how to do the most basic integration that 90% of users will do. How do you integrate it into a HTML web form?

So I tried on my own, for hours, even searched the Internet to find the worst; many people were having the same issue as I with no answer available. So how do you integrate the tool into a HTML web form while using the HTML web form action command? Glad I could find the answer in a few hours, hopefully this will save you from that…

Unfortunately I do not have the time to list a whole tutorial, however here is a link to the site that helped me and a quick step by step.

The site that helped, THANK YOU!!!: http://inko9nito.wordpress.com/2007/12/12/installing-recaptcha-with-php/

The step by step:
(Assuming you are using a HTML form, with a PHP form processor)

1. Set you .htaccess file to allow PHP in a HTML document by adding the following command to the file:
AddType application/x-httpd-php .html
2. Add code into the HTML form to display the CAPTCHA.
3. Add code into (IMPORTANT) the beginning of the form processor to determine if an error with the CAPTCHA or to submit the form.
a. If form is correct, do nothing and form processor code will submit form.
b. If incorrect, code in beginning of form processor will either send you to an error page or back to form with an error displayed in the page.

That is the concept, and the link I provided should be able to explain how to do this whole process.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 7th, 2009 at 2:28 pm and is filed under Technology, Web Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.