Plugin - Google reCAPTCHA 2.0 - No CAPTCHA (Spam protection)

Google released a more advanced version of reCAPTCHA, the No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA.
The new technology included allows for a simplified user experience that requires much less interaction from human users, only enforcing the verifications (which got some radical improvements that we'll be presenting further along in this article) if it automatically detects a bot.

 
Downloading and Installing the plugin
Download

You can download the plugin by logging with your purchase user, then head to Downloads > Paid Downloads > RSForm!Pro > Modules & Plugins > "Google reCAPTCHA v2 (Checkbox + Invisible) x.x".


Install

Go to Extensions > Manage > Install, and upload and install the plugin. Navigate to Extensions > Plugins, search for the "System - RSForm! Pro reCAPTCHA v2" plugin and ensure it is published.


RSForm!Pro and No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA

RSForm!Pro keeps up with the latest trends in spam prevention by including a plugin that provides the possibility to add a No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA field to any RSForm!Pro form.


What it's all about

Everything in web design seems to be heading towards simplifying the user experience. The old, well-known reCAPTCHA Antispam was very effective for a long enough time but there are two main reasons for which it has become obsolete:

  1. Security-wise, it is no longer suitable (Google states that their recent research shows that modern AI can detect, with a 99.8% accuracy, distorted text and images)
  2. The user experience would get slowed down by the need to always type in the codes necessary to submit forms

The new No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA includes advanced bot detection algorithms and will only enable the verifications if suspicious activity is detected. It includes both the old method of typing in scrambled text, and a brand-new one in which you will be presented with an image and select, from a listing, the images that are associated with it (for example, if you are shown an image of a cat, you will need to select all images of cats from the listing).


Configuration

After installing and enabling the plugin you will see, in ComponentsRSForm!ProConfiguration that a new tab was added, reCAPTCHAv2:

Three configuration parameters are required:

  • Site Key: You can get this by registering your domain on the Google reCAPTCHA account
  • Secret Key: You can get this by registering your domain on the reCAPTCHA account
  • Language: Auto (Detected by Google) / Site (Joomla! language) - Translate the No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA field in the language used in the frontend. Either let Google detect the language, or use the Joomla! setting.
  • Fallback for users without Javascript: Yes / No - A noscript tag will be added for users without Javascript active, if you'd like to support them.
  • Use async & defer: Yes) / No - Setting this to Yes will set the async and defer attributes on the external ReCAPTCHA script tag.
  • Domain: Change between loading the reCAPTCHA assets from google.com or recaptcha.net; this is useful for cookies control, since google.com can fetch other cookies along with the request.
  • If you are an old reCAPTCHA user, there's no need to generate new keys for your domain, you can simply use the old reCAPTCHA Public and Private keys.
  • If you're new to reCAPTCHA, use this link to get a reCAPTCHA account (Google account is required).
 

The Form Field

To add a No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA field to your form, head to ComponentsRSForm!ProManage Forms — edit your form — Components — scroll down to reCAPTCHA v2 and click on it. The field includes the following configuration tabs:

General

  • Name: Type in an internal name for the field
  • Caption: Type in the field's caption. This will be visible in the frontend
  • Description: Type in a description for the field. Also visible in the frontend

Validations

  • Validation Message: Provide a validation message that will be displayed if the field fails validation

Attributes

  • Theme: Light / Dark - Choose a visual theme for the field
  • Type: Image / Audio - Choose a verification method
  • Size: Normal / Compact / Invisible - Choose the HTML size attribute for the verification field
  • Badge Location: Inline / Bottom Right / Bottom Left - Choose location where the reCaptcha badge will be displayed. Only available for the 'Invisible' mode.
  • Additional Attributes: Here you can add additional HTML attributes for the input field

The Invisible reCaptcha comes with a Badge Location functionality which allows you to choose between the following positions: Inline / Bottom Left / Bottom Right

04 Mar 2024
Version 3.1.3
  • Added - Joomla! 5 native compatibility - no longer needs the 'Behaviour - Backward Compatibility' plugin.
05 Dec 2023
Version 3.1.2
  • Updated - PHP 8.2 improvements
13 Jan 2023
Version 3.1.1
  • Updated - IP address now takes into account the 'Behind Load Balancer' setting from Global Configuration.
  • Updated - Bumped minimum requirements to use Joomla! 3.9.0+
12 Jul 2022
Version 3.1.0
  • Updated - Captcha fields will now be placed in the 'Captcha' group.
27 Jul 2021
Version 3.0.1
  • Added - Can choose whether to load assets from 'google.com' or 'recaptcha.net'.
09 Jun 2021
Version 3.0.0
  • Updated - Joomla! 4.0 and RSForm! Pro 3.0 compatibility.
20 Jan 2020
Version 2.0.5
  • Fixed - In some cases when using AJAX validation and Invisible ReCAPTCHA the form would be submitted without performing validation.
17 Jan 2020
Version 2.0.4
  • Fixed - Label 'for' attribute has been removed since ReCAPTCHA has no traditional input element.
12 Dec 2019
Version 2.0.3
  • Fixed - 'Invisible' and 'Badge' attributes were not working.
11 Dec 2019
Version 2.0.2
  • Updated - Code rewritten to use the new RSFormProField class.
  • Fixed - Images have been moved to the /media folder.
  • Fixed - ReCAPTCHA no longer validates if used in the directory editing area.
  • Fixed - ReCAPTCHA initialization should only be called once.
16 Aug 2019
Version 2.0.1
  • Fixed - ReCAPTCHA initialization script was still present even if 'Remove Captcha for Logged Users' was set to 'Yes'.
02 Aug 2019
Version 2.0.0
  • Updated - Bumped minimum requirements to use RSForm! Pro 2.2.6 and Joomla! 3.7.0
  • Fixed - Having 'Disable Submit Button On Submission' set to 'Yes' would break Invisible ReCAPTCHA validation.
07 Jun 2019
Version 1.52.3
  • Updated - Removed jQuery and MooTools from the ReCAPTCHA initialization script.
  • Updated - Removed blue title above on ReCAPTCHA on the Components toolbar when adding fields.
  • Fixed - Modal title was not correct when editing a ReCAPTCHA field.
20 Feb 2019
Version 1.52.2
  • Added - Choose 'Badge' location.
  • Updated - Code style.
  • Fixed - In some cases the g-recaptcha-response was not being passed.
  • Fixed - Translation for the missing TIMEOUT_OR_DUPLICATE error code.
20 Apr 2018
Version 1.52.1
  • Added - Choose if the api.js script tag should have async & defer attributes.
  • Updated - Code style.
  • Fixed - Uninstalling the plugin would remove the /media/com_rsform folder.
20 Apr 2018
Version 1.52.0
  • Added - Ability to turn off the generation of noscript tags.
  • Added - Invisible ReCAPTCHA support.
  • Updated - Bumped minimum requirements to use RSForm! Pro 1.52.10 and Joomla! 3.6.5
  • Fixed - ReCAPTCHA initialization script now supports jQuery 3.x
23 Aug 2016
Version 1.51.2
  • Added - 'Remove Captcha for Logged Users' option.
  • Updated - ReCAPTCHA initialization script is no longer inline.
17 Mar 2016
Version 1.51.1
  • Updated - Bumped minimum requirements to use Joomla! 2.5.28
  • Fixed - Uninstalling the plugin would not remove its database entries.
  • Fixed - SQL installation files were not being run when using the MySQL PDO adapter.
09 Oct 2015
Version 1.51.0
  • Added - Joomla! automatic updates support.
  • Updated - Bumped minimum requirements to use RSForm! Pro 1.51.0
  • Fixed - In some cases ReCAPTCHA was not initialized.
  • Fixed - ReCAPTCHA initialization now works even if form is placed with RSForm! Pro System Plugin.
23 Jul 2015
Version 1.0.4
  • Added - 'Size' attribute to choose between 'Normal' or 'Compact'.
20 Jan 2015
Version 1.0.3
  • Updated - Error messages from Google are now being shown when validation fails.
11 Dec 2014
Version 1.0.2
  • Added - Choose how ReCAPTCHA language is initialized (automatically or force site language).
10 Dec 2014
Version 1.0.1
  • Added - noscript tag for browsers without Javascript.
  • Updated - New ReCAPTCHA image and icon.
  • Fixed - 'Get ReCAPTCHA keys' URL was pointing to the old recaptcha.net domain.
  • Fixed - Multiple instances of ReCAPTCHA on the same page would fail.
  • Fixed - Prevent initialization if no Site Key is configured.
  • Fixed - Plugin language was not loaded automatically on Joomla! 2.5
05 Dec 2014
Initial Release

71 persons found this article helpful.


Was this article helpful?

Yes No
Sorry about that

You Should Also Read

Plugin - Google reCaptcha v3 (Spam Protection) HOT