Cryptographp_XH - a CMSimple_XH Plugin

Cryptographp_XH is a CAPTCHA plugin based on cryptographp. It was modified to fit in the CMSimple environment, can be called multiple times (even on the same page), and offers an alternative audio CAPTCHA. It could be used as utility plugin by other plugins, such as Advancedform_XH, to deter spambots from successfully submitting forms.

Please do read this documentation before you encounter any problems!

Important Notice

Cryptographp_XH couldn't be tested so far in various environments. It is a so called BETA version. Use with caution!

Requirements

Cryptographp_XH is a plugin for CMSimple_XH. It requires a UTF-8 encoded version.

Installation

The installation is done as with many other CMSimple_XH plugins. See the CMSimple_XH wiki for further details.

  1. Backup the data on your server.
  2. Unzip the distribution on your computer.
  3. Upload the whole directory cryptographp/ to your server into CMSimple_XH's plugins directory.
  4. Set write permissions to the subdirectories config/, css/ and languages/.
  5. Switch to "Cryptographp" in the back-end to check if all requirements are fulfilled.

Settings

The plugin's configuration is done as with many other CMSimple_XH plugins in the website's back-end. Select "Cryptographp" from "Plugins".

You can change the default settings of Cryptographp_XH in "Plugin Config". Hints for the options will be displayed when hovering over the help icons with your mouse.

Localization is done in "Plugin Language". You can translate the character strings to your own language, or customize them according to your needs.

The look of Cryptographp_XH can be customized in "Plugin Stylesheet".

Usage

Cryptographp_XH is a utility plugin serving other plugins. As such it has no usage on it's own. How it can be used by developers of other plugins is explained in the CMSimple_XH wiki.

Limitations

To successfully submit forms protected by Cryptographp_XH, the visitor's browser must accept cookies.

The spam protection offered by Cryptographp_XH is not safe against attacts specifically targeted at it, particularly defeating the audio CAPTCHA is not hard to accomplish. OTOH even simple text based CAPTCHAs (e.g. the one of CMSimple's built-in mailform) should suffice to keep out general spam bots. If you're looking for a more secure CAPTCHA implementation have a look at Recaptcha_XH. The underlying reCAPTCHA is probably one of the best CAPTCHAs currently available. But even a perfect CAPTCHA can't deter humans from posting spam.

License

Cryptographp_XH is licensed under GPLv3.

© 2011-2012 Christoph M. Becker

Slovak translation © 2012 Dr. Martin Sereday
Czech translation © 2012 Josef NÄ›mec

Credits

Cryptographp_XH is based on cryptographp. Many thanks to Sylvain Brison for making this nice and quite flexible CAPTCHA available under a GPL compatible license. The audio CAPTCHA was inspired by johnjdoe's braillecaptcha, and made possible by Peter Keung's phantastic mp3 files, which were released as freeware, and are streamed with jPlayer, which is available under GPL.

The plugin icon is designed by Pavel InFeRnODeMoN. Many thanks for releasing this icon under GPL.

This plugin uses free applications icons from Aha-Soft. Many thanks for making these icons freely available.

Many thanks to the community at the CMSimple forum for tips, suggestions and testing. Particulary I want to thank snafu, who pointed me to cryptographp, jwndev, who came up with the requirement of having alternative CAPTCHAs for Avanceform_XH, and oldnema, who contributed the first set of language files for the audio CAPTCHA.

Last but not least, many thanks to Peter Harteg and all developers of CMSimple_XH without whom this amazing CMS wouldn't exist.