Comments on: Using Radio Buttons to Combat Form Spam http://www.waterfallweb.net/archives/2007/10/using-radio-buttons-to-combat-form-spam/ website design, development, marketing and management (and the odd gadget) Thu, 20 May 2010 15:15:01 +1000 hourly 1 By: Rob Davis http://www.waterfallweb.net/archives/2007/10/using-radio-buttons-to-combat-form-spam/comment-page-1/#comment-2928 Rob Davis Mon, 18 May 2009 04:00:12 +0000 http://www.waterfallweb.net/archives/2007/10/using-radio-buttons-to-combat-form-spam/#comment-2928 This is funny, I just ran into some problems with spam bots posting one of my client's forms, and thought of this same solution after researching other methods. Have you had any success with this? Regardless I'm going to try it out as it seems the absolute simplest solution. The forms only get posted to me and my client (since that is all I allow server-side!), but they are still annoying. This is funny, I just ran into some problems with spam bots posting one of my client’s forms, and thought of this same solution after researching other methods.

Have you had any success with this?

Regardless I’m going to try it out as it seems the absolute simplest solution. The forms only get posted to me and my client (since that is all I allow server-side!), but they are still annoying.

]]> By: Jylan Wynne http://www.waterfallweb.net/archives/2007/10/using-radio-buttons-to-combat-form-spam/comment-page-1/#comment-2704 Jylan Wynne Thu, 11 Oct 2007 02:44:49 +0000 http://www.waterfallweb.net/archives/2007/10/using-radio-buttons-to-combat-form-spam/#comment-2704 I suppose for the Google Toolbar problem you'd just have to name it something that the Toolbar doesn't fill in automatically. An id (or class) of “email” or “name” would probably trigger the toolbar, as would any other class with these words contained in it. The confirmation page is probably the safest way to go, but you would risk losing genuinue comments because people may close the window as soon as it reloads again or something else like that. I suppose for the Google Toolbar problem you’d just have to name it something that the Toolbar doesn’t fill in automatically. An id (or class) of “email” or “name” would probably trigger the toolbar, as would any other class with these words contained in it.

The confirmation page is probably the safest way to go, but you would risk losing genuinue comments because people may close the window as soon as it reloads again or something else like that.

]]> By: Jason http://www.waterfallweb.net/archives/2007/10/using-radio-buttons-to-combat-form-spam/comment-page-1/#comment-2702 Jason Wed, 10 Oct 2007 11:25:56 +0000 http://www.waterfallweb.net/archives/2007/10/using-radio-buttons-to-combat-form-spam/#comment-2702 Actually, the more I think about it, the Google Toolbar Autofill could be a problem. (<a href="http://haacked.com/archive/2007/09/11/honeypot-captcha.aspx#52088" rel="nofollow">Refer this comment</a>) If the honeypot field is automatically filled in by a 3rd party tool like that, how do you deal with that error? Explaining what happened to the average user would be hard enough, but what steps could we reasonably expect them to take to rectify it? Something else I stumbled upon tonight is the <a ref="http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3563385&postcount=7" rel="nofollow">use of a confirmation page</a>. That might work too... Actually, the more I think about it, the Google Toolbar Autofill could be a problem. (Refer this comment)

If the honeypot field is automatically filled in by a 3rd party tool like that, how do you deal with that error? Explaining what happened to the average user would be hard enough, but what steps could we reasonably expect them to take to rectify it?

Something else I stumbled upon tonight is the use of a confirmation page.

That might work too…

]]> By: Jason http://www.waterfallweb.net/archives/2007/10/using-radio-buttons-to-combat-form-spam/comment-page-1/#comment-2700 Jason Wed, 10 Oct 2007 09:41:55 +0000 http://www.waterfallweb.net/archives/2007/10/using-radio-buttons-to-combat-form-spam/#comment-2700 Haven't heard of that one before - but that's a pretty good idea. As long as you're careful what you name it, it's an unobtrusive method. Good call. Haven’t heard of that one before – but that’s a pretty good idea. As long as you’re careful what you name it, it’s an unobtrusive method. Good call.

]]> By: Jylan Wynne http://www.waterfallweb.net/archives/2007/10/using-radio-buttons-to-combat-form-spam/comment-page-1/#comment-2699 Jylan Wynne Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:43:13 +0000 http://www.waterfallweb.net/archives/2007/10/using-radio-buttons-to-combat-form-spam/#comment-2699 I can't spot any obvious disadvantages with your example, but I was listening to the 94th boagworld podcast and they mentioned something called a <a href="http://haacked.com/archive/2007/09/11/honeypot-captcha.aspx" rel="nofollow">honeypot captcha</a>. This works by including a hidden field in your form and give it an id or class of "body." The spam bots would then go crazy and fill it out. It would then be easy to check if the comment was genuine or not by checking to see if that field had been filled in. I can’t spot any obvious disadvantages with your example, but I was listening to the 94th boagworld podcast and they mentioned something called a honeypot captcha. This works by including a hidden field in your form and give it an id or class of “body.” The spam bots would then go crazy and fill it out.

It would then be easy to check if the comment was genuine or not by checking to see if that field had been filled in.

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