Anti spam features in forms

The built-in form processing script offers a versatile range of functionalities, including email sending, data storage in formats like CSV or MySQL, and file uploads. However, it also provides valuable tools aimed at limiting spam submissions through the form. These tools encompass various approaches, such as incorporating a CAPTCHA field into the form, implementing server-side (PHP) validations, deploying honeypot anti-spam techniques, and more. This tutorial will provide an overview of the diverse options at your disposal to enhance the security and functionality of your forms.

CAPTCHA

CAPTCHA may help to stop spammers from submitting form data automatically. CAPTCHA (an acronym for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart,") dynamically generates an image with (random) letters and numbers.
These characters, because they're part of an image and not text, are difficult for a spambot or other computer program to read. Yet, a person has little trouble reading the letters in a captcha image.

Quick 'n Easy Web Builder has built-in support for different types of CAPTCHAs:

Do not allow URLs in form data

This option may help to prevent spam by blocking messages that include links.

Honeypot Anti-Spam

The anti-spam honeypot is a hidden form field that bots can’t avoid filling, but it’s invisible to human users. If the hidden field is filled in, it’s a sign of spambot activity and can be blocked. If the field is not filled in, it indicates that the form was filled by a human user as intended. The name of the Honeypot Anti-Spam field name can be set in Form Properties -> Form Processor Advanced.

Note: Make sure the field name is not the same as one of your existing input fields.

• reCAPTCHA v2
Use Google 's reCAPTCHA v2. You will need reCAPTCHA keys to use this functionality.
Please visit https://www.google.com/recaptcha/admin/create. for more information.

• reCAPTCHA v3
Use Google's reCAPTCHA v3, also known as 'Invisible reCAPTCHA';
This CAPTCHA is actually invisible. To verify that it works, a small icon should appear in right bottom corner of this page.

• hCAPTCHA
hCaptcha is a free, private and secure CAPTCHA service that helps protect your forms against spam. It works along similar lines to Google’s version but offers more methods of identifying and blocking bots.
More information is available here: https://www.hcaptcha.com/signup-interstitial

Form Validation

Form validation is useful for making sure users enter the correct data. For example, to verify if a required field is not empty or that the email input fields has a valid email address. Unfortunately, it is not effective against spammers ,because the browser script can easily be bypassed by disabling JavaScript. However, Quick 'n Easy Web Builder also support server sided validation. This adds extra security to the form by also validating the input on the server side (using PHP), so even if JavaScript is disabled in the browser or the form has been modified (by spammers/hackers), the submitted will still be validated. This feature uses the same settings as the JavaScript (client side) validation.

More information is available here: Form Validation

Akismet anti-spam protection

Akismet provides robust anti-spam protection, effectively blocking spam submissions in contact forms.

Akismet works by analyzing comments or form submissions using a large database of known spam patterns and behaviors. It checks things like the content, user IP, and other metadata against its database. If the submission matches patterns typically seen in spam, Akismet flags it as spam. It's essentially a real-time spam filter that learns and improves over time based on the data it processes. Akismet offers free (non-commercial) and premium pricing plans.

Get your API key here: https://akismet.com/signup/

Akismet Fields
In this section, specify which of your form's input fields should be used for spam filtering with Akismet.

Name
The name of the person who submitted the form. This corresponds to Akismet's 'comment_author' value.

Email
The email address provided by the user. This corresponds to Akismet's 'comment_author_email' value.

Message
The text message input field. This corresponds to Akismet's 'comment_content' value.

If your form uses different field names for name, email, or message, you must update them accordingly.

More technical details about this feature are available here:
https://akismet.com/developers/detailed-docs/comment-check/