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Sarah Gooding

New Plugin Adds Google’s No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA to WordPress Login, Comment, and Registration Forms

Several plugins are starting to spring up in the WordPress Plugin Directory to bring Google’s new No Captcha reCAPTCHA to WordPress forms. With public hatred for CAPTCHAs at an all-time high, Google finally put its efforts into redesigning the experience, replacing the distorted text with a simple checkbox.

photo credit: Google Online Security Blog
photo credit: Google Online Security Blog

WordPress developers have been quick to take advantage of the new No CAPTCHA API to add it to WordPress forms. So far, the No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA plugin, created by Nigerian web developer Agbonghama Collins, provides the most flexibility for specifying the forms where you want to add the protection.

  • Option to activate CAPTCHA in either login, registration, comment or combination of two or all
  • Choose a theme for the CAPTCHA (light or dark)
  • Auto-detects the user’s language

Once activated and configured, you’ll see the new reCAPTCHA added on the frontend:

recaptcha-frontend

The plugin is easy to configure – simply paste in your Google reCAPTCHA keys on the settings page:

recaptcha-keys

Select the login, registration, or comment forms, or any combination thereof, for adding No Captcha reCAPTCHA protection.

select-form

Further down the page you have the option to force the plugin to use a specific language via a dropdown, or leave it on auto-detect. You can also set a custom error message for when the user fails to solve the CAPTCHA and select a theme for the CAPTCHA display.

I tested the plugin and it works as advertised to add the new No Captcha reCAPTCHA. I discovered that it is not compatible with the Jetpack Comment module, so you’ll want to uncheck that box for comments if you’re using it. The No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA plugin is available for free from WordPress.org. It’s not yet known whether Google will create an official implementation for WordPress, but in the meantime, this plugin makes it easy to add reCAPTCHA to the WordPress forms that are the most vulnerable to spam.

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22 responses to “New Plugin Adds Google’s No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA to WordPress Login, Comment, and Registration Forms”

  5. I wasn’t aware of an overwhelming “public hatred” for captcha that is apparently so pervasive. I do know that some captcha forms (blogger comes to mind) are so blasted hard to read that many give up on them and complain – apparently to no avail. But using the really simple captcha’s I’ve used, I’ve never had anyone complain about them. Which makes me curious; where is this sentiment coming from?

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    • They may not be complaining to you. But there are tons of folks including me who hate captchas. I had given up on fighting with them. When I see one I skip whatever form it’s protecting unless I absolutely have to submit the form.

      Any improvement in this area is very welcome. If there’s a way to differentiate between human submitted forms and machine submitted ones that adds minimal extra hassle I’m all for it.

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  6. A cursory look through the recaptcha plugins listed show most with the kind of ratings that issues that would preclude them from my least liked site. I am looking for solutions, not future issues. I’d rather fund for a good one then deal with a half baked plugin and most seem half baked.

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    • A few reasons:

      1) ReCAPTCHA has much larger range of applications, not limited to WP comments
      2) It’s not just relying on content but rather on user behaviour.
      3) It’s free.
      4) Google is a more trusted source and they are much more likely to have tested their system more widely.

      On a side note, speaking about spam, it is polite to state that you are the developer when praising your own plugin…

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    • Also waiting for Contact Form 7 + Google’s Recaptcha Version 2 support. “Better WordPress reCAPTCHA” supports the older version of Google’s Recaptcha / Akismet / Contact Form 7 combo, so waiting for an update. It also supports comment forms, logins, etc.

      I agree with many others. I stopped replying on any site that uses the current Capthca, because too many times it is impossible to get a validation, even though I am entering the characters properly or trying a new set of characters.

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      • UPDATE 2: Tried out the plugin listed above and it works perfectly on Contact Form 7 and the two pages I have comment forms on. Note that it took a while for Google’s algorithm to kick in (several days) before I could get it to work with just entering the checkmark for “Im not a robot”, Before that time it always required me to enter the text.

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