Securimage-WP

FAQ

What are the requirements?

Securimage-WP requires PHP 5.3+, GD2, FreeType, and WordPress 4.0+.
If you install Securimage-WP, there is a test script that will tell you whether or not your system meets the requirements.

The CAPTCHA image appears broken

From the Securimage-WP settings menu, enable the Debug Image Errors option, save the settings, and then click the link labeled View Image Directly. Ideally, this will reveal any error messages that may be causing the image generation to fail. Try to troubleshoot the error, or contact us for assistance.

Can I display a CAPTCHA somewhere other than the comment or registration forms?

Yes, since version 3.6.1 you can display a captcha using the shortcode [siwp_show_captcha] anywhere on your WordPress site.

To validate the user’s input, call the function siwp_check_captcha. Note: To validate from a WordPress page, you will need a plugin like Exec-PHP installed, or your PHP form processor needs to hook into WordPress (typically by including wp-load.php from your PHP script).

See here for an example WordPress page with a simple form and captcha with validation.

I enabled the captcha on my comment form, registration page, login form, or lost password form but no captcha image appears

Securimage-WP relies on some standard function hooks for displaying the CAPTCHA. If the image doesn’t appear on your site’s forms, it may be due to those templates not implementing the proper hooks.

To fix this, you can either edit your templates to include the proper hooks, or if the site uses a custom registration page, use the [siwp_show_captcha] shortcode on your registration form.

For the comment form, the proper hook needed is <?php do_action( 'comment_form', $post_id ); ?>

For the registration form, the proper hook needed is <?php do_action( 'register_form' ); ?>

The calls to these actions should go in the template where you want the CAPTCHA image to appear.

How to install audio files for CAPTCHA audio

Automatic installation of audio files may not work for a number of reasons (e.g. directories not writable by the server, http wrapper not enabled for fopen/file_get_contents, low memory limits) but this does not mean audio files cannot be used.

If automatic installation is not available, audio files can be downloaded from https://www.phpcaptcha.org/download and manually placed in the Securimage-WP plugin directory.

To install audio files, extract the contents of the language pack you wish to use to the wp-content/plugins/securimage-wp/lib directory preserving the directory structure from the audio package (so the resulting directories are lib/audio/en, lib/audio/de, lib/audio/fr etc).

Audio FAQ/General Info

Since version 3.6.4 HTML5 audio is used for better browser support without the need for plugins. Consider the following when using HTML5 audio streaming:

• Audio files are generated in WAV format which is supported by all browsers except Internet Explorer
• To support Internet Explorer 9+ using HTML5 audio, audio files can be streamed in MP3 format if the LAME MP3 encoder is installed on the system
• To support older browsers without HTML5 audio capability, optional Flash fallback can be used
• If LAME is not available, browsers that don’t support WAV or HTML5 audio, Flash fallback will be used, or if disabled, the audio button will be hidden
• If possible, install LAME for MP3 output since the resulting audio files are smaller and will use less bandwidth (average 30-60 KB versus 200-300 KB for WAV files)
• HTML5 audio playback requires Javascript to be enabled. If Javascript is disabled the audio button links to an audio download
• To install LAME on Windows, download the LAME bundle from RareWares (http://www.rarewares.org/mp3-lame-bundle.php)
• To install LAME on Linux, either compile from source or install using your package manager (e.g. Debian/Ubuntu: apt-get install lame; CentOS: yum install lame)
• Securimage-WP needs to know where LAME is installed on your system which is configured from the Securimage-WP settings menu

The refresh button does not work

Javascript must be enabled for the refresh buttons to work. Make sure Javascript is enabled or check for errors that may prevent it from functioning.

I noticed the image refresh by itself when I was looking at my comment form

CAPTCHA codes have expiration times in order to reduce the amount of time spammers have to break the CAPTCHA. The default time is 15 minutes. After this time lapses, the CAPTCHA refreshes since it is no longer valid. You can customize this setting in the options menu.