Easy, Invisible WordPress Spam Protection for Forms

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do I stop spam form submissions?

One of the best and easiest ways to prevent spam form submissions in WordPress is to use the Formidable Forms plugin.

Both our free plugin and our premium WordPress form builder come with powerful spam blockers right out of the box. All your online forms automatically include invisible spam protection. And it only takes a couple of clicks to add even more layers of security to your forms. 

What is reCAPTCHA?

reCAPTCHA is a free Google anti-spam service that tests whether a user is a human or a robot. 

Odds are good that you’ve run into reCAPTCHA before. 

invisible spam protection form

Should I use reCAPTCHA on forms?

The short answer is yes. But there is an obvious drawback to using reCAPTCHA on your web forms — the matching games and puzzles can be a pain! 😖 —, but Formidable Forms lets you add invisible reCAPTCHA to your forms. That means users won’t have to do anything to submit a form and you’ll still benefit from fantastic protection against spam.

What is the difference between reCAPTCHA and Honeypot?

The difference between reCAPTCHA and Honeypot is that reCAPTCHA asks users to complete a puzzle or matching game to prove they're human, while Honeypot uses hidden fields to catch bots without bothering users.

  • reCAPTCHA is a tool made by Google that gives users challenges in order to submit a form. 🧩 Bots won’t be able to complete these tasks, so they won’t be able to submit the form. 
  • Honeypot, on the other hand, is sneakier. It adds a hidden field to online forms that only bots can see. If this invisible field is filled out, it's probably a bot, and the submission gets rejected. 🗑️ This kind of invisible spam protection is really nice because it doesn't bug users at all. In fact, they won’t even know it’s there!

Why should I use Akismet spam protection for WordPress?

Akismet detects and prevents spam by comparing words, email addresses, and IP addresses with a constantly updated list.

Basically, it instantly runs hundreds of tests on each form entry to determine whether or not to allow each form submission.

Akismet is used by millions of WordPress sites to block spam comments and form entries. According to their website, they block a whopping 7.5 million spam submissions per hour! 🤯

You can turn on Akismet protection by simply installing and activating the plugin on your website (a lot of the time, Akismet will be installed automatically when you install WordPress), and by turning it on in your Formidable form settings.

What’s JavaScript token spam protection?

JavaScript token protection is an even more effective form of invisible spam blocking, especially for protecting file uploads from spam. It creates a unique JavaScript token that’s specific to your site and is good for at least 24 hours.

An anti-spam JavaScript token is a secret code that’s created when you fill out a form. It's like a key 🔑 to prove you're a real person, not a spam bot 🤖.

When you submit the form, the token goes along with it. Your site will check whether the token matches the correct one. If it matches, the form submission is accepted. If it doesn't match, it might be spam and submission will be rejected.

Should I use JavaScript token or CAPTCHA spam protection?

If you’re worried about accessibility, JavaScript token protection may be a better option for your WordPress site than reCAPTCHA. ReCAPTCHA isn’t the most accessible technology, but that being said, invisible reCAPTCHA or hCAPTCHA doesn’t have that same problem.

Can I use the WordPress comment blocklist?

For a while now, the WordPress comment blocklist has been a first line of defense against spam. It lets you block specific words, phrases, or IP addresses that you know are junk. 

Adding these conditions to your website’s built-in blocklist helps keep your forms safe not only from spam form submissions but from offensive comments too. Plus, it’s super simple and easy to set up.

More about WordPress spam protection

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