TNG captcha

If you are not comfortable with html and php editing, this page may not be for you

Overview

This TNG modification provides a CAPTCHA for the TNG "New User Registration" form and/or the TNG "Suggest" form. It will provide a user challenge screen before the form will be made available.

This implementation is based upon PureMango's code version 1.41. Check the link for a demo of how it works. The original package from PureMango contains an additional php wrapper file that provides the demo example.

This was a fairly quick implementation. There may be a more elegant way to integrate the PureMango code in such a way that it is much more modular. I leave that as an exercise for the ambitious. If someone has already integrated the PureMango captcha with TNG, drop me a note.

Requirements

1. A working TNG installation - see The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding
2. A backup of your TNG newacctform.php and suggest.php files

Side Effects

1. As with any modification to a TNG file, this modification will get lost during your next TNG version update and you will need to re-implement the mod.
   • Since I am using this mod, and stay current with TNG, I would expect that updated mods would be available quickly. Of course that's not much of a guarantee coming from a volunteer.
2. The default version does not support alternate languages, it has been implemented as a single Language only. The default file is English.
   • A French and Spanish translation file has been provided courtesy of Francis Amar. (Francis may be contacted via the TNG user list).
   • A Dutch translation file has been provided courtesy of Martien van Balgooi. (Martien may be contacted via the TNG user list).

TNG Modifications

The following zip file contains the necessary files to allow the addition of this feature.

• The zip file TNG_captcha_Rev_2.3.zip contains:
  • the "freecap" fonts, backgrounds, dictionary, and freecap.php file
  • newacctform.php - a modified TNG 5.1.4 file
  • suggest.php - a modified TNG 5.1.4 file
  • newacctform_french.php - alternate language version
  • newacctform_spanish.php - alternate language version
  • newacctform_dutch.php - alternate language version
  • suggest_french.php - alternate language version
  • suggest_spanish.php - alternate language version
  • suggest_dutch.php - alternate language version

• IF you are running v 5.1.4 then

If you have previously modified your TNG newacctform.php or suggest.php file, do not continue. You WILL lose any changes to that file you have previously made.

1. backup your existing TNG v5.1.4 newacctform.php and suggest.php file
2. download this zip (TNG_captcha_Rev_2.3.zip)
3. unzip it, examine the contents
4. create a "freecap" folder in the main TNG directory
   • make sure it is readable and executable by all
5. copy all the ".ht****" files and the freecap.php file to the new "freecap" folder
   • ensure they are all readable
   • MAC users - please note that the .ht*** files are reported to be hidden files and may not be visible. The program "Transfer" has been recommended to assist with this.
6. copy the newacctform.php and/or the suggest.php file to your base TNG folder. This should replace an existing TNG file of the same name
   • Alternate language versions may be selected, renamed, and used instead of the default english file
7. check it out

• IF you are NOT running v5.1.4 or you HAVE made changes to newacctform.php then, you are on your own. The file is completely different from the TNG 5.1.4 version. The modifications are significant. If you are not completely comfortable doing this sort of update, then try upgrading to TNG v5.1.4 first.

• In the event of a problem with your TNG site

1. copy your backup newacctform.php and/or suggest.php to your base TNG directory
   • all should be well now
2. you may also delete the "freecap" folder and files

Alternate Language - French/Spanish/Dutch

At this time, the account request form has been coded in a single language. By default, the newacctform.php file has been provided in English. If you wish to convert this to either French, Spanish, or Dutch:

1. extract the newacctform or suggest french/spanish/dutch.php from the zip file
2. rename the file to remove the language type
3. resultant file names must be newacctform.php or suggest.php
4. copy the replacement language file to your base TNG directory

Support

1. You're sort of on your own... If you have a specific question, or feel some additional info in the above would help others, feel free to contact me directly. Mail me here
   • Please post suggestions, or your own flavour of this mod to the forum or list

Acknowledgements

A big thanks goes out to all those TNG users in the TNGuser list that contributed to the discussion regarding the use of a Captcha in TNG.

• A special thanks goes out to Francis Amar who provided the French and Spanish translations.
• A special thanks goes out to Martien van Balgooi who provided the Dutch translation.