com_connect - form and contact mailer

Kjeld · 2023-03-10 09:00:51

phiw13 wrote #335001:

Strange. This issue is marked fixed for 4.7 – if I read Github correctly.

Weird…

Bloke · 2023-03-10 12:09:00

peterj wrote #334026:

I’m getting a tag error with com_connect 4.7.0 on TXP4.8.8 and PHP8.1. When using com_connect as self-closing (using as a container is fine). 8.1 doesn’t like NULL much. <txp:com_connect to="meme.com” /> -> 8192: preg_replace():…@

Finally looking at this. Totally bizarre. $thing is set to empty '' in the plugin function signature but the instant it is invoked, even on the first line inside the plugin tag, it becomes null.

There must be something outside the scope of the plugin itself to do with the way we load them or invoke tags when there’s no container content.

Not sure whether to see what we can do about fixing that in core, or just casting the value to string internally within the plugin.

etc · 2023-03-10 12:35:43

Bloke wrote #335005:

Finally looking at this. Totally bizarre. $thing is set to empty '' in the plugin function signature but the instant it is invoked, even on the first line inside the plugin tag, it becomes null.

That’s right, and it has always been like this, afair. All core tags have the default $thing = null, which is actually a formal argument, since $thing is always passed to plugins functions by processTags(). And for contentless tags, the parser sets $thing = null.

Is it a bug? Maybe, but it’s not evident to fix in core now (unless we switch to php8), since some tags functions have extra positional arguments after $thing.

Bloke · 2023-03-10 12:57:02

Hmm, yeah. It’s only an issue if one tries to use $thing directly in a plugin without checking first if it’s null. I never noticed before because nearly all my plugins have had $thing=null in their signature until PHP 8 appeared and threw a spanner in.

What’s potentially confusing is that if the plugin explicitly states the default situation is to be '' in its function signature, that might not actually be the case when the tag is used.

Is there no way to alter the tag processor to retain the positional significance of $thing and anything that comes after it, but instead of defaulting to null, it defaults to ''? I guess that might have unintended consequences through the codebase so wouldn’t want to change it unless we’re sure it isn’t going to cause issues.

Last edited by Bloke (2023-03-10 13:01:46)

Bloke · 2023-03-10 12:58:27

I have no problem casting it to string in the plugin now I know what’s causing the issue, btw. But this behaviour should be documented in the development resources where appropriate to help other plugin authors.

etc · 2023-03-10 13:02:12

Bloke wrote #335008:

Is there no way to alter the tag processor to retain the positional significance of $thing and anything that comes after it, but instead of defaulting to null, it defaults to ''? I guess that might have unintended consequences through the codebase.

Absolutely no way :-) Many tags need to know whether they are called with content (even empty) or not. What we could do rather easily, is not passing null $thing at all, but only if the tag has no extra (registered) arguments.

Bloke · 2023-03-10 13:04:21

etc wrote #335011:

Many tags need to know whether they are called with content (even empty) or not.

Thought so. That’s fine then.

What we could do rather easily, is not passing null $thing at all, but only if the tag has no extra (registered) arguments.

If that would work, great.

Bloke · 2023-03-10 13:09:29

I patched the plugin anyway in the 4.9.0 codebase. EDIT: and then removed the testing string I forgot about, d’oh.

Last edited by Bloke (2023-03-10 13:11:11)

Bloke · 2023-03-10 13:57:36

whocarez wrote #334519:

sanitizeForUrl makes everything lowercase, as far as I understand it. So REMOTE_ADDR gets remote_addr.

This should be fixed now in the 4.9.0 codebase. Sorry for the delay.

etc · 2023-03-10 13:58:03

Bloke wrote #335012:

If that would work, great.

That’s technically easy, but I’m a bit nervous re eventual plugins tags that always expect some content and do not set $thing:

function abc_careless_tag($atts, $thing) {...}

Maybe it’s more prudent to postpone this to php8 switch.

Bloke · 2023-03-10 13:59:48

etc wrote #335016:

Maybe it’s more prudent to postpone this to php8 switch.

Absolutely fine. Easy to workaround for now, and I’ll document it for other plugin authors.

Bloke · 2023-03-13 02:32:44

Anyone following development of this plugin in preparation for 4.9.0 can try out the new anti-spam features that have been baked into the core plugin. Based on a few ideas cadged from around the internet and from other plugins, the crux of it is:

An action attribute on the main contact form tag. You should not need this, but if you find that bots are hitting your site, you can use this to either:
- Supply a different endpoint (URL) to process your form data.
- Supply two different endpoints, the first of which is fake, and the second of which is real. If you omit the second endpoint, the current page is assumed. Through judicial use of the new delay attribute the plugin will inject the correct URL (via JavaScript) after the given number of seconds.
The delay attribute can be used either on the main contact form tag, or on the <txp:com_connect_text> tag. If used globally, it sets the time, or time range, after which any delayed effects take place. Individual tags can then use this value, or specify their own delay.
The expected attribute on the <txp:com_connect_text> tag allows you to specify that certain field values are expected in the result. If they’re not there, or are in any way mangled, the form won’t get through.
The <txp:com_connect_expect> tag can be used for special effects or to specify that certain conditions must be met for the form to be passed on.

Using these tools in various combinations will allow you to make it harder for bots and automated form fillers to operate. Examples:

<!-- Add a human test field with one or more expected answers -->
<com::connect_text label="What's 5+3?" name="humancheck" expected="8, eight" />

<!-- Add a hidden field that only gets inserted sometime between
8 and 12 seconds after someone starts interacting with the form.
If the form is submitted before the field is added, it will be rejected -->
<com::connect_text label="" name="nobot" hidden default="1" expected="1" delay="8-12" required="0" />

<!-- Use a fake submission URL that is randomly replaced with the real one
after between 5-15 seconds. Also add a hidden field that rejects the form if it's filled out
(similar to pap_contact_cleaner).
Also add a delayed hidden field that will appear randomly between 5-15 seconds after
a visitor starts interacting with the form -->
<com::connect to="someone@example.org" delay="5-15" action="https://fake.example.org/honeytrap,">
<com::connect_text label="Your name" />
<com::connect_email label="Email address" />
<com::connect_textarea label="Message" />
<com::connect_text hidden label="" name="office_phone" required="0" />
<com::connect_expect name="office_phone" /> <!-- No value means this field is not expected in the payload -->
<com::connect_text label="" name="real_visitor" hidden default="yes" expected="yes" delay required="0" />
</com::connect>

Any of the delay features require (native) JavaScript.

There’s lots of scope for creating forms now, without additional spam protection plugins, so go nuts and post your examples.

Any issues with this, or ideas to extend it, please throw them here. One thing I’d like to do is offer some way to randomize the form field names from a set, so you can throw some real-sounding field names in the mix, but make them hidden and required with a certain value. Or hidden and not required. Thinking about ways to achieve that in a sane manner.

Last edited by Bloke (2023-03-13 02:40:07)

Gallex · 2023-04-03 10:42:35

to from field started additionally to appear “charset=“UTF-8”
roundcube webmail is a software

com_connect 4.7
Textpattern version: 4.8.8
PHP version: 8.1.16

giz · 2023-04-03 20:39:47

My 4.7.0 com_connect form works, but my to_form doesn’t.

<txp:com_connect to_form="o_select_branch" body_form="o_pa_emailbody">
  …
  <txp:com_connect_select label="Branch" options="Sydney,Melbourne,Perth,Brisbane" />
  …
</txp:com_connect>

with form o_select_branch:

<txp:php>
  global $com_connect_form;
  switch($com_connect_form['Branch'])
  {
    case 'Sydney':
      echo 'sydney@domain.com';
      break;
    case 'Melbourne':
      echo 'melbourne@domain.com';
      break;
    case 'Perth':
      echo 'perth@domain.com';
      break;
    case 'Brisbane':
      echo 'brisbane@domain.com';
      break;
    default:
      echo 'default@domain.com';
  }
</txp:php>

The form always sends to default@domain.com. Any pointers to where the problem might lie?

Textpattern version: 4.8.8
PHP version: 7.4.33

Bloke · 2023-04-03 20:54:35

Try:

switch($com_connect_form['Branch'][0])

Textpattern CMS support forum

#391 2023-03-10 09:00:51

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

phiw13 wrote #335001:

#392 2023-03-10 12:09:00

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

peterj wrote #334026:

#393 2023-03-10 12:35:43

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

Bloke wrote #335005:

#394 2023-03-10 12:57:02

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

#395 2023-03-10 12:58:27

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

#396 2023-03-10 13:02:12

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

Bloke wrote #335008:

#397 2023-03-10 13:04:21

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

etc wrote #335011:

#398 2023-03-10 13:09:29

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

#399 2023-03-10 13:57:36

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

whocarez wrote #334519:

#400 2023-03-10 13:58:03

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

Bloke wrote #335012:

#401 2023-03-10 13:59:48

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

etc wrote #335016:

#402 2023-03-13 02:32:44

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

#403 2023-04-03 10:42:35

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

#404 2023-04-03 20:39:47

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

#405 2023-04-03 20:54:35

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

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