Textpattern CMS

#511 2026-01-01 16:35:07

jakob

Admin

From: Germany

Registered: 2005-01-20

Posts: 5,215

Website GitHub

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

jayrope wrote #342062:

Thank you, Jakob. I am not versed with patterns, or RegEx for that matter…

Most of the above is very simple. IIRC a regular term on a blank line also works, so it doesn’t need to be a regex expression. If you wrap the expression with two equal characters, e.g. /…/ then the expression will be processed. The rules above are:

[abc] = one of the contained letters, e.g either a, b, or c
(one|two|three) = one of the contained terms, e.g. either "one", "two", or "three"
\s = One or more spaces, tabs, etc.
? = with or without the preceding item, e.g. \s? = zero or more spaces
(something)? = with or without the preceding group

…and there are many more. regex101.com is a useful site and has a quick reference panel with more options.

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#512 2026-01-21 11:57:22

Gallex

Member

Registered: 2006-10-08

Posts: 1,331

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

jakob wrote #342061:

And there’s another even more effective method which swaps out the form action after a time delay, causing automated bots which fill out forms quickly to land in nirvana while allowing regular (slower) people to submit the form.

Use the delay attribute to specify the number of seconds before it switches the form action and the action attribute to specify an alternative (e.g. throwaway) action target, followed by the real one. If it’s the same page as the form, just end the attribute with a comma. Both go in the initial txp:com_connect tag, for example:

delay="5-15" action="https://binit.domain.com/,"...

I found that to be most effective so far.

I also asked Claude AI for a good anti-spam solution and he suggested a so-called “honeypot” solution. Sorry if this solution is already integrated into the plugin.

Here’s a honeypot-only solution:

<script>
  // Wait 3 seconds before enabling the submit button
  setTimeout(function() {
    var submitBtn = document.getElementById('submit-btn');
    var hpField = document.getElementById('honeypot');

    // Enable button only if honeypot is empty
    if (submitBtn && hpField && hpField.value === "") {
      submitBtn.disabled = false;
      submitBtn.style.opacity = "1";
    }
  }, 3000);

  // Additional check: if bot fills the honeypot, lock the button immediately
  function checkBot(val) {
    var btn = document.getElementById('submit-btn');
    if (val !== "") {
      btn.disabled = true;
      btn.style.opacity = "0.5";
    }
  }
</script>

<style>
  #submit-btn {cursor: pointer;}
  #submit-btn:disabled { opacity: 0.5; cursor: not-allowed; }
  .v-hidden { position: absolute; left: -9999px; top: -9999px; visibility: hidden; }
</style>

<txp:com_connect
---
    <div class="v-hidden">
        <input type="text" name="website" id="honeypot" onchange="checkBot(this.value)" autocomplete="off" tabindex="-1">
    </div>
    <txp:com_connect_submit label="Send" id="submit-btn" disabled="disabled" />
</txp:com_connect>

This solution uses only a honeypot field (hidden from real users but visible to bots) plus a 3-second delay before enabling the submit button. No reCAPTCHA included.

Last edited by Gallex (2026-01-21 12:02:06)

#513 2026-01-23 00:44:05

phiw13

Plugin Author

From: South-Western Japan

Registered: 2004-02-27

Posts: 3,666

Website

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

Gallex wrote #342326:

This solution uses only a honeypot field (hidden from real users but visible to bots) plus a 3-second delay before enabling the submit button. No reCAPTCHA included.

That is basically the same honeypot solution as is build in the plugin with the delay attribute and some invisible (hidden) field.

The possible advantage of yours is that it would work with some strict CSP that requires nonces and limits inline script blocks, which is where the latest versions of com_connect fail (issue).

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#514 2026-01-23 01:06:08

Bloke

Developer

From: Leeds, UK

Registered: 2006-01-29

Posts: 12,485

Website GitHub

Re: com_connect - form and contact mailer

Ack, thanks for the nudge on that CSP issue. I’ll see if it can be solved.

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