v2.0.1: bug in registration protection found and removed
v2.0.0: where we fix a minor bug and introduce custom answer label

TuringTest Overview

TuringTest is an antispam tool that protects you from comment, message form, and registration spam.

Commenters, message form users, and registrants have to prove they're human by answering a question that you get to write.

TuringTest Detailed Description

When a visitor wants to leave a comment or use your message form or register for your blog they will see a question that you write. If they don't give the right answer they will be told that with a "reply if wrong" message that you write.

Your question can be as simple as "what color is red?", or require a bit of thought such as "what is this blog's domain name?".

Your question can be an instruction such as "type 'red' in the next box" or "Enter the registration code I sent you in email".

The answer must match exactly! This means "Red" is not correct if you say "red" is the answer.

If the visitor gets it wrong they will see a "reply if wrong" message that you get to write. Your "reply if wrong" can be as simple as "wrong", or a very helpful hint such as "You need to go back and type 'red' in the box labeled "Answer".

Note that this does NOT protect you against trackback spam. Maybe one day, but not today.

See wikipedia's page (opens new window) for more info about "turing tests".

TuringTest Installation and Usage

    INSTALLATION
  1. Upload the "turingtest_plugin" folder this file is part of to your "plugins" folder.
  2. In your admin panel, go to the "Global Settings->Plugins install" sub-tab.
  3. Click on "Install new" (right side, near top).
  4. Locate the Turing Test plugin and click "Install" in the "actions" column.
    USAGE
  1. In your admin panel, go to the "Global Settings->Plugins install" sub-tab.
  2. Click "Turing Test" in the "Plugin" column to access the plugin's settings.
  3. Establish 2 sets of "question, answer, answer label, and reply if wrong" messages.
  4. Decide who gets a "free pass" on the test (for comments and message forms only).
  5. Click either "Save !" or "Save (and review)" to save your new settings.

It is now be safe to change "Blog settings->A_blog->Features" sub-tab "New Feedback status" to "Published". Robot spammers simply won't get through a challenge that requires them to actually think about something, so why bother moderating comments? Well, maybe you don't like foul language or negative feedback, but that's another issue. This plugin is designed to stop spammers without placing irresponsible expectations on the part of your commenting visitors.

TuringTest Settings (with defaults)

Comments / Message Forms

Question: This is the question that commenters and message form users will see when they attempt to post a comment or send a message. The default question is "What multi-lingual multi-user multi-blog open source app powers this blog?". There is a 120 character limit.

Answer: This is the answer you expect from the commenter or message form user. The default answer is "b2evolution". There is a 32 character limit.

Answer Label: This is the label that will precede your "answer" field. In some cases "Answer" will not be appropriate, so you now get to pick the label. The default value is "Answer". There is a 16 character limit.

Reply if Wrong: This is the message the commenter or message form user will see if they did not enter the correct answer when they try to post a comment / message form. The default value is "wrong answer". There is an 80 character limit.

Free Pass:Here you decide who, if anyone, will have the answer automagically filled in to the reply field. The default value is "Previous Commenters" (most generous).

Registration

By using a different Q & A & A L & RiW you can have an easy question for commenters and an 'invitation only' type of question for registration.

Registration Q Same as "Question" above, except this protects registration.

Registration A Same as "Answer" above, except for it's for the registration form.

Registration A L Same as "Answer Label" above, except for it's for the registration form.

Registration RiW Same as "Reply if Wrong" above, except for it's for the registration form.

TuringTest Known Problems

None!

TuringTest Satisfaction Guaranteed

If you are not 100% completely satisfied with your TuringTest plugin I will cheerfully refund your full purchase price :)