Adding a CAPTCHA to your form

Introduction

Okay! Now let's add the CAPTCHA.

1. At the top of your form page, add the following PHP:

<?php
require_once("/path/to/formtools/global/api/api.php");
ft_api_start_sessions();
$fields = isset($_SESSION["form_tools_form_data"]) ?
  ft_strip_tags($_SESSION["form_tools_form_data"]) : array();
?>

You need to include a valid path from your form page to the api.php file. This can be an absolute or relative path (but not a URL!).

2. At an appropriate spot in your form (usually the bottom, but before the form submit button, add this line of PHP to add the CAPTCHA:

<?php ft_api_display_captcha(); ?>

3. Include a hidden field in your form that contains the full URL of the form page. This is optional, but may be required depending on your server. Try it without it.

<input type="hidden" name="form_tools_form_url" value="" />

4. Add this code to the top of your form. In the event of the user incorrectly entering CAPTCHA it displays the error.

<?php ft_api_display_post_form_captcha_error(); ?>

So far so good! Here's a sample form that should give you an idea of what your form should look like at this point.

<?php
require_once("../qa2/global/api/api.php");
ft_api_start_sessions();
$fields = isset($_SESSION["form_tools_form_data"]) ?
  ft_strip_tags($_SESSION["form_tools_form_data"]) : array();
?>
<html>
<head>
	<title>POST Form With CAPTCHA</title>
</head>
<body>

<h1>Example form</h1>

<?php ft_api_display_post_form_captcha_error(); ?>

<form action="http://www.yoursite.com/formtools/process.php" method="post">
	<input type="hidden" name="form_tools_form_id" value="1" />

	First Name: <input type="text" name="first_name" value="" /><br />
	Last Name: <input type="text" name="last_name" value="" /><br />
	Email: <input type="text" name="email" value="" /><br />
	Age: <select name="age">
	<option value="Under 18">Under 18</option>
	<option value="15-25">15-25</option>
	<option value="25-40">25-40</option>
	<option value="40+">40+</option>
</select><br />

	<?php ft_api_display_captcha(); ?>

	<input type="submit" value="Submit" />
</form>

</body>
</html>

process.php fix for Form Tools 2.0.x versions

It appears that the 2.0.x version may have a problem on some systems which needs a manual fix. Edit your [form tools root]/process.php file. There, at the top of the file, add the line in bold at the appropriate spot.

// if the API is supplied, include it as well
$folder = dirname(__FILE__);
require_once("$folder/global/api/api.php");

Now try loading up the form in your browser and putting through a couple of submissions to confirm that the CAPTCHA is working like it should. You may notice that when you enter it incorrectly, you're returned to the form page but (a) your field values are all lost and (b) the error message displayed doesn't look the way you want, or contains some text you don't like. Both these issues are addressed in the next two steps.