We hate spam! And, we're sure that our clients do also. Therefore, we routinely incorporate a couple of features in our websites that have been proven to dramatically reduce, if not eliminate completely, spam submissions through our contact pages and webforms.
We also love our legitimate site visitors and we don't want to waste their time, and possibly antagonize them, with intrusive antispam techniques like unnecessary CAPTCHAs when they want to send us a message.
Mollom, a company founded by Drupal founder Dries Buytaert, provides an extremely effective antispam solution that we've used for years to eliminate most spam attempts. Mollom is an online service that our websites interact with to evaluate submissions before they get processed. Here's a brief description of the process:
- A site visitor fills out a Contact Us, or other, webform and clicks the Send message button.
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The website software, actually the Mollom module, sends the message fields to a Mollom server for analysis. The Mollom server responds with one of three responses:
- The message is good, i.e., it doesn't appear to be spam (they call it ham, sorry Hormel), so process it right away.
- The message is bad, i.e., it can be easily be determined that the message is spam (sorry, again, Hormel), so delete it immediately.
- Mollom is uncertain about the message.
- When Mollom can't make a determination, the website redisplays the form with a CAPTCHA. If the CAPTCHA test is successfully passed, the message is processed.
We will install the Mollom software on your website. What we can't do is actually create an account for you with Mollom and generate the necessary keys to enable the service for your website. Here's the process in a nutshell:
- Go to Mollom.com.
- Create an account if you don't already have one. Once you have an account, log in.
- Click on the Site manager link.
- Select Add new subscription. Then Add site.
- When you add your site, Mollom will generate two, long and ugly, keys; one called the public key, the other the private key. Copy and paste those two keys in a email message and send them to us. We'll configure your site accordingly.
The Mollom website contains more information about the company and their services. You may also find additional information on the Drupal documentation page for Mollom.
Of course, Troutreach Technologies is ready to answer your questions or assist you in any way.