ReCaptcha alternative: Integrate PlayThru in JComments 3.0 for Joomla 3.2

: Joel Lipman; Joomla; 27 April 2014; Hits: 188751

Applies to:

Joomla CMS v3.2.3 (Joomla.org)
jComments v3.0.0 (JoomlaTune.com)
PlayThru v1.1.8 (AreYouAHuman.com)

What?
This article is a follow on from my article JComments 2.3 with PlayThru (Joomla 2.5.x) but this is for a later version of the components using the alternative called PlayThru by AreYouAHuman.Com.

Why?
The kCaptcha used by the jComments extension is easily automated and no longer blocks spam comments. Google's ReCaptcha is overrun by click farms and is unable to authenticate engaging visitors.

How?
So I have come up with what I consider a pretty stable solution. I adapted it from various legacy solutions when using Google's ReCaptcha.

Note: There is a Joomla plugin for AYAH and this works for the user registration form. I installed it but the below details how to integrate the AYAH library with jComments. I will look at a solution using the installed plugin later.

STEP #1: Signup at AYAH
You need to have a publisher and scoring key, sign up for FREE at AreYouAHuman.Com: Basic Signup:

Signup and you will be redirected to a dashboard.
On the dashboard, note the Publisher's key (eg. "c518c95f01312c9ac97ace9ace199ace0c38d9d")
On the dashboard, note the Scoring key (eg. "64d6d442b7e846acfaacef642e1ad173b35503")
On the dashboard, check the site URL matches the domain you are trying this on (eg. if you are testing on "http://test.mycompany.com" then the site specified in the AYAH dashboard should be "test.mycompany.com" and not "www.mycompany.com")

STEP #2: Download AYAH files
Download the latest files from https://portal.areyouahuman.com/installation/php (If you want my cached download - v1.1.8: click here)

Extract the ZIP file to a folder (should be about 4 php files)
Modify the file ayah_config.php to match the publisher and scoring key given to you. > Save
Upload the files to \components\com_jcomments\libraries\ayah

STEP #3: Enable admin option dropdown
This is a code change to allow the admin to select PlayThru.

Open the file \administrator\components\com_jcomments\models\forms\settings.xml (line 398)

Replace the line

copy raw

<field
                name="captcha_engine"
                type="jcommentscaptcha"
                class="inputbox"
                default="recaptcha"
                label="AP_FORM_FIELD_CAPTCHA"
                description="">
            <option value="kcaptcha">KCAPTCHA</option>
	 </field>

<field
name="captcha_engine"
type="jcommentscaptcha"
class="inputbox"
default="recaptcha"
label="AP_FORM_FIELD_CAPTCHA"
description="">
<option value="kcaptcha">KCAPTCHA</option>
</field>

With this

copy raw

<field
                name="captcha_engine"
                type="jcommentscaptcha"
                class="inputbox"
                default="recaptcha"
                label="AP_FORM_FIELD_CAPTCHA"
                description="">
            <option value="kcaptcha">KCAPTCHA</option>
	  <option value="playthru">PLAYTHRU</option>
        </field>

<field
name="captcha_engine"
type="jcommentscaptcha"
class="inputbox"
default="recaptcha"
label="AP_FORM_FIELD_CAPTCHA"
description="">
<option value="kcaptcha">KCAPTCHA</option>
<option value="playthru">PLAYTHRU</option>
</field>

STEP #4: Set to PlayThru in admin setting
We've made the change, now login and set it to PlayThru

Login to your Joomla Administration panel
Components > JComments > Settings > Layout > CAPTCHA > PLAYTHRU
Save the change.

STEP #5: Display PlayThru in comment form
This step displays the PlayThru on the form (note this code may need to be reverted if the admin does not want to use PlayThru anymore)

Open the file \components\com_jcomments\tpl\default\tpl_form.php (line 126)

Replace the code

copy raw

<?php
		}

		if ($this->getVar('comments-form-captcha', 0) == 1) {
			$html = $this->getVar('comments-form-captcha-html');
			if ($html != '') {
				echo $html;
			} else {
				$link = JCommentsFactory::getLink('captcha');
?>
<p>
	<span>
		<img class="captcha" onclick="jcomments.clear('captcha');" id="comments-form-captcha-image" src="/<?php echo $link; ?>" width="121" height="60" alt="<?php echo JText::_('FORM_CAPTCHA'); ?>" /><br />
		<span class="captcha" onclick="jcomments.clear('captcha');"><?php echo JText::_('FORM_CAPTCHA_REFRESH'); ?></span><br />
		<input class="captcha" id="comments-form-captcha" type="text" name="captcha_refid" value="" size="5" tabindex="6" /><br />
	</span>
</p>
<?php

<?php
}
if ($this->getVar('comments-form-captcha', 0) == 1) {
$html = $this->getVar('comments-form-captcha-html');
if ($html != '') {
echo $html;
} else {
$link = JCommentsFactory::getLink('captcha');
?>
<img class="captcha" onclick="jcomments.clear('captcha');" id="comments-form-captcha-image" src="<?php echo $link; ?>" width="121" height="60" alt="<?php echo JText::_('FORM_CAPTCHA'); ?>" />
<?php echo JText::_('FORM_CAPTCHA_REFRESH'); ?>
<input class="captcha" id="comments-form-captcha" type="text" name="captcha_refid" value="" size="5" tabindex="6" />
<?php

With this

copy raw

<?php
		}

		if ($this->getVar('comments-form-captcha', 0) == 1) {
            $html = $this->getVar('comments-form-captcha-html','kcaptcha');
            if ($html == 'kcaptcha') {
                $link = JCommentsFactory::getLink('captcha');
?>
<p>
    <span>
        <img class="captcha" onclick="jcomments.clear('captcha');" id="comments-form-captcha-image" src="/<?php echo $link; ?>" width="121" height="60" alt="<?php echo JText::_('FORM_CAPTCHA'); ?>" /><br />
        <span class="captcha" onclick="jcomments.clear('captcha');"><?php echo JText::_('FORM_CAPTCHA_REFRESH'); ?></span><br />
        <input class="captcha" id="comments-form-captcha" type="text" name="captcha_refid" value="" size="5" tabindex="6" /><br />
    </span>
</p>
<?php
            } else {
                 JPluginHelper::importPlugin('captcha'); 
                 require_once(JCOMMENTS_SITE.'/libraries/ayah/'.'ayah.php'); 
                 $ayah = new AYAH(); 
                 echo $ayah->getPublisherHTML(); 
            }
        }
?>

<?php
}
if ($this->getVar('comments-form-captcha', 0) == 1) {
$html = $this->getVar('comments-form-captcha-html','kcaptcha');
if ($html == 'kcaptcha') {
$link = JCommentsFactory::getLink('captcha');
?>
<img class="captcha" onclick="jcomments.clear('captcha');" id="comments-form-captcha-image" src="/<?php echo $link; ?>" width="121" height="60" alt="<?php echo JText::_('FORM_CAPTCHA'); ?>" />
<?php echo JText::_('FORM_CAPTCHA_REFRESH'); ?>
<input class="captcha" id="comments-form-captcha" type="text" name="captcha_refid" value="" size="5" tabindex="6" />
<?php
} else {
JPluginHelper::importPlugin('captcha');
require_once(JCOMMENTS_SITE.'/libraries/ayah/'.'ayah.php');
$ayah = new AYAH();
echo $ayah->getPublisherHTML();
}
}
?>

STEP #6: Process submitted PlayThru

Open the file \components\com_jcomments\jcomments.ajax.php (line 227)

Replace the code

copy raw

if ($acl->check('enable_captcha') == 1)
{                    
    $captchaEngine = $config->get('captcha_engine', 'kcaptcha');
    if ($captchaEngine == 'kcaptcha')
    {
        require_once( JCOMMENTS_BASE.DS.'jcomments.captcha.php' );
        if (!JCommentsCaptcha::check($values['captcha_refid']))
        {
            self::showErrorMessage(JText::_('ERROR_CAPTCHA'), 'captcha');
            JCommentsCaptcha::destroy();
            $response->addScript("jcomments.clear('captcha');");
            return $response;
        }
    }
    else
    {
        $result = JCommentsEvent::trigger('onJCommentsCaptchaVerify', array($values['captcha_refid'], &$response));
        // if all plugins returns false
        if (!in_array(true, $result, true))
        {
            self::showErrorMessage(JText::_('ERROR_CAPTCHA'));
            return $response;
        }
    }
}

if ($acl->check('enable_captcha') == 1)
{
$captchaEngine = $config->get('captcha_engine', 'kcaptcha');
if ($captchaEngine == 'kcaptcha')
{
require_once( JCOMMENTS_BASE.DS.'jcomments.captcha.php' );
if (!JCommentsCaptcha::check($values['captcha_refid']))
{
self::showErrorMessage(JText::_('ERROR_CAPTCHA'), 'captcha');
JCommentsCaptcha::destroy();
$response->addScript("jcomments.clear('captcha');");
return $response;
}
}
else
{
$result = JCommentsEvent::trigger('onJCommentsCaptchaVerify', array($values['captcha_refid'], &$response));
// if all plugins returns false
if (!in_array(true, $result, true))
{
self::showErrorMessage(JText::_('ERROR_CAPTCHA'));
return $response;
}
}
}

With this

copy raw

if ($acl->check('enable_captcha') == 1) {
	$captchaEngine = $config->get('captcha_engine', 'playthru');

	if ($captchaEngine == 'playthru'){
		$post = JRequest::get('post');
		JPluginHelper::importPlugin('captcha');
		$dispatcher = JDispatcher::getInstance();
		$score=false;

		// AreYouAHuman stuff
		require_once(JCOMMENTS_SITE.'/libraries/ayah/'.'ayah.php');
		$ayah = new AYAH();
		$score = $ayah->scoreResult();
		if ($score===false){
			self::showErrorMessage('Sorry, but we were not able to verify you as human. Please refresh the page and play the game below.');
			return $response;
		}
	} else if ($captchaEngine == 'kcaptcha') {
		require_once( JCOMMENTS_SITE.'jcomments.captcha.php' );
		if (!JCommentsCaptcha::check($values['captcha_refid']))	{
			self::showErrorMessage(JText::_('ERROR_CAPTCHA'), 'captcha');
			JCommentsCaptcha::destroy();
			$response->addScript("jcomments.clear('captcha');");
			return $response;
		}
	}
}

if ($acl->check('enable_captcha') == 1) {
$captchaEngine = $config->get('captcha_engine', 'playthru');
if ($captchaEngine == 'playthru'){
$post = JRequest::get('post');
JPluginHelper::importPlugin('captcha');
$dispatcher = JDispatcher::getInstance();
$score=false;
// AreYouAHuman stuff
require_once(JCOMMENTS_SITE.'/libraries/ayah/'.'ayah.php');
$ayah = new AYAH();
$score = $ayah->scoreResult();
if ($score===false){
self::showErrorMessage('Sorry, but we were not able to verify you as human. Please refresh the page and play the game below.');
return $response;
}
} else if ($captchaEngine == 'kcaptcha') {
require_once( JCOMMENTS_SITE.'jcomments.captcha.php' );
if (!JCommentsCaptcha::check($values['captcha_refid'])) {
self::showErrorMessage(JText::_('ERROR_CAPTCHA'), 'captcha');
JCommentsCaptcha::destroy();
$response->addScript("jcomments.clear('captcha');");
return $response;
}
}
}

Additional:

Need to look at a more integrated solution using the AYAH plugin
BUG: If a user attempts to submit the form without playing the game, and then attempts to complete the game, it will not register. The user needs to refresh the page, play the game and then re-submit the form.
Joomla 3.4.x: Note the slash between JCOMMENTS_SITE. and '/libraries/... Previously not required but as of Joomla 3.4.x, this will not work without it as it refers to /jcommentslibraries/ instead of /jcomments/libraries.

Category: Joomla :: Article: 563