I am working on a project that requires captcha on the Joomla 2.5 registration form. Activating the default recaptcha option in both Global Configuration and User options displayed the “Captcha” label only, not the Recaptcha function. Scouring the forums provided no help in resolving this issue, besides pointing to the option of using a 3rd party extension.
There are a number Joomla captcha extensions available that are supposed to work with Joomla 2.5. I must point out that one of the criteria for success that I use in cases like this, where there are a number of extensions to choose from, is which ones work out of the box without troubleshooting and contacting the developer. Here’s what I tried:
Default Recaptcha
As I mentioned, I was able to get the label to display, but not the Recaptcha function itself
iDCaptcha
This extension also failed to display. In addition, Installation and uninstallation removed Joomla’s default Recaptcha function. Not many reviews or ratings in the extension directory and I can see why.
Joo ReCaptcha
This is the only captcha extension for Joomla 2.5 I could get to work. It displays Recaptcha. I didn’t really want Recaptcha, rather a more basic and configurable option, but it will do for now.
EasyCalcCheck PLUS
EasyCalcCheck Plus offers users a simple math problem to solve to prove they aren’t a bot. This worked well up until the point in testing where I submitted the form with wrong answers. Unfortunately the form was successfully submitted whether the captcha answer was correct or incorrect.
OSOLCaptcha
This extension worked fine, but it did not preserve entered data on wrong answer. All of the others did. The user would have to retype everything, which can be an unexpected frustration given that storing the data in the fields when the form refreshes is standard practice.
Security Images
I had used this function many years ago with Joomla 1.0 installations and was happy to see that is was still around. Unfortunately, the main option was a very large captcha field that was too dominant on the page, with moving type . I wanted something less visually intrusive and simpler. Security images also offered Recaptcha, but I already had that working with Joo Captcha, so I didn’t test it with this extension.
Since I was unable to troubleshoot the cause of failure of the default Joomla 2.5 Recaptcha function, this post is not as helpful as it could be. If anyone is able to offer more information on possible causes of this failure, please comment and share. Thanks!
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