CleanTalk added spam protection for Contact Form by BestWebSoft using direct form integration. So in case, you prefer using this type of contact forms be sure to use the most effective Anti-Spam plugin. Read the guide below and learn 4 steps to protect all your contact forms from spam.
Once the CleanTalk Anti-Spam plugin is installed it starts to protect all of the existing forms on your WordPress website. It may not only be Contact Forms by BestWebSoft but also many others.
To install the Anti-Spam plugin, go to your WordPress admin panel → Plugins → Add New.
Then enter «CleanTalk» in the search box and click the Install button for «Spam protection, Anti-Spam, FireWall by CleanTalk».
After installing the plugin, click the «Activate» button.
After it is done go to the plugin settings and click the «Get Access Key Automatically» button. Then just click the «Save Settings» button.
That’s it! From now you How to completely protect your Contact Forms from spam.
How to check Contact Form by BestWebSoft Spam Protection
You can test the work of Anti-Spam protection for your Contact Forms by using a test email s @ cleantalk.org (without spaces). First, open the form in an Incognito browser tab. Fill in all the required form fields and send a form. After submitting the form, you will see a block message about the block on the form submission.
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If you have any questions, add a comment and we will be happy to help you.
Create your CleanTalk account – Register now and protect your Contact Forms from spam in 5 minutes
Update
The protection works only for website visitors, not for website admins. Be sure to test the form protection using Incognito mode.
Additional features
CleanTalk protects all forms at once: comments, registrations, feedbacks, contacts, reviews.
Installation takes about 1-2 minutes.
Smart 99% protection against spambots.
Always online – 24/7 technical support.
Logs, SpamFireWall, personal lists, country filters, stop-words, and many others.
Discover the complete list of CleanTalk Anti-Spam plugin features here.
WordPress pages are the cornerstones of your website’s static content, perfect for showcasing timeless information like “About Us” or “Contact” sections. This comprehensive guide will empower you to not only create pages in WordPress but also structure them strategically and fill them with engaging content.
Creating a New Page
Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
In the left-hand menu, navigate to Pages.
Click on Add New.
Building Your Page’s Content
Title: Craft a clear and concise title that encapsulates your page’s content. This title will be displayed in navigation menus and search results.
Content Area: This is where your page’s main content resides. WordPress utilizes a block editor, allowing you to add text, images, videos, and more using pre-designed blocks:
Click the “+” button to explore the various block options.
Drag and drop blocks to arrange your content in the preferred order.
Featured Image (Optional): Select an image that visually represents your page’s content. This image is often displayed alongside your page title.
Content Composition Techniques
Readability Matters: Break up large text chunks with images, headings (H1, H2, etc.), and bullet points. Use short paragraphs for easy scanning.
Internal Linking Power: Link to relevant pages within your website to enhance navigation and keep visitors engaged.
Publishing and Visibility Control
Publish Button: Once your content is ready, click the “Publish” button to make your page live on your website.
Visibility Options: You can choose to make your page publicly viewable, set it as a draft for further editing, or mark it as private for specific users.
Arranging Your Pages for Optimal Flow (Page Hierarchy)
Parent-Child Relationships: WordPress allows you to establish a hierarchical structure for your pages. A parent page acts as a category, housing child pages that fall under its umbrella.
While creating a new page, look for the “Page Attributes” section on the right-hand side of the editor.
Under “Parent,” use the dropdown menu to select an existing page as the parent. This creates a sub-page nested under the chosen parent page.
Navigation Menu Creation: Once you have a few pages, it’s time to create a navigation menu to help visitors find their way around.
In the WordPress dashboard, navigate to Appearance > Menus.
Give your menu a name and select the pages you want to include. You can use drag-and-drop to arrange the pages in the desired order within the menu.
Choose a menu location (header, footer, sidebar) and click “Save Menu” to make it live on your website.
Maximizing Your Pages’ Potential
Categorize and Tag: Organize your pages using categories and tags to help visitors discover related content. Categories are broader groupings, while tags are more specific keywords.
Preview Function: Before publishing, use the preview function to see how your page will appear on the live website. This allows you to refine the layout and content before making it public.
SEO Optimization: Enhance your search ranking by incorporating relevant keywords in your title, headings, and content. Consider using SEO plugins for further optimization.
Yoast SEO: A household name in the WordPress SEO world, Yoast offers a user-friendly interface with a comprehensive feature set. It excels in on-page optimization, guiding you through keyword optimization, readability analysis, and title tag and meta description creation. While the free version provides a solid foundation, premium plans offer additional features like internal linking suggestions and social media previews.
Rank Math: This plugin is a powerful contender, known for its extensive free features and affordable paid plans. It offers on-page optimization tools similar to Yoast, including keyword research suggestions, content analysis, and schema markup implementation. Rank Math integrates well with popular page builders and provides basic local SEO and WooCommerce SEO optimization within the free version.
SEOPress: This plugin is another strong option, particularly for those seeking a lightweight and speed-focused solution. SEOPress offers on-page optimization tools, social media optimization, and broken link checker functionalities. Their free version is feature-rich, and their paid plans cater to larger websites with features like content redirection and white labeling.
The SEO Framework: If technical SEO is your primary concern, The SEO Framework is a great choice. It prioritizes website speed and automation, with features like automatic image SEO optimization, robots.txt editor, and built-in XML sitemap generation. While the free version offers valuable tools, paid plans unlock features like local SEO optimization and content audits.
Bonus Advice: Choosing the Right SEO Plugin
The best SEO plugin for your website depends on your specific needs and preferences. Here’s a quick breakdown to help you decide:
For beginners: Yoast SEO or Rank Math (free versions) offer a user-friendly interface and essential features.
For value-seekers: Rank Math provides a comprehensive free feature set with affordable paid upgrades.
For speed-conscious users: SEOPress is a lightweight option that prioritizes website performance.
For technical SEO focus: The SEO Framework excels in website speed optimization and automation.
Remember, SEO is an ongoing process. It’s wise to experiment with different plugins to find the one that best suits your workflow and SEO strategy.
By following these detailed steps and incorporating these tips, you can create well-structured, informative, and engaging pages that will elevate your WordPress website and provide a seamless user experience for your visitors.
The CleanTalk Research Team identified a critical Stored XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) vulnerability in the WP SEOPress plugin, version 7.7.1. This flaw can be exploited by attackers with contributor privileges to create new admin accounts, potentially granting them full control of your WordPress website.
Stored XSS vulnerabilities allow attackers to inject malicious scripts directly into your website’s database. These scripts are then executed whenever someone views the compromised content. Unlike reflected XSS, user interaction isn’t required to trigger the attack, making it particularly dangerous.
How Attackers Can Exploit This Vulnerability
An attacker with contributor privileges can exploit this vulnerability by injecting malicious JavaScript code into the “SEO Title” field while creating a new post. This code can then be used to create a new admin account, granting them complete control over your website.
Potential Consequences of an Exploit
Complete Site Takeover: Attackers could create new admin accounts and seize full control of your website.
Data Theft: Sensitive information like user credentials, financial records, and even your website’s content could be stolen.
Website Defacement: Attackers could alter the appearance of your site, inject further malicious code, or display unauthorized content.
Persistent Backdoors: Malicious actors might install backdoors to ensure continued access even after the initial vulnerability is patched.
Taking Action to Secure Your Website
Update Immediately: The most critical step is to update the WP SEOPress plugin to the latest version as soon as possible. This update addresses the vulnerability and safeguards your website.
Review User Roles: Carefully review user roles and permissions. Contributors should have the minimum access necessary for their tasks.
Through continuous vulnerability discovery and disclosure, we empower website owners and developers to take preventative measures. We believe that by working together, we can create a robust and secure WordPress ecosystem for everyone.
As you know, we have direct integration with the most popular contact form plugin – Contact Form 7. Also, you are probably familiar with the Flamingo – a message storage plugin, which doesn’t store submitted messages. Earlier, when using these two plugins simultaneously with CleanTalk Anti-Spam, messages recognized as spam would end up in the “spam” folder instead of just being deleted.
After a couple of requests about this, we decided that it would be a great idea not to store messages recognized as spam in Flamingo. So now we’ve made the “Save Flamingo Spam entries” option in the Anti-Spam plugin settings. It is enabled by default, but you can turn it off, after which messages recognized as spam will stop being stored in this folder.
How to activate the option
1. Install both Contact Form 7 and Flamingo plugins. The option is displayed only if you have both plugins installed and activated.
2. Go to Anti-Spam plugin settings in your WordPress dashboard
3. Scroll down to “Forms to protect” directory, find the “Save Flamingo spam entries” option and switch it off. The option is switched on by default.
That’s it! Now your messages recognized as spam will not be stored in Flamingo. If you want to see these messages again, just turn this option back on.
We’re writing to inform you that the public widget for CleanTalk Anti-Spam will be removed from the plugin and no longer be supported after August 1, 2024.
What does this mean for you?
The public widget, which is typically displayed on public pages and demonstrates the number of spam attacks, is no longer considered compatible with modern WordPress development practices and has seen low user demand. As a result, we’re removing it from the plugin to ensure optimal performance, streamline the user experience, and focus on core functionalities. This removal also helps us stay aligned with future WordPress versions.
What action should you take?
While the public widget will no longer be available after August 1, 2024, CleanTalk Anti-Spam’s core functionality remains unchanged and will continue to provide robust spam protection for your WordPress site.
Here’s what you can do:
No action required: If you don’t utilize the public widget, you don’t need to take any further action. CleanTalk Anti-Spam will continue to operate seamlessly.
Review alternative widget usage: If you’ve been using the public widget, we recommend exploring alternative methods for interacting with CleanTalk Anti-Spam’s features. These may include accessing settings pages or utilizing shortcodes.
Affiliate Program Guidance
If you’ve been using the public widget to promote the CleanTalk AntiSpam Affiliate program, we recommend transitioning to using Affiliate links along with our banner. This method provides a more streamlined and effective way to promote the program.
To get started with Affiliate links:
Access your CleanTalk Affiliate Dashboard: Log in to your CleanTalk account and navigate to the Affiliate program section.
Generate your Affiliate link: Your unique Affiliate link is provided within the dashboard. Copy this link for use in your promotional materials.
Utilize our Affiliate banner: We offer a visually appealing banner that you can include alongside your Affiliate link. Download the banner from the Affiliate dashboard.
Promote your Affiliate link and banner: Share your Affiliate link and banner on your website, social media channels, or other relevant platforms. When a visitor clicks on your link and signs up for CleanTalk AntiSpam, you’ll earn a commission.
By transitioning to Affiliate links and our banner, you can continue to effectively promote the CleanTalk AntiSpam Affiliate program while aligning with the updated public widget removal.
We understand that change can be challenging, and we appreciate your understanding as we work to enhance the CleanTalk Anti-Spam experience.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact our support team.
Thank you for being a valued CleanTalk Anti-Spam user!
Our team at CleanTalk prioritizes the safety and security of the WordPress ecosystem. Through routine security testing, we’ve identified a critical vulnerability in the Gutenberg Blocks by Kadence Blocks plugin. This flaw poses a serious threat to WordPress websites, as it allows attackers to inject malicious code and potentially gain complete control.
This vulnerability, classified as Stored XSS (Cross-Site Scripting), enables attackers to embed malicious scripts directly into your website’s content. Unlike some vulnerabilities, Stored XSS doesn’t require user interaction to be triggered. This means anyone visiting your site, not just administrators, could be exposed.
Potential Consequences of an Exploit
Complete Site Takeover: Attackers could create new admin accounts and seize full control of your website.
Data Theft: Sensitive information like user credentials, financial records, and even your website’s content could be stolen.
Website Defacement: Attackers could alter the appearance of your site, inject further malicious code, or display unauthorized content.
Persistent Backdoors: Malicious actors might install backdoors to ensure continued access even after the initial vulnerability is patched.
Taking Action to Secure Your Website
The most critical step is to update the Gutenberg Blocks by Kadence Blocks plugin to the latest version immediately. This update addresses the vulnerability and safeguards your website.
CleanTalk’s Commitment to WordPress Security
At CleanTalk, we are relentless in our pursuit of discovering and disclosing vulnerabilities to protect the WordPress community. We strongly encourage all website owners to prioritize regular security updates and implement additional security measures like:
Regular Vulnerability Scans: Proactive scanning helps identify and address potential threats before they are exploited.
Least Privilege Principle: Grant users only the permissions necessary for their roles to minimize damage in case of a compromise.
Security Plugins: Consider using security plugins that offer features like malware scanning, firewalls, and real-time threat monitoring.
By working together, we can create a safer and more secure WordPress ecosystem for everyone.
In today’s digital landscape, protecting your WordPress website from spam and malicious activities is paramount. One of the most common tools used to achieve this is CAPTCHA. However, whether to use CAPTCHA or not can be a topic of debate among website owners. This article will explore the pros and cons of using CAPTCHA on your WordPress site, helping you make an informed decision.
What is CAPTCHA?
CAPTCHA, which stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart,” is a security measure used to determine whether the user is a human or a bot. It typically requires users to solve puzzles, enter text from distorted images, or check a box to verify their humanity.
Types of CAPTCHA
Before diving into the pros and cons, it’s useful to understand the different types of CAPTCHA you might encounter:
Text-based CAPTCHA Users are asked to enter characters from a distorted image.
Image-based CAPTCHA Users select images that match a given description (e.g., select all images with traffic lights).
Checkbox CAPTCHA (CAPTCHA) Users simply check a box to confirm they are not a robot.
Invisible CAPTCHA This version works in the background and only challenges the user if it detects suspicious behavior.
Pros of Using CAPTCHA on WordPress
Spam Protection Benefit: CAPTCHA effectively prevents automated bots from submitting forms, which is crucial for reducing spam in comments, registration forms, and contact forms. Explanation: Bots often target forms to post spammy content or create fake accounts. CAPTCHA acts as a gatekeeper, allowing only genuine human interactions.
Enhanced Security Benefit: By blocking automated scripts and bots, CAPTCHA adds an extra layer of security to your WordPress site. Explanation: This can be particularly important for sites that process sensitive information or have user registration features, as it helps prevent brute-force attacks and data scraping.
Reduced Server Load Benefit: Limiting spam and bot traffic can reduce the load on your server, improving overall site performance. Explanation: Bots generating excessive requests can slow down your site or even crash it. CAPTCHA helps mitigate this risk by filtering out non-human interactions.
User Verification Benefit: CAPTCHA ensures that submissions (like comments or sign-ups) are made by real users, maintaining the quality and integrity of your site’s content. Explanation: This is especially useful for sites with user-generated content, where maintaining a community of genuine users is crucial.
Flexible Integration Benefit: Many WordPress plugins offer easy CAPTCHA integration for various forms and functionalities. Explanation: Popular plugins like Contact Form 7, WPForms, and others allow you to add CAPTCHA to protect your forms with minimal effort.
Cons of Using CAPTCHA on WordPress
User Experience Impact CAPTCHA can create friction in the user experience, potentially deterring visitors from completing forms or engaging with your site. Users may find solving CAPTCHA puzzles frustrating or time-consuming, leading to higher abandonment rates, especially on mobile devices.
Accessibility Issues CAPTCHA can pose significant challenges for users with disabilities, making it difficult or impossible for them to interact with your site. Visually impaired users, for example, may struggle with image-based CAPTCHAs, while others with cognitive disabilities may find the puzzles confusing. Even audio CAPTCHAs can be problematic for those with hearing impairments.
False Positives Sometimes, legitimate users can be incorrectly flagged as bots, preventing them from completing their intended actions. This can happen due to various reasons, such as users failing to solve the CAPTCHA correctly or using certain browser extensions that interfere with CAPTCHA detection.
Maintenance and Compatibility CAPTCHA implementations may require ongoing maintenance and updates to remain effective and compatible with your WordPress site. As bots evolve, CAPTCHAs must also be updated to stay ahead. Additionally, plugin conflicts or updates can sometimes cause compatibility issues, requiring troubleshooting and technical know-how.
Increased Load Time Adding CAPTCHA can slightly increase page load times, which might impact your site’s performance. Each CAPTCHA requires additional resources to render and validate, which can contribute to longer loading times, particularly if not optimized.
Alternatives to CAPTCHA
Given the potential drawbacks, you might wonder if there are alternatives to CAPTCHA that can provide security without compromising user experience. Here are a few options:
1. Anti-Spam Plugins
How it works: Plugins like CleanTalk analyze form submissions and user behavior to filter out spam without the need for CAPTCHA. Benefit: They offer seamless protection with minimal impact on user experience.
After the Anti-Spam is installed and activated, it protects your website and all forms from spam bots, keeping them from overloading your site. That’s how the website “looks” for spam bots:
Protection of your forms will also triggered even before a form is submitted, thus protecting your forms from getting spammed. That’s how it “looks”:
2. Honeypot Fields
How it works: Hidden form fields are added that human users can’t see but bots will fill out. If these fields are completed, the submission is flagged as spam. Benefit: This method is invisible to users and doesn’t affect their experience.
3. Time-Based Methods
How it works: Measures the time taken to complete a form. Bots typically submit forms almost instantly, whereas humans take longer. Benefit: This is a passive method that doesn’t require any action from the user.
4. JavaScript-Based Solutions
How it works: Uses JavaScript to detect bots based on behavior and patterns that are unusual for human users. Benefit: These solutions operate behind the scenes, making them less intrusive for users.
Conclusion
CAPTCHA is a simple and free tool that will help you eliminate most spam bots. It is very useful for users in the first stage of launching their WordPress website.
However, in the next step, you may need a more advanced solution. For example, one that will give much more protection against spam bots to increase the speed of your site, and also, will be completely invisible to save precious time of your site visitors. As such a solution, we recommend CleanTalk Anti-Spam, a service we have been improving for more than 10 years. The full list of features can be found here.
Consider your audience and the nature of your site when deciding. If your site handles sensitive information or has high spam vulnerability, CAPTCHA could be beneficial. However, for sites focused on user engagement and accessibility, exploring alternatives might be more appropriate.
Attention WordPress website owners! We’re excited to announce that the CleanTalk Security Plugin now effectively addresses a well-known vulnerability involving the WordPress.com API.
This vulnerability, previously discussed here, allowed unauthorized actors to potentially trace administrator usernames through a public API endpoint. While disabling the REST API entirely would be ideal, it wasn’t always a viable option for many websites.
The CleanTalk Team Steps Up
We understand the critical nature of this vulnerability and the potential security risks it poses. Our development team has been working diligently to implement a comprehensive solution within the CleanTalk Security Plugin.
This update delivers:
Enhanced User Data Protection: CleanTalk can now effectively block attempts to exploit the exposed API endpoint, safeguarding your administrator username and other sensitive user data.
Improved Overall Security: This fix is just one piece of the puzzle. CleanTalk Security offers a robust suite of security measures to keep your website safe from a wide range of threats.
What You Can Do
Update Your Plugin: Ensure you’re running the latest version of the CleanTalk Security Plugin to benefit from this critical fix and ongoing protection.
Review Your Security Practices: Consider implementing additional security measures like strong password policies and user access restrictions for an extra layer of defense.
CleanTalk: Committed to Your Security
We at CleanTalk are dedicated to providing the best possible security for your WordPress website. We continuously refine our plugin to address both emerging and long-standing vulnerabilities.
For further information on CleanTalk Security and its capabilities, please refer to the plugin’s documentation.
This revised announcement emphasizes the team’s effort in resolving a known issue and highlights the broader security benefits of the CleanTalk Security Plugin.
The CleanTalk Security plugin now offers built-in plugin vulnerability checks, empowering you to safeguard your WordPress website proactively. Just a friendly reminder if you haven’t try it till now: feel free to pick up the plugin and install it according to these instructions.
While plugins add valuable functionality, they can also introduce security risks if vulnerabilities exist. To address this, CleanTalk regularly scans popular plugins and integrates the findings directly into the Security plugin.
Here’s how it benefits you:
Real-time Vulnerability Insights: Get notified within the plugin itself whenever potential vulnerabilities are detected in your active plugins.
Proactive Security Measures: Take immediate action to address vulnerabilities and minimize the risk of attacks.
Simplified Security Management: No need to visit external platforms for vulnerability information; it’s all accessible within the plugin.
This integration strengthens your WordPress security by informing you about potential threats and allowing you to take immediate action.
Stay Updated, Stay Secure!
The CleanTalk Security plugin continues to evolve, offering comprehensive security solutions for your WordPress site. Remember to update the plugin to benefit from the latest features and vulnerability checks.
