Caldera Forms v3 reCAPTCHA support landed in version 0.2 of Caldera Forms Anti Spam. This note records what that release changed, and how v3 differed from the checkbox field form owners were using before.

The plugin adds a Google reCAPTCHA field to a Caldera Form so spam submissions are harder to push through. Version 0.2 was the release that answered the most common request on that field.

Caldera Forms v3 reCAPTCHA in version 0.2

• Added invisible reCAPTCHA support.
• Added v3 support.
• Changed the script loader so v2 and v3 can both load.
• Improved the JavaScript for those two modes.
• Removed the reCAPTCHA value from the %summary% magic tag in emails.

That last item matters. The token should not be pasted into the message body. If an email template still prints the summary tag, check a test submission and confirm the token is gone.

Why the checkbox was the complaint

v2 asks the visitor to tick a box or solve a challenge. Form owners said that extra step cut completions. v3 scores the request in the background and does not show that challenge on a normal visit. The field still needs keys from the Google reCAPTCHA admin console, and the form still needs the field this plugin registers. Google’s v3 overview describes the score. It does not replace the keys or the form field.

This is the release note for 0.2. It is not a setup manual for current form plugins. The install count quoted when the post was published was over 10,000 active sites. Treat that figure as historical.

Read the listing before you install an old build

The button below goes to the WordPress.org listing. Read the changelog there before you put an old build on a live site. If you are choosing a form plugin today, start with how custom code should be added and check that whatever you install is still maintained.

Photo by Leo Sammarco on Unsplash.