How do I stop people spamming my Joomla! Web site?

I don't know about you but Spam is a real problem. Even with my Spam filter set to eleven I still get advice on how to extend or erect parts that other beers find difficult to reach. And recently I found that the blighters had also accessed my forms to send me useless information, so I spent a bit of time lurking around the Joomla! official web site to see what components were available to combat this problem

I came across RSJoomla! which has some really good reviews. RSJoomla! began as a small company run by Alexandru Lamba and has since grown with many good products one being RSform Pro.

Installation is simple using the Extensions/Install Uninstall menu option

You then manage your forms through the Components menu.

You simply set up the layout of the form and then add your objects such as text boxes, drop down lists etc.

What I also like is that you can then specify if data needs to be entered and if the user doesn't then you can then specify those error messages "You don't appear to have entered your name. Please enter your name in the Name field" I had my forms up and running in a very short time.

Now where RSForms Pro really comes in to its own are the plugins and this is where my original reference to spam comes in.

You can get a Captcha plugin which allows you to put those little digits that you see associated with forms and consequently stops those machines from using your form to send you ridiculous emails. Each time a user comes to your site they are presented with a different set of digits that they have to enter. If you want to see an example, I use it on this page

This is a great plugin which I suggest you go and check out.  There are also other great plugins for this form. One of which I am seriously thinking about getting, is the PayPal shopping cart plugin which allows you to integrate a cart with the form as well.

Price is $19 (about £12 as of Oct 2009) for a single domain and $59 (about £37 as of Oct 2009) for 6 months subscription to multiple domains

Check this out at www.rsjoomla.com

Technical Specifications:

The minimum requirements to run RSForm! Pro are:

• Joomla! 1.0 or Joomla! 1.5
• PHP 4.x
• MySQL 4.2
• You must ensure that you have MySQL, XML and zlib functionality enabled within your PHP installation. Also please make sure that you have enabled the GD and FreeType libraries in order for CAPTCHA to work.

• Joomla! 1.5
• PHP 5.x
• MySQL 5.x