Anti-Spambot

July 13, 2021

Anti-Spambot Plugin

Obfuscation of email via the [email]...[/email] shortcode syntax using built-in Wordpress Codex functionality.

Obfuscation of email via the [email]...[/email] shortcode syntax using built-in WordPress Codex functionality.

Alternative variations:

  • [email][email protected]?subject=foo+bar&body=baz[/email] creates a mailto: link with subject and body pre-populated
  • [email nolink=1][email protected][/email] just displays the email without a link wrapping it
  • [email linktext="click here"][email protected][/email] displays the text “click here” with a link to the email address

Installation

Install via “Add Plugin”.

Screenshots

  1. Use the <code>[email]...[/email]</code> tag to wrap your email input

    Use the [email]...[/email] tag to wrap your email input

  2. This will display as an email address wrapped in a mailto: hyperlink (i.e. clickable to open a mail client)

    This will display as an email address wrapped in a mailto: hyperlink (i.e. clickable to open a mail client)

  3. The source code used to render this involves randomly-encoded characters, making it more difficult for spambots to harvest

    The source code used to render this involves randomly-encoded characters, making it more difficult for spambots to harvest

FAQ

How does this work?

This plugin converts email addresses within the [email]...[/email] shortcodes using the built-in WordPress Codex antispambot() function. The function converts email address characters to HTML entities. It converts a random selection of characters each time, making it more difficult for spam-bots to “harvest” the email address programmatically.

Is it foolproof?

The only foolproof way to ensure email addresses do not get harvested from a web page is to not include them on the page in any form. However, the method created by the WordPress developers that we employ here should provide reasonable protection against all but the most concerted automatic-harvesting efforts.

Changelog

  • 1.1.5 – Tested with WordPress 5.3
    • 1.1.5 – Tested with WordPress 5.2
    • 1.1.4 – Tested with WordPress 5.1
    • 1.1.3 – Tested with WordPress 5.0
    • 1.1.2 – Tested with WordPress 4.9.5
    • 1.1. – Added support for ?subject= strings, nolink= shortcode attribute (just print) and linktext= shortcode attribute to specify link text
    • 1.0 – upgraded to stable version after eight months in the wild
    • 0.1-alpha – Initial release

Details

  • Version: 1.1.6
  • Active installations: 800
  • WordPress Version: 3.0.1
  • Tested up to: 5.8.10

Ratings


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