April 2006 Archives

1. Prerequisites: MT 3.2 or higher, GD library, and GD Perl Module all installed and working.
2. Download plugin: http://www.movalog.com/plugins/wiki/SCode
3. Extract to local disk, preserving directory structure.
4. Upload contents of "php" folder to /cgi-bin/mt/php/ in ASCII mode (if you used Josh & Loren's MT install suggestions).
   
5. Upload contents of "plugins" folder to /cgi-bin/mt/plugins/
6. Change the attributes of /cgi-bin/mt/plugins/SCode/mt-scode.cgi to 755 or -rwxr-xr-x (use WS-FTP to do this).
   
7. Log into you MT install and check to see if SCode is listed in the Plugins item on System Shortcuts.  If so, then you put the files in the proper places.  If not: rinse, repeat, wipe hands on pants.
8. Open the SCode Settings and change the Temp Directory to: /home/httpd/vhosts/YOUR.DOMAIN.HERE/httpdocs/tmp  this is where SCode stores it's images, and it must be read & write-able by MT .  Click Save Changes to save & exit.
   
9. Navigate to the blog you want to enable SCode on and go to Settings... Plugins.  Click Show Settings in the SCode listing and make sure the Enable checkbox is checked.  Save Changes to save & exit.
10. To insert the CAPTCHA item into your comment posting templates in the default way:
11. Edit the Individual Entry Archive template and add the <MTSCodeInsert> tag to make the section near the end read like:
    <div id="comments-open-footer" class="comments-open-footer">
    <MTSCodeInsert>
    <input type="image" accesskey="v" src="/images/static/btn-preview.png" name="preview" id="comment-preview" value="Preview" />
    <input type="image" accesskey="s" src="/images/static/btn-post.png" name="post" id="comment-post" value="Post" />
    </div>
12. Edit the Comment Preview template and add the <MTSCodeInsert> tag to make the section 2/3 of the way through read like:
    <div id="comments-open-footer" class="comments-open-footer">
    <MTSCodeInsert>
    <input type="submit" name="preview" id="comment-preview" accesskey="v" value="Preview" />
    <input type="submit" name="post" id="comment-post" accesskey="s" value="Post" />
    <input type="button" name="cancel" id="comment-cancel" value="Cancel" onclick="window.location='<$MTEntryPermalink$>'" />
    </div>
13. Remember to save both templates and then rebuild your site.
14. To test the functionality of the CGI script, you can browse to http://www.YOURDOMAINHERE.com/cgi-bin/mt/plugins/SCode/mt-scode.cgi if everything is working, you will see a test CAPTCHA with a number of 99999 (if you left the default length of 6).  For a further test, enter a bogus comment and then enter an incorrect code-- depending on where you have the SCode Action button set in System Overview, your comment will either be junked or you will receive an error on submit.  Either way, the only spam you'll be dealing with will be in your Mac & Cheese.

For further info, see James Seng's SCode site, and Tim Houghton's Digitalife site to sort out the GD stuff.

A new era of spam-free blog comments is upon us! Using the cool Movable Type plugin SCode from James Seng, I was able to implement a CAPTCHA style Turing Test of my blog commenters. This is a randomly generated security image that a potential poster must read and then enter into a text box. This works because computers running automated scripts cannot process the intrinsic content  of a picture and determine what numbers are rendered, and thus they cannot post vast amounts of spam in the comments on this blog. For more info, read about CAPTCHAs at Wikipedia.

It took some doing, but with the wonderfull support of my host Logjamming.com, I was able to get the plugin running. Stay tuned as I will write a more detailed entry on how exactly to install SCode on a Logjamming hosted MT installation. I've been told that several other customers have been interested in getting SCode running for their blogs, and that the main problems centered around the GD Perl image library installed.

Well, this past week was pretty tough, especially for Jakki. Her father passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday the 28th. We made an emergency dash down to Arkansas to be with her family and take part in the funeral. Jakki's dad wasn't in the best of health, but he had a great year of hunting, fishing and raising his daylillies. The obituary can be found at this link. Using photos from his life, some of which were taken by Jakki on her visit last July, the funeral home created a short video which can be viewed at this link. The weather was good for the service and the interment, and we got to see lots of Jakki's family.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Jakki and her family during this tough time.