Main Menu

This menu is a
simple php include.
It is supremely
editable. Do with
it as you like
on your site.

Frequently Asked Questions:

This is a standard FAQ that implores you not to contact me because most of the information you need is probably already on the web if not here, then elsewhere.

What is a Turing Test?
A test proposed by Alan Turing in 1950 that separates truly sentient beings from mere machines. Why bring this up? In essence a graphic challenge web form is a sort of Turing Test, also know today by the acronym 'CAPTCHA', i.e. to 'Capture' only valid form use.

Where did this particular script start out?
Here. This is a variation on the fine work of Cocoa Village Publishing. It's got a slightly more compact format and uses an altered Dreamweaver php-style interface that may not be as compact, but it easy pretty easy to read the source text. If you don't have Dreamweaver it's easy to edit in other programs or by hand. Please abide by this license - basically verbatim from John Lim's original dual license.

What is required of my website for this to work?
According to Cocoa Village Publishing:

PHP4 [offsite] supporting version GD 1.6.3 [offsite] or better (may or may not work lower than that, tested with gd-1.8.3). Effort was made to avoid php functions requiring GD 2.x or later however that may impact using more colors and possibly type 2 true type fonts.
True Type Font rendering for GD [offsite]program, tested with freetype-1.3.1 [offsite]
A mySQL database on which you can create, edit or otherwise manipulate tabular data.
Probably several other applications that were not obviousto you, let us know what was not obvious and we will list here.
You do not need root permissions or shell access to make this suite work.

What is overlib?
A really cool frame popup javascript mechanism available here. [offsite]
It is included in its entirety within the assets folder of this free suite of web documents.
I use it it make the 'help!' popup work. If you have questions
about how to use this, just don't use it, or go to the overlib site.

What has changed since the last version?

There is a tighter look and feel. CSS is slighly improved. There are headers and footers that can be changed to suit your needs. If you don't like them, at least it gives you some ideas about how to set up your site efficiently so that pages can change globally just by changing CSS, headers and footers. It's transitional html, so don't expect miracles. Get a good start for yourself here. [offsite]
A new color scheme as been added to the image generator called 'sea.' It's generally in the teal range. There, I said it: 'sea' and 'teal'... too many late nights.
There is a mySQL interface now for coordinating multiple contacts on your website. It keeps track of creation and modification date. If you prefer not to use the interface, you can edit the config.php file not to use it pretty easily, but then you are limited to one contact.
There is an administrative Graphic User Interface (GUI) that will let you create, delete, edit and preview your contacts from the web. You can copy the contact link in the preview page to other parts of your site in whatever software you are using.
Consquently, the administrative area will need .htaccess security. The admin subfolder must be password protected. Here's a very dry tutorial. [offsite] There are lots of ways to acheive security but in the end, it's all up to you. Google '.htaccess .htpasswd tutorial'. [offsite] You are in charge of this. If you don't know how to do it, don't run this suite.
Instead of confusing red arrows and boxes, there is now a clean 'help!' button for the totally clueless that explains in a popup frame exactly what to do and why. Then it disappears completely out of the way off the screen without wasting the time to bring up a new page. Thanks to Marshall for that idea. The popup uses overlib - see the link above.
I've removed several of the more confusing fonts. Apparently even humans had trouble passing that Turing Test.
/contacts/admin/ folder holds only items that are pertinent to the administrative area.
/contacts/assets folder holds things like includes, css, sql, overlib
/contacts/images folder holds all images used in the public part of the suite.
Fixed the slashes problem in the non-test email replies.

Can I see the admin interface?
Here are some snapshots.

Where should I place this suite of documents?
Place the unpacked 'contacts' folder entirely in web root/contacts For instance: http://www.yourdomain.com/contacts/ . Hence, the administrative area will therefore be in http://www.yourdomain.com/contacts/admin/ . Includes are set to call automatically from document root if they are placed as suggested. Placing them elsewhere will involve a few minor edits.

How do I add new photos?
I've set up this suite to use photos that are arbitrarily 90px wide and 109px tall.

Deposit new photos 90px wide by 109px tall in the '/contacts/images/' folder.
Go to the GUI admin page and edit the contact 'Photo URL' field to read:
'/contacts/images/yourimage.jpg' or whatever.
In reality, you can put your photos whereever you like in your website,
so long as they are the same dimensions and are properly
linked in the photo URL field on the edit.php page . You can change
the dimensions in the preview.php and list.php pages.

Why won't it work?
There are several languages that all have to work in unison
for this suite to work correctly - css, html, php, javascript, apache,
and mysql - each working on one level or another to give you a smooth page
interface. Please don't take it poorly if I don't respond.

Pre-Flight Check List:
- Drop the entire unpacked /contacts/ folder at webroot, not host or document root.
  http://www.yourdomain.com/contacts/
  The files should be drag and drop at this position.
  Now you only have to consider 4 other files: config.php, box.php, contacts.sql and .htaccess.
  (See below)
- Will it work with PHP5?
  There is a flaw in PHP5 as of June, 2006 that makes the generateimage.php script go kerflooey. Can't find the link again, but it was a php bugzilla report. Sorry. Use PHP4. If someone finds that the flaw is in the script instead, or that PHP5 is now fixed, please let me know!
- The config.php file
  Did you change the settings in the config file? The config file is in /contacts/assets/config.php This page should be beyond self explanatory.
- The box.php file
  There is a separate file /contacts/assets/box.php for Dreamweaver-style access to the database. There are four separate mySQL items that must be furnished in this file.
- The contacts.sql file
  There is a file /contacts/assets/contacts.sql . Insert this table and fake data into a database of your choice. The file was created with phpMyAdmin and can be likewise reinserted using the same. There are any number of other ways to do this, but your tabular data format must exist before the admin pages will work.
- The /contacts/admin/.htaccess file
  This is in a disabled format in the download packages. Remove the // at the beginning of each line and remember to set the path correctly. Get a user/password combination here or somewhere else and put the single string it returns in the first line of a blank document called .htpasswd. Store this document where you referred to it in the .htaccess file.
- On this site
  The fake contacts have been disabled to prevent false submission. Only mine is real.

Can I split the mailing script in /contacts/index.php into a separate file
from the form to reduce confusion?
Unless you know a lot about sessioning and security don't do this. Allow the page with its contiguous mailer script to refer back to itself. This way, the email cannot be sent unless the graphic challenge is fully met. Separate and unguarded mailers are exactly what spammers are looking for. Unguarded mailers can get your website's IP blacklisted by major ISP's. Then your email will bounce and you will be sad. Some hosting providers will also fine you for inept mailer scripting they are forced to clean up.

Why is /contacts/list.php an include in /contacts/who.php?
There are any number of reasons for including a list of contacts on an existing page. This is just an example. List.php is ready for you to include elsewhere on your site, even html server-side-includes. Like this:  (for ssi-enabled websites only, of course.)

What happened in the last version?

Changes in 2003
- Scripting has been changed to Dreamweaver-style <?php ?> coding.
- The config.php file has these changes:
  - BAS_companyname to be used in page titles, Thanks page, Email Subject and X-Mailer header entry
  - BAS_colorscheme Choose a color scheme - green, blue, red, purple, brown or b/w.
  - BAS_chars - Choose 'numbers, lower, upper' to reduce character set appropriately.
  - Test mode now does two things:
    - Shows the characters and fonts used diagnostically like the original script.
    - Sends a diagnostic email with lots of info (from original script.) When not in test mode, image shows normally and script sends a normal email
- Regarding the generateimage.php file:
  - The image size and fonts have been
    reduced by 50% height and width.
    It doesn't take up as much room,
    so it's not as overpowering to viewers.
  - There color-choosing schema is set to
    reflect colors from the config file.
- d. Regarding the index.php file:
  - A javascript validity test for name, email and text area has been
    added so that if people forget these, it's taken care of on
    the client side, rather than the server side.
  - After the first attempt, if no code is put in the field,
    a red indicator arrow points our the field. If the code
    isn't valid, it suggests trying again.
  - After the second attempt, arrows point to the image,
    and a red border surrounds the image, just in case it
    wasn't obvious enough.
- The thanks.php page has been scripted to include the
  name of the form-filler in a thank-you phrase, along
  with your company name.
- 'blockauto.css' stylesheet has been introduced.
  You can use your own instead if you like.

What do I owe you?
The /contacts/index.php page has a link at the bottom which refers back to /http://www.activistinabox.org/blockautosubmit/. Please leave the link there. It's not big, but people who are interested will see it.

Last but not least contact me here.