Important: Google is free up to 10,000 verifications within a thirty day period which averages 333 per day. Reaching Google's limit is easy considering the current amount of
bot traffic and, if billing is not enabled, Google will return an error.
The same is true for Hcaptcha after reaching 100,000 verifications within a thirty day period, which averages 3,333 per day. If billing is not enabled Hcaptacha will also return an error.
When you reach the limit, you will be unable to login to your website until the first of the month, unless the mod options ALLOW LIMITED ACCESS is true and REQUIRE CAPTCHA TO LOGIN is false.
Google pricing structure information can be found at Google pricing. To obtain Google reCaptcha keys your website must be registered with Google. If your website is not registered with Google click here: Google Getting Started. If your site is registered with Google, obtain reCaptcha keys by clicking here: Create Google reCaptcha keys
Hcaptcha pricing structure information can be found at Hcaptcha Pricing. Registering a website with Hcaptcha and obtaining API keys is easier than Google and can be found at Hcaptcha Sign Up Options. If you decide to use Hcaptcha, the TNG mod can be found here Haptcha. This version works best with Hcaptcha v15.2.3.
The Image Captcha Mod has no verification limits and relies on clients selecting a specific image to reduce bot traffic. While it has no background analysis, multiple image sets are available making it difficult for bots to solve. Since Image Captcha has no limits this is the preferred choice for those that do want to monitor captcha usage.
Bot Manager allows admins to easily switch to a different captcha when approaching the limit. If your suspect your traffic may exceed the captcha limit, either monitor your usage or use Image Captcha.
Installing Bot Manager with Google reCaptcha v2
The default captcha included with TNG is Google reCaptcha. However, it requires site and secret keys and only protects new account registrtions and suggestions.
Bot Manager will install using reCaptcha if Hcaptcha and Image Captcha are not installed.
To install using Google reCatcha, API site and secret keys must be entered in the TNG config.php file using the Admin > General Settings > Privacy panel.
If you enter the keys in customconfig.php, Bot Manager will NOT install using Google reCaptcha.
After the site and secret keys are entered Bot Manager will indicate OK to Install. Click OK to install then Click Install.
If Image Captcha is installed, after Bot Manager installs with Google reCaptcha, reCaptcha will be replaced with Image Captcha since they both load in the TNG_captcha.php file.
Installing Bot Manager with Hcaptcha
To install using Hcaptcha, first install the Hcaptcha mod. Once the Hcaptcha mod is installed, enter the Hcaptcha site and secret keys in the mod's options.
After the site and secret keys are entered Bot Manager will indicate OK to Install. Click OK to install then Click Install. If both Hcaptcha and Image Captcha are installed, Bot Manager will use Hcaptcha.
Updating to Hcaptcha v15.0.2.3 is not required but is suggested because the earlier versions do not display additional information to avoid install conflicts.
Installing Bot Manager with Image Captcha
To install using Image Captcha, first install the Image Captcha mod. Image Captcha DOES NOT require site or secret keys. After Image Captcha is installed Bot Manager will indicate OK to Install. Click OK to install then Click Install.
Important: Bot Manager will not install with Image Captcha if the Hcaptcha mod is already installed. Uninstall Hcaptcha then Bot Manager will install using Image Captcha.
If Bot Manager was installed using reCaptcha, Image Captcha will replace reCaptcha and will display "with Google reCaptcha *** USING IMAGE CAPTCHA ***". This occurs because the Image Captcha Mod modifies the TNG_captcha.php file.
So, if the Image Captcha mod is installed, Google recaptcha code never loads. If you later install Hcaptcha, after Bot Manager installs with Image Captcha, Bot Manager disables the Hcaptcha code.
After the mod is installed with a captcha, open mod options to control access.
Avoid installing additional captchas after Bot Manager is installed to avoid confusion. However, if you install more than one captcha installed, after Bot Manager is intalled, it will display additional information. If you install Bot Manager with reCaptcha then install Image Captcha it will become active. However, if you install Hcaptcha after installing with reCaptcha or Image Captcha, it WILL NOT become active. Keep in mind the option to hide the header and footer is not available in Image Captcha mod options. Hiding the header and footer is not available with Image Captcha.
CAPTCHA PAGE: This option is NOT available when using Image Captcha because showing the header and footer is part of the Image Captcha mod. This option hides the TNG header and footer when using Google reCaptcha or Hcaptcha. When true, the page will not show any TNG links or content. Only a page containing the captcha will be displayed.
REQUIRE CAPTCHA TO LOGIN: This option displays a captcha before logging in. When true, forces users to complete a captcha before they can log in even if limited access is enabled. When false and limited access is enabled users can log in without completeing a captcha.
ALLOW LIMITED ACCESS: When true, this option allows access to the home page. Clicking on any other page loads the captcha challenge unless a custom page is created that DOES NOT use tng-begin.php. Bot Manager has no way to detect access to these pages. Setting this option to false will force loading the captcha for any page using tng_begin.php .
ALLOW SELECT BOTS: When this option is true select bots are allowed to index the website. Setting this option to false denies any special access. If this option is true a additional option appears listing the names of the bots that are allowed access. Entries in this field can be simple bot names or the complete user agent string. Keep in mind the user agent string can be spoofed by malicious bots.
ENTER NAMES OF PERMITTED BOT(S) - If allow select bots is true this option will appear. Here you can enter a simple bot name or the complete user agent string. Each entry must be separated with a comma.
This Bot Manager update minimizes conflicts if additional captchas are uploaded to the mods folder and installed after Bot Manager has been installed with a captcha. Here is how Bot Manager deals with multiple captchas. Google recaptcha and Image Captcha use TNG_captcha.php. So if Google reCaptcha site and secret keys are added using the TNG admin configuration panel Bot Manager can be installed and configured, with Google reCaptcha. Now if you uninstall Bot Manager and install Image captcha, Bot Manager will display "with Image Captcha" even though Google reCaptcha keys are present. This occurs because Image Captcha loads before the reCaptcha code. Then if you uninstall Bot Manager again and install Hcaptcha, Bot Manager will display "with Hcaptcha" even though Google reCaptcha keys are present and Image Captcha is installed. This occurs because Hcaptcha loads before the Image Captcha code.
Bot Manager allows admins to easily switch captchas if a limit is reached. For example if you are using reCaptcha or Hcaptcha and are nearing the limit, you can uninstall Bot Manager, then uninstall reCaptcha or Hcaptcha and install Image Captcha. When Bot Manager is reinstalled, Image Captcha will be used.
To switch back, first uninstall Bot Manager, then uninstall Image Captcha. Once this is completed, reinstall reCaptcha or Hcaptcha then Bot Manager. To swicth back to Google reCaptcha uninstall both Hcaptcha and Image Captcha.
If you delete the captcha keys or install Image Captcha after installing Bot Manager, a message will appear stating the mod's status. Since Bot Manager can be installed using one of three different captcha methods, please observe any errors or warnings that may appear in mod manager when you make changes.
When you install Bot Manager using reCaptcha or Image Captcha and later install Hcaptcha, a message will appear stating which captcha is installed and active. If you install Bot Manager while using Image Captcha and then uninstall Image Captcha first, an error message will appear to reinstall Image Captcaha, then uninstall Bot Manager. If you install Bot Manager while using Hcaptcha and then uninstall Hcaptcha first, an error message will appear to reinstall hcaptcaha, then select cleanup and uninstall Bot Manager.
When switching from one captcha system to another ALWAYS uninstall Bot Manager first. Failure to uninstall Bot Manager first may corrupt some TNG files if you exit Mod Manager before making corrections. Affected file could include: customconfig.php, newaccount.php, suggest.php, tng-begin.php and TNG_captcha.php. If Guardian was involved it could include begin.php.
If a captcha limit is exceeded and you lose access to your website, disable Bot Manager by deleteing verify_access.php from the TNG root folder.
Deleting the file will disable Bot Manager and produce a warning in the PHP log file, but TNG will function normally allowing access.
Once you have access, login and go to Administration -> Mod Manager. Bot Manager will indicate Partially installed. Select Bot Manager then click the Clean Up button.
DO NOT install Bot Manager and Guardian at the same time. Guardian will override Bot Manager's settings when both are installed. So if both mods are installed, it will render Bot Manager useless.
Bot Manager provides means to protect TNG pages using a captcha. TNG pages that load tng_begin.php are protected, unless access is granted in the mod settings. When using Google reCaptcha a visual challenge may or may not be presented depending on Google's analysis of the client's browser and settings. Hcaptcha will always present a visual challenge, unless you have a paid subscription. The difficulty of the challenge is based on Hcaptcha's analysis of the client's browser and settings. Image Captcha uses visual challenges to differentiate bots and humans. The Image Captcha Mod allows admins to select various graphical sets to determine difficulty. If more than one graphical set is active, the image sets rotate randomly which increases the diffituly for bots.
Displaying a captcha challenge depends on mods settings. If allow limited access option is true, everyone has access to the home page. When the option is false, everyone must pass the captcha challenge to gain access, except the login, which is controlled by another mod option. Once the captcha is solved the user does not need to solve another captcha unless they log out or delete cookies and site information in their browser. So if require captcha to login is true, users will get a captcha to access the login only if they did not solve a captcha to access the website. This can occur if the allow limited access option is true.
When allow limited access is true and a user attempts to load a page that includes tng_begin.php, either reCaptcha, Hcaptcha or the Image Captcha will load, depending on which was installed. If Hcaptcha or reCaptcha is installed the user may or may not need to solve a challenge. If the Image Captcha mod is installed, users will need to select the image that is different.
Once the captcha is solved, the user will not need to solve another challenge during the session unless they logout or delete all cookies. TNG logout destroys sessions and cookies so if a user logs out, they will need to solve another captcha or login to continue. If you have custom pages that do not use tng_begin.php, they will not be protected by Bot Manager.
To protect custom pages that do not load tng_begin.php, manually add code to include verify_access.php and customconfig.php.
Uninstall Bot Manager and select delete. Delete the Bot Manager folder from the mods folder, if Mod Manager did not delete it. Upload the new version which includes the cfg file and Bot Manager folder then select install. Bot Manager will install using the active captcha. Then go to mod options and select the options you want enabled.
To uninstall Bot Manager, when using a captcha mod, always uninstall Bot Manager first then follow the normal Mod Manager procedures for unstalling mods.