CAPTCHA has stopped working

The CAPTCHA code no longer shows on our web site contact form; see url:

contactus.php

The form has worked perfectly and without problem for several months since I first implemented WebAssist Contact Form on our site. However, a couple of months ago we began having a problem with the CAPTCHA code showing up blank (no letters, just the grayed out "noise" background).

When I would reload the form from Dreamweaver to our shared hosting server, the CAPTCHA code on the contact form would work again for awhile. But now it has stopped working altogether, even when I reload the entire Contact Form folder. The form works properly, to include the CAPTCHA validation error message, all except the CAPTCHA. But without the CAPTCHA security code feature functioning properly, the contact form cannot be submitted.

Is there something our web hosting service may have modified on their server to have caused this to occur? I have made no other significant changes to our site or to the form that should have caused this problem.

Note that the GD Library (including FreeType) is installed and enabled on our shared hosting server, see url at:

phpinfo.php

Note that our WA_globals file is using the original CAPTCHA settings from the Contact Form Solution Pack per below:

$WAGLOBAL_Captcha_Width = "200" ;
$WAGLOBAL_Captcha_Height = "40" ;
$WAGLOBAL_Captcha_Characters = "5" ;
$WAGLOBAL_Captcha_Font = "Fonts/MOM_T___.TTF" ;
$WAGLOBAL_Captcha_BG = "ffffff" ;
$WAGLOBAL_Captcha_Noise = "000000" ;
$WAGLOBAL_Captcha_Text = "000000" ;
$WAGLOBAL_Captcha_BG_transparent = "0" ;

Make sure that this file is available:
Fonts/MOM_T___.TTF

That's the only thing I can think of that would cause the characters to disappear.

That file is there. In fact, I downloaded a fresh copy of Contact Forms Solution Pack, v. 1.02, deleted all old files off the server as well as local files, uploaded the new files, but the same problem exists.

It seems like it could be something to do with the server, I think the problem arose about the time our hosting service (aplus.net) upgraded their servers. But I am at a loss as to why this would suddenly become a problem after six+ months of problem free operations.

I have also submitted a support ticket with our web hosting provider to see if they can determine what they may have modified during their server upgrade that may have caused this problem to arise.

After a frustrating lack of response or resolution from our current web host provider (aplus.net), I decided to begin transfer to a new hosting provider (ministryweb.org). After uploading our same web site (including Contact Form Solution Pack pages) to our new pre-prop site, the CAPTCHA security code works fine. See new pre-prop url at:

contactus.php

So this is clearly a problem related to our current (and soon former) web host provider. But for future reference, it would still be helpful to know what could cause this problem.

Most likely the host has upgraded the PHP installation. create a new file named PHPinfo.php and add the following:
<?php phpinfo(); ?>


this will show information about the php installation.

Look for the section Titled "GD" and make sure that True Type support is enabled.


If it is enabled, try changing the path to the font file in the WA_Globals.php file:
$WAGLOBAL_Captcha_Font = "Fonts/MOM_T___.TTF" ;


to a site relive path:
$WAGLOBAL_Captcha_Font = "/ContactForm102/ContactForm_GMC/WA_ValidationToolkit/Fonts/MOM_T___.TTF";

Our shared hosting service has FreeType Support enabled, but TrueType is not listed. (See phpinfo.php for our server details.)

Can the Contact Form Solution Pack be modified to support FreeType, or do I need to see if our web hosting service can modify PHP install to accommodate TrueType?

Since this thread is 12 years old, I thought I would try to get a fresh insight on the problem. I believe it is a server update issue. However, the recommendations in this thread are dated. There is no "True Type" option in the "GD" see attached files. Is there something I can do within the code? Or, what should I ask the host to do?

Originally Said By: Jason Byrnes

  Most likely the host has upgraded the PHP installation. create a new file named PHPinfo.php and add the following:
<?php phpinfo(); ?>


this will show information about the php installation.

Look for the section Titled "GD" and make sure that True Type support is enabled.


If it is enabled, try changing the path to the font file in the WA_Globals.php file:
$WAGLOBAL_Captcha_Font = "Fonts/MOM_T___.TTF" ;


to a site relive path:
$WAGLOBAL_Captcha_Font = "/ContactForm102/ContactForm_GMC/WA_ValidationToolkit/Fonts/MOM_T___.TTF";  

Can I get FTP access? I'll need to debug the page to see what is going on. It is possible some required files weren't updated, but it is hard to say without access to the files since it appears to give a blank page.