WPForms Custom Captcha Addon

The question that stops bots is also answered by your customer

The contact form starts filling up with junk messages and the immediate reaction is to put up a barrier. But everyone has to cross that barrier, including the person who was about to ask you for a quote on their phone with one hand.

A captcha is one more question on your form, and you choose it: if it is well thought out, it barely shows; if it is not, it costs you the very contacts you wanted to protect. WPForms Custom Captcha puts that decision in your hands. It adds a field with a random math problem or with questions and answers written by you.

Because the question is yours, you can adapt it to the people who write to you, and that is its appeal over a generic challenge.

Two challenges inside one field

• Math Captcha: the default type. It generates random addition, subtraction and multiplication problems, with a new one each time the page loads or refreshes.
• Question and Answer: you write a question and its answer. The + button adds more pairs, and the form shows one at random on each load.

The field lives in the Fancy Fields section of the builder. Besides the type, you can edit its label and description. It is always required, so nobody submits the form without answering.

How to write a question that does not drive your audience away

Use something your visitor knows without thinking. At a music school, how many strings a violin has. At a hardware store, which tool drives a nail. Avoid anything that requires knowing your company or the language perfectly.

Allow one clear answer. Each pair stores a single answer, so a question that can be answered in several ways will shut out people who got it right.

Spread the risk with several pairs. Having several questions keeps the whole form from depending on one, and you can remove the one that causes trouble with the - button.

What the question does not filter, and the other WPForms defenses

The field checks an answer. A person sending spam by hand answers it with no trouble, and the content of the message is not analyzed. Nor will you change the Math Captcha problems from the builder: that takes custom code.

For those gaps WPForms offers other layers:

• Anti-spam protection: honeypot based.
• Akismet: blocks what that service identifies as spam.
• reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha and Cloudflare Turnstile: challenges run by external services.
• Country and keyword filters: found in the form's security settings.

Check your WPForms and add the field

This addon needs paid WPForms, from the Basic plan up, and only has to be installed on versions earlier than 1.8.7. From WPForms 1.8.7 the Custom Captcha field is built in, with no addon. Check your version first. If it is earlier, install and activate the addon, then follow these steps:

1. Open the form in the builder.
2. Drag Custom Captcha from Fancy Fields into the preview.
3. Choose the type in the field options and, if you use questions, write the pairs.
4. Save and test the form before publishing it.

Pieces that reinforce the same form

WPForms Form Locker tackles the problem from access: password, logged-in users only, entry limit per form, and limits by IP or email. It helps when the form is for a specific group.

The base of it all is WPForms Pro. If your forms are in another builder, the catalog has Cloudflare Turnstile for Gravity Forms and reCAPTCHA for Gravity Forms.

Quick answers about the field

Do I need this addon with a current WPForms?

No. From version 1.8.7 the field is built into WPForms. The addon is for earlier versions.

Does it work with WPForms Lite?

Custom Captcha requires paid WPForms, from the Basic plan up.

Can it be left optional?

No. The field is always required.

Can I add several questions?

Yes. You add as many pairs as you want and each form load shows one at random.

Can I choose addition only in Math Captcha?

Not from the builder: it mixes addition, subtraction and multiplication, and changing them takes custom code.

Does the question change each time?

The math one changes on each load or refresh. With your own questions, one is picked at random if there are several.