Category Archives: Web Hosting

Web Hosting

Form Mail Script With CAPTCHA PHP

October 25, 2014 Blog Administrator Leave a comment

We recently became aware that there are users still using the old formmail.pl and PHP scripts to process
web forms which do not require CAPTCHA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAPTCHA). This leaves large holes for
spam attacks and other exploitation on our servers so must be stopped completely.

One way to do this is by using a freely available PHP script called Securimage which provides CAPTCHA with
a PHP processing script which has the filled out CAPTCHA as a condition to process the form and send email.
Here is how:

First download a copy of Securimage here: www.simplicityhosting.com/supplib/securimage.tar.gz version 3.5.4
as of the time of this writing or download the latest here: https://www.phpcaptcha.org/

Extract the files into the DocumentRoot directory of your website (/home/$username/public_html on cPanel
servers, /var/www/html on others, if you do not know ask your systems administrator or web host).

Note: The processing script now depends on a mailing library for PHP called Swift Mailer, which has been installed on our servers. If you have a dedicated server or VM you will need to either have us install it or it may be found here: http://swiftmailer.org/

Then we need a processing script, we paste the following into a file names processemailform.php, or download it in archive format here (in case there are formatting issues) http://www.simplicityhosting.com/supplib/processemailform.tar.gz :

<?php
session_start();
require_once '/usr/local/swiftmailer/lib/swift_required.php';
include_once $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/securimage/securimage.php';
$securimage = new Securimage();
if ($securimage->check($_POST['captcha_code']) == false) {
  // the code was incorrect
  // you should handle the error so that the form processor doesn't continue

  // or you can use the following code if there is no validation or you do not know how
  echo "The security code entered was incorrect.<br /><br />";
  echo "Please go <a href='javascript:history.go(-1)'>back</a> and try again.";
  exit;
}
if(isset($_POST['submit'])) {
   $sendfrom = $_POST['skip_SendFrom'];
   $sendto = $_POST['skip_WhereToSend'];     //put your email address on which you want to receive the information
   $sendto2 = explode(",",$sendto);
   $subject = $_POST['skip_Subject'];   //set the subject of email.
   $field_names = array_keys($_POST);
   $messagebody = "<table>";
   foreach($_POST as $field_name => $field_value) {
     $messagebody .= "<tr><td>$field_name</td><td>$field_value</td></tr>";
   }
   $messagebody .= "</table>";
   $transport = Swift_SmtpTransport::newInstance();
   $mailer = Swift_Mailer::newInstance($transport);
   foreach ($sendto2 as $sendit) {
     $sendit = trim($sendit);
     $message = Swift_Message::newInstance()
     ->setSubject($subject)
     ->setFrom(array($sendfrom => ''))
     ->setTo(array($sendit => ''))
     ->addPart($messagebody,'text/html');
     $result = $mailer->send($message);
   }
   if(isset($_POST['skip_WhereToReturn'])) { $returnto = $_POST['skip_WhereToReturn']; } else { $returnto="http://google.com"; }
   header("Location: $returnto");
}
?>

<?php

session_start();

require_once '/usr/local/swiftmailer/lib/swift_required.php';

include_once $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/securimage/securimage.php';

$securimage = new Securimage();

if ($securimage->check($_POST['captcha_code']) == false) {

// the code was incorrect

// you should handle the error so that the form processor doesn't continue

// or you can use the following code if there is no validation or you do not know how

echo "The security code entered was incorrect.<br /><br />";

echo "Please go <a href='javascript:history.go(-1)'>back</a> and try again.";

exit;

}

if(isset($_POST['submit'])) {

$sendfrom = $_POST['skip_SendFrom'];

$sendto = $_POST['skip_WhereToSend']; //put your email address on which you want to receive the information

$sendto2 = explode(",",$sendto);

$subject = $_POST['skip_Subject']; //set the subject of email.

$field_names = array_keys($_POST);

$messagebody = "<table>";

foreach($_POST as $field_name => $field_value) {

$messagebody .= "<tr><td>$field_name</td><td>$field_value</td></tr>";

}

$messagebody .= "</table>";

$transport = Swift_SmtpTransport::newInstance();

$mailer = Swift_Mailer::newInstance($transport);

foreach ($sendto2 as $sendit) {

$sendit = trim($sendit);

$message = Swift_Message::newInstance()

->setSubject($subject)

->setFrom(array($sendfrom => ''))

->setTo(array($sendit => ''))

->addPart($messagebody,'text/html');

$result = $mailer->send($message);

}

if(isset($_POST['skip_WhereToReturn'])) { $returnto = $_POST['skip_WhereToReturn']; } else { $returnto="http://google.com"; }

header("Location: $returnto");

}

Now we need a form, this may dropped into any fully designed page ready for a form, please note the following

hidden input names:

captcha_code – The code from the CAPTCHA that proves the submitter is human
skip_Subject – Subject of the Email
skip_WhereToSend – Where to send the email, may be more than one address separated by commas
skip_SendFrom – Where the email is sent from, the from address

skip_WhereToReturn – Where to go after processing the form and sending email, usually a thank you submission
confirmation page

We use the filename contact_us.html:

<form action="processemailform.php" method="post">
<input type="hidden" name="skip_SendFrom" value="changeme@changeme.com"><input type="hidden" name="skip_WhereToSend" value="changeme@changeme.com"><input type="hidden" name="skip_Subject" value="Contact Us Form"><input type="hidden" name="skip_WhereToReturn" value="http://www.simplicityhosting.com/myip">
Name: <input name="Contact_FullName" size="35"><br>
Address: <input type="TEXT" name="Contact_StreetAddress" size="35"><br>
Address2: <input type="TEXT" name="Contact_Address2" size="35"><br>
City: <input type="TEXT" name="Contact_City" size="35"> State: <input type="TEXT" name="Contact_State" size="35"> Zip: <input type="TEXT" name="Contact_ZipCode" size="12" maxlength="12"><br>
Email: <input type="TEXT" name="Contact_Email" size="50" maxlength="50"><br>
<a href="#" onclick="return ReloadCaptchaImage('CaptchaImage');"><span style="font-size:12px;">reload image</span></a><br>
<img id="captcha" src="/securimage/securimage_show.php" alt="CAPTCHA Image"></a><br>
<i>Enter Captcha code</i><br>
<input type="text" name="captcha_code" size="10" maxlength="6" /><a href="#" onclick="document.getElementById('captcha').src = '/securimage/securimage_show.php?' + Math.random(); return false">[ Different Image ]</a>

<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Click To Send"><input type="RESET" value="Reset Form">
</form>

Name: <input name="Contact_FullName" size="35"><br>

Address: <input type="TEXT" name="Contact_StreetAddress" size="35"><br>

Address2: <input type="TEXT" name="Contact_Address2" size="35"><br>

City: <input type="TEXT" name="Contact_City" size="35"> State: <input type="TEXT" name="Contact_State" size="35"> Zip: <input type="TEXT" name="Contact_ZipCode" size="12" maxlength="12"><br>

Email: <input type="TEXT" name="Contact_Email" size="50" maxlength="50"><br>

<a href="#" onclick="return ReloadCaptchaImage('CaptchaImage');"><span style="font-size:12px;">reload image</span></a><br>

<i>Enter Captcha code</i><br>

<input type="text" name="captcha_code" size="10" maxlength="6" /><a href="#" onclick="document.getElementById('captcha').src = '/securimage/securimage_show.php?' + Math.random(); return false">[ Different Image ]</a>

</form>

There are of course more elaborate methods to accomplish this, however, this will work fine in most cases. If you need help with anything specific please contact us here: https://billing.simplicityhosting.com/submitticket.php?step=2&deptid=4

Web Hosting

Enthusiastic Web Host Seeks Clients that Wish for Happiness

August 18, 2014 Blog Administrator Leave a comment

Enthusiastic Web Host Seeks Clients that Wish for Happiness

SimplicityHosting.Com, Inc. – Simply the Best Web Hosting

As the title suggests SimplicityHosting.Com, Inc. is a enthusiastic web host seeking clients currently unhappy (man, it’s hard to deal with these SEO rules and make things readable, hm) with their web host and would like to have enthusiastic help to get them transferred, we do it all! We can transfer your data and get your sites working optimally.

You may think this is just another shameless plug and in ways it is, however, there are many out there who have been abused by the ho hum attitude of their current web host company. The slow response to tickets, incomplete answers, company wanted to charge for unknown services that will resolve unknown issues basically for no reason.

Then there are the web hosts that play games with their clients like holding domains and registrations (yes, they still exist) or causing trouble with transfers or backup systems. Whereas we will not help you leave our services we do not change anything in the current operation if you decide to leave. We believe the clients domains and data is owned solely by them, and not by us, as such we also encourage clients to independently backup their data as most do in their disaster recovery plans.

Inquire here, best regards!

SimplicityHosting.Com, Inc. – Simply the Best Web Hosting

Web Hosting

Another Happy Vegan Web Host Transfer Story!

August 17, 2014 Blog Administrator Leave a comment

The prospective client was having problems at his current host and was looking for a savvy vegan web host to take over his business account.

SimplicityHosting.Com, Inc. – Simply the Best Web Hosting

It has certainly been a long time since I wrote anything on this blog site. We have been busy dealing with clients and infrastructure upgrades and so forth, though important, blogging must always be treated as a secondary activity, especially with my apparent lack of skill in it (I never seem to be able to get everything down that I want to, there always seems to be so much more to write about and never sure how to organize it so it is easy to read and understand or entertaining enough). Anyway here is an attempt to tell the story of a prospective client that was looking for a vegan web host to replace his current web host with which he was having technical issues.

Just recently, however, we received an email from a prospective client who has had troubles with his websites crashing his web hosts’ servers. He stated he only had about 10GB of space and a small amount of monthly hits, I wasn’t sure what to make of the situation but I knew this client definitely should not be on shared server space. So I suggested a VM/VPS root server where he had total control and we would assist or do the migration. This server would also be equipped with WHM/cPanel for easy site, user and email management. I neglected to ask the client why, however, he was looking for a vegan web host.

There was an issue with transferring of backups and at some point the original host which had been paid for and not cancelled was having downtime on their system and/or control panel. However the client was able to get the files to us through a file transfer service it was actually WeTransfer.Com in case there are others with similar issues. Just a small tech note on WeTransfer.Com, there is a python script available that allows one to grab WeTransfer.Com files at the normal download URL directly from the server, very handy, available through GitHub here: https://github.com/superalex/py-wetransfer

Once we received the files it was 10-15 minutes before we had them restored and all the sites operable, of course there were a few tweaks we had to do on the back end to make things work (one mysql database did not transfer, one joomla site needed an adjustment to .htaccess to function again, and we needed to add an SSL cert to the server on a domain so Apple Mac Mail would function nicely, I still use Thunderbird with self-signed SSL certs which works just fine after the cert is “accepted”). I believe our pace at resolving issues could be classified as ferocious in contrast to the current web hosting industry that I would call sleepy at best. Later, when asked, the client said he found us by doing a search on vegan web host companies. I thought “that is so cool”!

So another happy story where a client was having issues and we gained a client and was able to resolve the issues effectively. We are certainly glad this client chose SimplicityHosting.Com, Inc. to be his web hosting partner.

: SimplicityHosting.Com, Inc. – Simply the Best Web Hosting

Health, Finance and a plethora of my issues

Category Archives: Web Hosting

Form Mail Script With CAPTCHA PHP

Enthusiastic Web Host Seeks Clients that Wish for Happiness

Enthusiastic Web Host Seeks Clients that Wish for Happiness

Another Happy Vegan Web Host Transfer Story!

The prospective client was having problems at his current host and was looking for a savvy vegan web host to take over his business account.

Experiment and get the ideas down. Please offer suggestions to improve this site.