JSSpamBlock 2.0, ImageScaler 1.1

Update: Due to lack of time and interest (on my part), I am no longer maintaining JSSpamBlock or ImageScaler.

JSSpamBlock and ImageScaler were both originally one-day projects that turned out to be a bit more popular than I expected. Recently I have neglected to update them at all, but with reports of ImageScaler not working on WordPress 2.3, I decided to put a day aside and make some changes I had been meaning to make for a while.

A new version of ImageScaler was released last week (thanks to David Karlsson for doing most if not all of the work). I still got comments that it didn’t work with WordPress 2.3, so I installed WordPress 2.3 myself to see what the problem is. I didn’t have any issues, but I made some changes to ImageScaler that might make it more likely to work. If you still have problems with WordPress 2.3, let me know. I also made another major change - images hosted on other servers were previously ignored by ImageScaler and left as-is. Now they are mirrored on the server and can be re-sized properly. Also, images are now always resized so that the aspect ratio is preserved. You can download ImageScaler 1.1 from WordPress.

The new version of JSSpamBlock doesn’t need a database. It uses sessions instead. I also cleaned up the code a bit and tested it with WordPress 2.3. You can download JSSpamBlock 2.0 from WordPress.

Posted on Oct 20th, 2007 in JSSpamBlock, Image Scaler

Comments

  1. Did you switch from using a database because of user complaints about setup troubles or for performance? I ask because relying on sessions means that the visitor must have cookies enabled, doesn’t it? It’s true that most people will have cookies enabled, but because there are some who have them disabled, relying on sessions slightly decreases commenting accessibility.

    Comment by Peter — October 20, 2007 @ 8:49 pm

  2. Hi Paul,

    I installed version 2.0 and unfortunately it won’t allow any comment to be posted whether or not Java is enabled or not. I checked with both Firefox 2 and IE 7.0. I’m running WP 2.3. The previous version worked fine.

    If I disable Java in Firefox 2 (using the Web Developer Toolbar) the “captcha” section shows up as it’s supposed to. With Java enabled it doesn’t. Either way, on submit comment, the page goes to your default warning that you have to enter the number in the box, go try again whether I enter the number in the box or not or if Java is enabled. Had to deactivate.

    Unfortunately I don’t seem to have the previous version anywhere. Hope I can get a copy from you?

    Comment by Kirk M — October 22, 2007 @ 10:23 am

  3. Peter, I switched to sessions mainly for performance. The performance difference on a normal installation should be negligible, but for a user with WP-Cache, using JSSpamBlock previously would silently include a bunch of files that made WP-Cache less useful. Using sessions I figured I could get around this. You make a good point about accessibility, and I will try to think of a way to get around that. Perhaps I should go back to a database after all.

    Kirk, thanks for letting me know about that, I wonder if maybe you have cookies disabled? I do have a copy of JSSpamBlock 1.4 still, I have uploaded it here in case anyone else has the same problem.

    Comment by Paul Butler — October 22, 2007 @ 1:01 pm

  4. Ive installed it and the test comment seems to be working.
    thx for a gr8 plugin Paul.

    Comment by Alfred — October 22, 2007 @ 2:23 pm

  5. Hi Paul,

    I have cookies enabled. I’m wondering if it might be conflicting with the WP-Ajax-Edit-Comments plugin since that is the only other Ajax type feature I have and it’s directly related to comments. I’ll reinstall the latest JSSPamBlock version again and try it with that particular plugin activated. I’m not sure what has changed between 1.4 and 2.0 but I’ll give it a shot. Thanks for the link to 1.4 BTW.

    Comment by Kirk M — October 22, 2007 @ 4:18 pm

  6. I’ll reinstall the latest JSSPamBlock version again and try it with that particular plugin activated.

    uh…I meant “deactivated”. Sorry about that.

    Comment by Kirk M — October 22, 2007 @ 4:20 pm

  7. Hmm, I have not used WP-Ajax-Edit-Comments but from the name it sounds like it could be the cause. I would appreciate it if you let me know how it goes.

    Also, since you are using a custom theme you might have to add the hook. I just realized this morning that the documentation on adding the hook has not changed to reflect the new version, so for now you can find the updated documentation here.

    Comment by Paul Butler — October 23, 2007 @ 9:15 am

  8. Hey Paul - the new version of ImageScaler works brilliantly! You have no idea how happy this has made me. ;)

    Cheers to you (and David)!

    Comment by Jason Rappaport — October 27, 2007 @ 4:55 pm

  9. Hi I have problem. I just upgraded to the newest version of jssspamblock and the newest version of wordpress but I get the error message: Fatal error: Call to undefined function jsspamblock_doform(). I have made sure the plugin is activated and I have the inside the form tags.

    Any sugestions?

    Comment by Lars Olav — October 31, 2007 @ 7:45 am

  10. Lars, I forgot to update that part of the documentation for JSSpamBlock 2.0. I have created a workaround, but it doesn’t work. I have isolated the problem to what appears to be a bug in WordPress, so I am in the process of figuring that out. For now you can use the following code in your comments.php instead:

    < ?php do_action('comment_form', $post->ID); ?>

    (remove the space between < and ?)

    Comment by Paul Butler — November 1, 2007 @ 7:45 am

  11. I activate this JSSpamBlock 2.0 and I still get spam in my akismet. Is this plugin really get in place before akismet? Because in log in don’t see any rejects, but it’s in my spam. So this must be akismet job then.

    Comment by sekundek — November 8, 2007 @ 5:22 am

  12. I installed the 1.1 version of ImageScaler and tried it out with some hotlinked images. ImageScaler created a wp-contetn/imagescaler-directory and wrote a file into it, but not only was this file not readable by the browser, also nothing changed although I have set the max-width to 450px. GD is installed as the plugin tells me…

    What’s wrong? What can I check to tell exactly where the error is?

    Comment by Michael — November 24, 2007 @ 5:52 am

  13. Michael, unfortunately the current version of ImageScaler will not tell you what the error is when it encounters one, it is supposed to just fail silently. Soon after I released the last one I wrote a new version that will tell you what error it encountered, and I still have it. However, I got unexpected behavior from WordPress and the new features don’t work. I haven’t had any luck getting a response from anyone at WordPress. I sent you an email with some more information.

    Comment by Paul Butler — November 24, 2007 @ 8:28 am

  14. I am having a similar problem to Michael - the folder is made, the scaled images are written to it, but when I hit save, Firefox prompts me to download post.php rather than actually save. Also, the GD says it is installed..

    Comment by cardinalfang — December 11, 2007 @ 4:46 pm

  15. Hello, I have tried to install the plugin in my friend’s website which is using the latest version of wordpress 2.03 and your plugin doesn’t work.

    That’s sad because it was very useful. The version 2 works in my site which uses an older version of wordpress.

    Is there anything we can do to make it work?

    Thank you
    Lena

    Comment by Lena — January 26, 2008 @ 12:41 pm

  16. Hey, I installed ImageScaler 1.1 in Wordpress 2.3.3 and it doesn’t work. No new directories were made and basically nothing happened at all.

    Comment by Aaron — February 11, 2008 @ 6:30 pm

  17. I take it back, I can sometimes make it work…

    If I link to an image on my server or another server, it works fine. But if I use FCKEditor to upload an image to my server, then it doesn’t work.

    Comment by Aaron — February 11, 2008 @ 6:45 pm

  18. Thanks for the wonderful plugins. After installing and activating jsspamblock, I see following code in the source:

    For spam filtering purposes, please copy the number 4484 to the field below:

    However, if I add to comment.php, I get fatal error Lars got (see earlier post). I assume I should not need to add that line, correct? But what’s the reason for the error?

    Comment by Mei — February 15, 2008 @ 11:21 am

  19. Hmm… It seems to automatically convert the html and php code I posted, so it makes my post look really stupid. Hope you get what I’m trying to say. Basically, I can see jsspamblock related code in the source of my post/comment page. But if I add that extra line of jsspamblock_doform, I get a fatal error on the page.

    Comment by Mei — February 15, 2008 @ 11:25 am

  20. I installed your plugin and it works very well. I had no spam comment since installing it (before 30-60 a day).
    Great work.
    Are you interested in publishing a german version of this plugin? I translated it for my website and the german users could have a faster start with this one.

    Comment by Moritz — March 20, 2008 @ 12:35 am

  21. Hi This is really the kind of plugin I have been lookin for though It wont work on wordpress 2.5 any plan to fix it for wordpress 2.5?
    actually it does the work but after activating it I cant access my homepage posts. It seems not disabling anythin at the post pages but blog home pages I cant see anythin but first post with title. no sidebars no nothing
    I appriciate your efforts

    Comment by bdtmz — April 7, 2008 @ 8:03 pm

  22. I am sorry I was talking about imagescale

    Comment by bdtmz — April 7, 2008 @ 8:04 pm

  23. bdtmz, sorry, I’ve stopped development of both plugins. Any more time spent coding for this blog will most likely be to move it away from WordPress.

    Comment by Paul Butler — April 12, 2008 @ 8:44 am

  24. I am not able to use the Blog This feature in Flickr if this plugin is activated. I have the very latest version of WP and your plugin installed.

    Comment by Kevin Purcell — May 6, 2008 @ 3:36 am

  25. Testing for JSSpamBlock

    Comment by eConsultant — May 24, 2008 @ 3:09 pm

Post a comment

For spam detection purposes, please copy the number 9979 to the field below: