Web Strategy and Development Blog

Web Press Forms Overhaul

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Form validation

We’ve updated forms created in Web Press to use HTML5 validation when possible. If the user has a browser which supports the feature (currently just Chrome and FireFox), the browser itself will handle making sure that the form is valid  before submission. For non-supporting browsers (namely Internet Explorer, Safari and some mobile browsers), we use some new JavaScript  to enable the same functionality. This change provides a significant upgrade to the user experience with Web Press forms.

Chrome HTML5 Validation FireFox HTML5 Validation

Javascript Form Validation

New CAPTCHA

New CAPTCHA
New CAPTCHA

As part of this upgrade we are transitioning to a new CAPTCHA (a CAPTCHA is the human verification test used to prevent automated spam). We now use a free service to generate both the visual and audio CAPTCHA on demand. It also provides a newer interface and experience.

Updating your form

When your form is next published from Web Press, you will get the updated version. You can see the new form validation in action at http://www.missouristate.edu/web/RedirectRequest.htm

WordPress Upgrade to 2.7 + some new plugins

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The WordPress upgrade to the new version 2.7 was successful yesterday. If you now login to your blog, you will see that the Dashboard is significantly different. We are currently working on updating all of our Blog Setup and Instructions pages to mirror the changes made to the Dashboard. These new instructions should be updated next week. *The instructions are now updated as of 3/30/09*

Our anti-spam plugin, Defensio, was not working correctly with the new upgraded version of WordPress, so it has been replaced with the WP-SpamFree plugin. I activated it on all of the blogs in our system, so you shouldn’t really see any changes. I also added the SI-Captcha plugin to all of the blogs that were not using it, just as an extra precaution. If someone is logged in the Captcha won’t show up on the comments, but if someone isn’t logged in it will appear.

The other two new plugins are WPtouch and the KB Advanced RSS Widget. WPtouch reformats your site with a mobile theme when viewed with an Apple iPhone, Apple iPod touch, Google Android or Blackberry Storm touch mobile device. It does not affect the look of your blog when viewed in a normal web browser. You can look at this blog on a mobile device to see an example of how it works (it’s really neat). The KB Advanced RSS Widget allows you to pull in RSS Feeds into a Sidebar Widget. You can add multiple widgets for different feeds. The ‘Media’ widget on the right sidebar of this blog is a working example of this new plugin.

New WordPress Plugins

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Some new plugins have been added over recent weeks, and I wanted to highlight them to all of our WordPress users in case you would like to add them to your blog:

  1. Counterize II – this plugin will show you a simple counter on your Dashboard of how many visitors you have per day on your blog.
  2. SI CAPTCHA – this plugin requires a reader to fill out a CAPTCHA form before they can comment on your blog. This will help to protect your blog from spam comments.

To enable these new plugins, simply click on the ‘Plugins’ link on the right side of your Dashboard, and then click on the ‘Activate’ link on the plugins you would like to add to your blog.