The contact form on the previous website used a server-side ‘captcha’ system whereby a script would produce an image composed of random alphanumeric characters, a user would replicate them in a field on the form, and another script would then run to verify that the user copied them correctly. The point of this was to prevent automated spam-bots, etc. The system wasn’t infallible, and on one occasion someone did manage to perform an SQL injection thanks to my sloppy code! 🙂 The contact form on the new site utilizes Google ReCaptcha and gives people the option to have a copy of the email sent to themselves too.
P.S I’m well aware how dull this development blog is. It’s helpful to me to know where I’m at with the redesign though, and will ultimately be buried away in the new site so that only the most determined will find it! It’s a wildlife site, after all 🙂