Security is a big concern for any online eCommerce store. Especially if you are using WooCommerce, you may be aware that it is open-source software, and you need to take some extra steps to ensure your store’s security.
Adding an extra security layer to your WooCommerce store to protect it from fake or fraudulent orders is an excellent idea. These spam orders may cause you to lose money and your Google rankings.
CAPTCHAs will help you avoid spam or fraudulent orders and improve your site’s security.
To help you with this, I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process to add a CAPTCHA to WooCommerce checkout in today’s tutorial. It is a very straightforward process to do so. Just follow the steps mentioned in this tutorial.
Before diving into the tutorial, let’s explore the different types of CAPTCHA.
What is CAPTCHA?
CAPTCHA stands for ‘Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.’ It is a modern technology that tells the difference between human users and automated ones (like spam bots) and ensures the site is secure.
It gives challenges or puzzles that computers find challenging but that humans find simple. For instance, recognizing squished letters or numbers or targeting a specific region to click on.
The CAPTCHA generates and displays simple front-end challenges the user must complete before accessing the site.
The CAPTCHA allows filtering out unwanted traffic and blocking automated programs and bots from accessing your site.
So it is an excellent idea to keep such traffic away from your site.
Types of CAPTCHA
Following are a few types of CAPTCHA.
1. Not a Robot Checkbox CAPTCHA
To complete this CAPTCHA, the user will move the mouse cursor to the checkbox and click it. This action serves as data for the model, which decides whether you are a human. If so, great; otherwise, the user will not be allowed to access the site.
2. Image CAPTCHA
It’s the standard for most CAPTCHA, and the one most people use. To prove they are human, users must select the appropriate image boxes from a series presented.
Visitors can bypass the CAPTCHA and request a new one if the image or instructions are unclear.
3. Text CAPTCHA
To complete the text CAPTCHA, visitors must enter the text that is displayed in the image into the submit box to access a particular page or complete a task such as submitting a form.
They will be taken to the subsequent page automatically if the user enters the text correctly. On the other hand, if the text is inaccurate, the system will automatically generate another text CAPTCHA that users will need to enter.
Now that we are familiar with a few most used types of CAPTCHA, let’s dive in to add CAPTCHA to WooCommerce Checkout.
How to Add CAPTCHA to WooCommerce Checkout?
Please follow the steps to add a CAPTCHA to WooCommerce checkout and avoid fraudulent orders.
1. Install the CAPTCHA Plugin
First, we need to install and activate the CAPTCHA plugin from WordPress.
To install a plugin, navigate to Plugins » Add New from your WordPress admin dashboard and search for the ‘captcha for woocommerce’ in the search bar.
You’ll see tons of plugins. You need to install the one from RelyWP. I have already installed and activated the plugin.
Once you have installed and activated the plugin, navigate to Settings reCAPTCHA WooCommerce from your WordPress admin dashboard.
3. Get the API Key Settings
Once you are in the plugin’s settings, please click the link to get your API credentials. It’ll open in a new table.
This link will take you to google reCAPTCHA, where you’ll submit the domain and select the CAPTCHA type and other details to get the API credentials.
Note: Ensure to select the reCAPTCHA type as ‘reCAPTCHA v2’, and please do not add HTTPS protocol or any backslash while adding your domain name.
Without these details, you cannot use google reCAPTCHA on your site. It is super important to get these details if you want to add a CAPTCHA to WooCommerce checkout or any other form on your site.
Once you have filled in the details, hit the blue ‘Submit’ button to get the API site key and secret.
4. Copy and Paste the API Credentials
Once you get the details, copy the site key and secret and paste them into the plugin’s settings in the WordPress dashboard.
5. Add CAPTCHA to WooCommerce Checkout
Now scroll down a bit and check the ‘WooCommerce Checkout’ checkbox to add a CAPTCHA to WooCommerce Checkout, and click the blue ‘Save Changes’ button to save the settings.
6. Test the API Response
Now you need to test the API response to ensure everything is working fine.
Once your settings are saved, you’ll see a CAPTCHA that you need to check the checkbox and click the green ‘Test API Response’ button below it to ensure the CAPTCHA is working.
If the CAPTCHA is working correctly. You’ll see a success message something like this.
7. Final Results
Once the settings are saved, let’s test whether the CAPTCHA is added to WooCmmerce checkout.
To test it, please visit your store’s checkout page, and you’ll notice that the CAPTCHA has been added to WooCommerce checkout.
Final Thoughts
I hope this article was helpful to you and you were able to add CAPTCHA to WooCommerce checkout easily.
However, if you want to improve the WooCommerce checkout page, you can follow the following guides.
