Forms one word responses

Support
1

Hi everyone,

the site information are:
custom domain: https://junges-uno-netzwerk.de
netlify domain: https://junges-uno-netzwerk.netlify.app

I am running into a persistent problem with netlify forms or html forms in general (I am not sure who is to blame). Forms are working correctly and responses are properly received in netlify. I do however get a lot of one word responses, that make no sense and I presume are spam.
In response I have already added a honeypot field, that is registered by netlify so I assume it is working.
I have attached a screenshot of one such response. I am quite at a loss what actually happens here and would be thankful for any information or troubleshooting support.

Screenshot from 2020-05-05 21-27-46
Screenshot from 2020-05-05 21-27-461042×161 5.8 KB

2

hi phil,

so you are seeing these one-word, likely spam, form responses after implementing a honeypot field, is that correct? i want to make sure i get that right.

3

Hi thank you for the response. You are correct I implemented a honeypot field as described in the netlify docs Spam filters | Netlify Docs .

I am using GatsbyJS to build the site so the implementation is done in JavaScript and compiled to HTML. This is the actual implmentation with jsx syntax:

const ContactForm = () => {
  return (
    <PositionedCard>
      <h1>Interesse oder Fragen?</h1>
      <h2>Schreib uns:</h2>
      <form
        name="contact"
        method="post"
        data-netlify="true"
        action="/thank-you"
        netlify-honeypot="bot-field"
      >
        <input type="hidden" name="form-name" value="contact" />
        <p class="hidden">
          <label>
            Don’t fill this out if you're human: <input name="bot-field" />
          </label>
        </p>
        <label htmlFor="email">E-Mail:</label>
        <input
          type="email"
          name="email"
          id="email"
          className="input"
          placeholder="maria.musterfrau@gmail.com"
        />
        <label htmlFor="description">Anliegen:</label>
        <textarea
          type="text"
          name="description"
          id="description"
          className="input"
        />
        <Button type="submit">Senden</Button>
      </form>
    </PositionedCard>
  )
}`
4

and you’ve verified that the honey pot field is present in the actual html?
You might download the generated site just to sanity check that:

5

I am quite sure it is. This is an extract from the html that is served to my browser:

<input type="hidden" name="form-name" value="contact" />
<p class="hidden">
  <label>Don’t fill this out if you're human: <input name="bot-field" /></label>
</p>
<label for="email">E-Mail:</label
><input
  type="email"
  name="email"
  id="email"
  class="input"
  placeholder="maria.musterfrau@gmail.com"
/><label for="description">Anliegen:</label
><textarea
  type="text"
  name="description"
  id="description"
  class="input"
></textarea
><button type="submit" class="Buttons__StyledButton-rqenkh-0 hCRAzt">
  Senden
</button>
6

The best way to prevent spam is to implement both a honeypot, which you have, and a recaptcha. The recaptcha instructions are here: Spam filters | Netlify Docs.

Please give that a try and let us know if that helps.

Regarding the existing spam submissions, you can mark them as “spam” right in the Netlify UI. More on that here: Form submissions | Netlify Docs

7

Hi laura,

I will do that as soon as possible. I had however hoped to avoid adding a captcha. Is the honeypot just insufficent or not working?

8

Without deep-diving in to the effectiveness of a honeypot, it’s evidenced that captchas and honeypots compliment eachother. There’s a lot of material out there which discusses why a honeypot alone may not be effective in given circumstances.

No one solution is foolproof but, together, they work pretty well. :+1: