Cloudflare Turnstile CAPTCHA Setup

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT | Recorded: 2025-08-22 | Verify against current system state

Abstract¶

Brief overview of Cloudflare Turnstile implementation for spam prevention on Craft CMS website forms. Following a spam incident that affected both Zendesk and the website, Cloudflare Turnstile was configured as a reCAPTCHA alternative. The setting is configured in Freeform plugin under Settings > Captchas, replacing the deprecated Honeypot functionality.

Key Procedures¶

• Navigate to Freeform > Settings > Captchas
• Configure Cloudflare Turnstile with API key and username
• Turnstile widget appears at bottom of forms on front-end

Notable Statements¶

• 0:00:00 "As many of you know, last week we had quite a bit of spam come through via various forms."
• 0:00:27 "The big one is called Cloudflare Turnstile and it's like a recaptcha that appears on the bottom of forms."
• 0:00:53 "This is different than it was in the past. We used to have this thing called Honeypot and a few other things that doesn't exist anymore."

Systems & Configurations¶

Systems Mentioned¶

• Craft CMS (content management)
• Freeform (form plugin)
• Cloudflare Turnstile (CAPTCHA replacement)
• Zendesk (ticketing, also affected by spam)

Specific Configurations¶

Credentials/Access Mentioned¶

• Cloudflare Turnstile API key (not shown on screen)
• Cloudflare Turnstile username/credentials

Errors & Troubleshooting¶

• Issue: Spam coming through website forms
• Cause: Previous Honeypot method no longer effective
• Resolution: Implement Cloudflare Turnstile CAPTCHA
• Timestamp: 0:00:00

Transcript Gaps & Quality Notes¶

• Transcript cut short, does not show front-end demonstration
• Credentials intentionally hidden from screen share
• Spam incident affected both Zendesk and Craft CMS forms
• Honeypot functionality deprecated in newer Freeform versions