Some time ago, Google had updated it's reCaptcha spam filtering plugin to be more user-friendly, labeling it as V2. In case you're not familiar with it, reCaptcha is a powerful tool that has been used on most Gutensite forms and contact pages to prevent robots from obnoxiously sending spam emails out to you.
Effective February 28th, 2018 the original reCaptcha V1 spam filter has been deprecated and can no longer be used. What this means for you is that if you have not made use of and added the new reCaptcha to your website yet, you'll find that the old verification box has now been removed from your pages outside of your preview domain.
If you're still looking to protect your mailbox from potential spam, be sure enable reCaptcha V2 on your website.
This change is automatic if your website is accessed through your preview domain, e.g. foobar.gutensite.net. But unfortunately, unlike the previous plugin, the new reCaptcha plugin only works with an API key that specifies the exact domains that it works on. So you'll have to fill out a form to get your own API key, and enter it in your Gutensite control panel.
Getting an API Key
- To create an API key, go to Google's reCaptcha admin page and register a new site.
- Enter the domains that this Key is valid for.
- Copy your "Site Key" (public) and "Secret Key" (private).
Adding your Google reCaptcha
- Login to your Gutensite Admin
- Go to Admin > Tools > Third Party Settings
- Find the section for Google reCaptcha and Paste in your Public and Secret key into the right fields and save.