PreHook crawlerDetectBlock

FormIt preHook: blocks form submission if the request is from a bot (by User-Agent). The form is not validated or processed further; the user sees the message from settings.

Usage: add crawlerDetectBlock to FormIt’s preHooks parameter.

If you already have other preHooks, list them comma-separated: crawlerDetectBlock,otherHook.

How it works

1. User submits the form.
2. FormIt runs preHook crawlerDetectBlock before validation and send.
3. If User-Agent is a bot → form is not processed; message from crawlerdetect_block_message is shown.
4. If human → form is processed as usual.

Block message

Text is set in System settings → crawlerdetect_block_message. Default: "Failed to submit form. Please try again later."

Output in the form template via FormIt placeholder:

• MODX: [[+fi.validation_error_message]]
• Fenom: {$modx->getPlaceholder('fi.validation_error_message')}

Examples

modx

[[!FormIt?
  &preHooks=`crawlerDetectBlock`
  &hooks=`email,redirect`
]]
[[+fi.validation_error_message]]
<form method="post">...</form>

fenom

{$modx->runSnippet('FormIt', [
  'preHooks' => 'crawlerDetectBlock',
  'hooks' => 'email,redirect'
])}
{if $modx->getPlaceholder('fi.validation_error_message')}
  <div class="error">{$modx->getPlaceholder('fi.validation_error_message')}</div>
{/if}
<form method="post">...</form>

Multiple preHooks (e.g. with CAPTCHA)

modx

&preHooks=`crawlerDetectBlock,recaptcha`

fenom

'preHooks' => 'crawlerDetectBlock,recaptcha'

CrawlerDetect runs first and blocks bots before CAPTCHA.

Compatibility

• FetchIt — if FetchIt posts to a page with FormIt, add crawlerDetectBlock to FormIt preHooks on that page. When a bot is blocked FetchIt gets an error response and shows the message from CrawlerDetect settings.
• SendIt — FormIt parameters are in presets (file from si_path_to_presets). Add 'preHooks' => 'crawlerDetectBlock' to the preset. When a bot is blocked SendIt returns an error and shows the message from CrawlerDetect settings. See Integration → SendIt.
• AjaxForm — if AjaxForm calls FormIt on the server, add crawlerDetectBlock to FormIt preHooks — protection will work.