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Entry Restrictions

These features available on All Plans (except where noted)

Overview

Contests, giveaways, and sweepstakes often involve enticing prizes, ranging from fun swag to high-value makeovers. However, without proper entry restrictions, you risk poor-quality leads, spam, bot entries, and dissatisfied clients. This document outlines methods to restrict and manage entries effectively.

Restrict via Email Address

Restrict entries based on a specific email address:

  1. Open the Form Container settings.
  2. Navigate to the Entry Restrictions section.
  3. Select Email Address and specify the time frame for entries.
    • Example: Restrict entries to 1 every 24 hours.

Email Login

This feature available on the Pro Plan

The Email Login method is the most secure way to prevent fraudulent entries. It requires entrants to verify their email via a unique code, ensuring only valid email addresses are used.

Steps to Set Up Email Login:

  1. Add a Field Widget to your Form Container.
  2. Select Login Field from the list of fields.
  3. In the Layout section, click the red Email Configuration Required button.
  4. Create a new email campaign in the wizard to configure the verification email.
    • Save and activate the campaign.
  5. Customize the email campaign text, then save and exit.
  6. Close the Login Field Widget by clicking Save and Exit.
  7. Open the Form Container settings.
  8. Ensure the container is set to restrict entries by login.
  9. Adjust the number of allowable entries per time frame, then save and exit.

Country-Based Visibility

Restrict or display content based on the visitor’s country, using their IP address to determine location. This helps reduce spam and improve lead quality.

Steps to Set Country-Based Visibility:

  1. Open the visibility settings for the widget you want to configure.
  2. Click All Countries to access the country picker.
  3. Select specific countries from the dropdown:
    • Click a country to add it to the Visible Countries column.
    • Use the Select All button for all countries, and move selected countries as needed.

Bot Prevention

Google reCaptcha

Enable Google reCaptcha to add a CAPTCHA to your forms or voting widgets.

  1. Locate the Google reCaptcha setting in the Form Container or Entry Display Widget settings.
  2. In the Restrictions section, check the box to Enable Google reCaptcha.
  3. Adjust the Sensitivity Level slider to determine CAPTCHA strictness.
    • If entrants encounter issues, move the slider left to make the CAPTCHA more lenient.

Cloudflare Turnstile

This feature available on the Pro Plan

Cloudflare Turnstile creates a turnstile to verify whether visitors are human before they access your campaign.

Adjusting Cloudflare Turnstile Settings:

  1. Access the Campaign Builder Settings (gear icon at the top of the builder).

  2. Click the Security section.

  3. Select one of the following options from the dropdown:

    • Invisible (default): Best for embedded campaigns. Uses an invisible challenge with no interaction.
    • Visible: Prompts visitors with an interactive challenge if necessary. Ideal for stand-alone landing pages.
    • Disable: Turns off Turnstile (not recommended due to increased fraud risk).

  4. For embedded campaigns, check the box to Enable if my campaign is embedded to activate Cloudflare Turnstile.

Key Notes

  • Both Google reCaptcha and Cloudflare Turnstile are valuable tools for reducing bot entries, though no method is completely foolproof.
  • ShortStack engineers are continuously improving bot prevention solutions.
  • For best results, combine multiple restriction methods to secure your campaigns effectively.

 

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