This plugin works well and is ultra simple to set up and use.

The plugin performs a simple search and replace. This can be extremely handy when substitutions are necessary. For instance, the TinyMCE WYSIWYG Editor wreaks havoc with embeded Flash SWF files (it has a tendency to set the width and height of the Flash component to zero). By using this plugin you can avoid the problem altogether.

This plugin works well and I highly recommend it. There is an enhancement I would recommend the developer of this plugin include which would make it better.

Incorporate some kind of escape sequence so that you can have the text appearing in the page without it necessarily being substituted. String substitutions useful, but once it is defined in the plugin, the substitution automatically happens EVERYWHERE on ANY page served up by Joomla. Giving web content developers a little more control would only enhance the value of the extremely useful plugin.

In summary, I highly recommend this plugin, and look forward to the day it incorporates additional features.

The CAPTCHA engine does exactly what it is supposed to do, in that it works very nicely on Joomla, providing the security protection needed for registration, login, etc. It integrates very nicely. There is one drawback, however; it is the installation process.

To work with Joomla 1.0.12, here is what I had to do to get it working:

1. Download the com_securityimages4.1.2.zip file. The link provided for downloading from this site (extensions.joomla.org) goes to an invalid page and the webmaster needs to correct this. It does take you to the www.waltercedric.com site. From there, look for the downloads link, and then to Joomla, and then further to security. There you will find the com_securityimages4.1.2.zip file.

2. Install it from Joomla
You have to know to install it as a Component and not a module or mambot (plugin).

3. Once successfully installed, go to the Components --> Security Images --> Edit General Settings and then click on the Joomla Patches tab. Here you find that a patch must be loaded. Conveniently the provide you with a link for patch, but there is no listing of patches for Joomla 1.0.12 from their link, only 1.0.11 and earlier.

4. Installing a patch after the download
I did some rummaging and found that there is a patch for 1.0.12 on Walter's site at:

ttp://www.waltercedric.com/component/option,com_docman/task,cat_view/gid,291/dir,DESC/order,name/limit,5/limitstart,5/

Running the patch through the Joomla installer does not seem to work. I examined the files and did a diff of the individual patch files against the installed files and found small differences in the code.

You could hand edit the files or just replace them with the ones in the patch distribution (if you are replacing the files, you would need to keep track of file ownership and permissions so that your installation is not disrupted). Needless to say, back up your files and take Joomla offline before making the changes.

There are many files that need to be replaced/modified and the directory structure of where the files belong is anything but flat. It is very easy to inadvertently clobber a file or two if you get distracted or are not careful.

After this is done, test your installation.

Although I had to jump through many hoops to do the install, it worked flawlessly upon the first install!

Is it worth it to go though this amount of effort for the convenience of security? Well, if you're in the business of hosting, security is everything.

I'm extremely happy I have this security tool. I hope there will be support running it on Joomla 1.5. I have not seen any indication of a new version in preparation. Hopefully, we;ll all be pleasantly surprised!