SharpSpring - Prevent form from automatically appearing if user has filled out form (without relying on cookies) - forms

Question

Ok, this is related to the question I asked a short while ago: Silverstripe/PHP/jQuery - Once form has been filled out by user, prevent it from automatically appearing for each visit
Something has changed since then. Per request of the client, the form must not automatically appear if the user has already filled it out and has thus been placed into SharpSpring. Originally, I was creating a cookie on successful form submission using JavaScript. However, the latest concern is that it's not effective enough as cookies are registered only to certain devices and browsers, and users can clear their cookies at any time.
Essentially, the desired result is to prevent the form from automatically appearing if the user has been registered in SharpSpring (a separate domain) without having to rely on cookies.
Has anyone ever attempted something like this, checking to see if a user has submitted a form to another domain?
For reference, here is the form code I have setup:
<?php
/*
Plugin Name: SharpSpring Form Plugin
Description: A custom form plugin that is SharpSpring-compatible and uses HTML, CSS, jQuery, and AJAX
Version: 1.0
*/
define('SSCFURL', WP_PLUGIN_URL . "/" . dirname(plugin_basename(__FILE__)));
define('SSCFPATH', WP_PLUGIN_DIR . "/" . dirname(plugin_basename(__FILE__)));
function sharpspringform_enqueuescripts()
{
wp_enqueue_script('jquery-src', SSCFURL . '/js/jquery.js', array('jquery'));
wp_enqueue_script('jquery-ui', SSCFURL . '/js/jquery-ui.js', array('jquery'));
wp_enqueue_script('boootstrap', SSCFURL . '/js/bootstrap.js', array('jquery'));
wp_localize_script('sharpspringform', 'sharpspringformajax', array('ajaxurl' => admin_url('admin-ajax.php')));
}
add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', 'sharpspringform_enqueuescripts');
function sharpspringform_show_form()
{
wp_enqueue_style( 'boilerplate', SSCFURL.'/css/boilerplate.css');
wp_enqueue_style( 'bootstrapcss', SSCFURL.'/css/bootstrap.css');
wp_enqueue_style( 'bookregistration', SSCFURL.'/css/Book-Registration.css');
wp_enqueue_style( 'formstyles', SSCFURL.'/css/styles.css');
?>
<div class="mobile-view" style="right: 51px;">
<a class="mobile-btn">
<span class="glyphicon glyphicon-arrow-left icon-arrow-mobile mobile-form-btn"></span>
</a>
</div>
<div class="slider register-photo">
<div class="form-inner">
<div class="form-container">
<form method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data" class="signupForm" id="browserHangFormPV">
<a class="sidebar">
<span class="glyphicon glyphicon-arrow-left icon-arrow arrow"></span>
</a>
<a class="closeBtn">
<span class="glyphicon glyphicon-remove"></span>
</a>
<h2 class="text-center black">Sign up for our newsletter.</h2>
<p class="errors-container light">Please fill in the required fields.</p>
<div class="success">Thank you for signing up!</div>
<div class="form-field-content">
<div class="form-group">
<input class="form-control FirstNameTxt" type="text" name="first_name" placeholder="*First Name"
autofocus="">
</div>
<div class="form-group">
<input class="form-control LastNameTxt" type="text" name="last_name" placeholder="*Last Name"
autofocus="">
</div>
<div class="form-group">
<input class="form-control EmailTxt" type="email" name="email" placeholder="*Email"
autofocus="">
</div>
<div class="form-group">
<input class="form-control CompanyTxt" type="text" name="company" placeholder="*Company"
autofocus="">
</div>
<div class="form-group submit-button">
<button class="btn btn-primary btn-block button-submit" type="button">SIGN ME UP</button>
<img src="/wp-content/plugins/sharpspring-form/img/ajax-loader.gif" class="progress" alt="Submitting...">
</div>
</div>
<br/>
<div class="privacy-link">
<a href="[privacy policy link]" class="already" target="_blank"><span
class="glyphicon glyphicon-lock icon-lock"></span>We will never share your information.</a>
</div>
</form>
<input type="hidden" id="gatewayEmbedID" value="<?php echo get_option( 'pv_signup_sharpspring_ID' ); ?>" />
<script type="text/javascript">
var embedID = document.getElementById("gatewayEmbedID").value;
var __ss_noform = __ss_noform || [];
__ss_noform.push(['baseURI', 'https://app-3QNAHNE212.marketingautomation.services/webforms/receivePostback/[redacted]']);
__ss_noform.push(['form', 'browserHangFormPV', embedID]);
__ss_noform.push(['submitType', 'manual']);
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://koi-3QNAHNE212.marketingautomation.services/client/noform.js?ver=1.24" ></script>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<?php
}
function sharpspringform_shortcode_func( $atts )
{
ob_start();
sharpspringform_show_form();
$output = ob_get_contents();
ob_end_clean();
return $output;
}
add_shortcode( 'sharpspringform', 'sharpspringform_shortcode_func' );
The form submission code with generates a cookie using JS:
;
(function ($) {
$(document).ready(function () {
var successMessage = $('.success');
var error = $('.errors-container');
var sharpSpringID = $('#gatewayEmbedID').val();
var submitbtn = $('.button-submit');
var SubmitProgress = $('img.progress');
var formdata = {};
function setCookie(cname, cvalue, exdays) {
var d = new Date();
d.setTime(d.getTime() + (exdays * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000));
var expires = "expires=" + d.toGMTString();
document.cookie = cname + "=" + cvalue + ";" + expires + ";path=/";
}
submitbtn.click(function (e) {
resetErrors();
postForm();
});
function resetErrors() {
$('.signupForm input').removeClass('error-field');
}
function postForm() {
$.each($('.signupForm input'), function (i, v) {
if (v.type !== 'submit') {
formdata[v.name] = v.value;
}
});
submitbtn.hide();
error.hide();
SubmitProgress.show();
$.ajax({
type: "POST",
data: formdata,
url: '/wp-content/plugins/sharpspring-form/sharpsring-form-submission.php',
dataType: "json"
}).done(function (response) {
submitbtn.show();
SubmitProgress.hide();
if (response.errors) {
error.show();
var errors = response.errors;
errors.forEach(function (error) {
$('input[name="' + error + '"]').addClass('error-field');
})
}
else {
__ss_noform.push(['submit', null, sharpSpringID]);
setCookie('SignupSuccess', 'NewsletterSignup', 3650);
$('#browserHangFormPV')[0].reset();
$('.form-field-content').hide();
successMessage.show();
$('.button-submit').html("Submitted");
}
});
}
});
}(jQuery));
The jQuery code that sets up the form sliding animation and popup feature, as well as checks for the existence of the JS cookie created on successful form submit:
jQuery.noConflict();
(function ($) {
$(document).ready(function () {
//This function checks if we are in mobile view or not to determine the
//UI behavior of the form.
checkCookie();
window.onload = checkWindowSize();
var arrowicon = $(".arrow");
var overlay = $("#overlay");
var slidingDiv = $(".slider");
var closeBtn = $(".closeBtn");
var mobileBtn = $(".mobile-btn");
//When the page loads, check the screen size.
//If the screen size is less than 768px, you want to get the function
//that opens the form as a popup in the center of the screen
//Otherwise, you want it to be a slide-out animation from the right side
function checkWindowSize() {
if ($(window).width() <= 768) {
//get function to open form at center of screen
if(sessionStorage["PopupShown"] != 'yes' && !checkCookie()){
setTimeout(formModal, 5000);
function formModal() {
slidingDiv.addClass("showForm")
overlay.addClass("showOverlay");
overlay.removeClass('hideOverlay');
mobileBtn.addClass("hideBtn");
}
}
}
else {
//when we aren't in mobile view, let's just have the form slide out from the right
if(sessionStorage["PopupShown"] != 'yes' && !checkCookie()){
setTimeout(slideOut, 5000);
function slideOut() {
slidingDiv.animate({'right': '-20px'}).addClass('open');
arrowicon.addClass("glyphicon-arrow-right");
arrowicon.removeClass("glyphicon-arrow-left");
overlay.addClass("showOverlay");
overlay.removeClass("hideOverlay");
}
}
}
}
function getCookie(cname) {
var name = cname + "=";
var ca = document.cookie.split(';');
for(var i = 0; i < ca.length; i++) {
var c = ca[i];
while (c.charAt(0) == ' ') {
c = c.substring(1);
}
if (c.indexOf(name) == 0) {
return c.substring(name.length, c.length);
}
}
return "";
}
function checkCookie() {
var user = getCookie("SignupSuccess");
if (user != "") {
return true;
} else {
return false;
}
}
/*
------------------------------------------------------------
Functions to open/close form like a modal in center of screen in mobile view
------------------------------------------------------------
*/
mobileBtn.click(function () {
slidingDiv.addClass("showForm");
slidingDiv.removeClass("hideForm");
overlay.addClass("showOverlay");
overlay.removeClass('hideOverlay');
mobileBtn.addClass("hideBtn");
});
closeBtn.click(function () {
slidingDiv.addClass("hideForm");
slidingDiv.removeClass("showForm");
overlay.removeClass("showOverlay");
overlay.addClass("hideOverlay")
mobileBtn.removeClass("hideBtn");
sessionStorage["PopupShown"] = 'yes'; //Save in the sessionStorage if the modal has been shown
});
/*
------------------------------------------------------------
Function to slide the sidebar form out/in
------------------------------------------------------------
*/
arrowicon.click(function () {
if (slidingDiv.hasClass('open')) {
slidingDiv.animate({'right': '-390px'}, 200).removeClass('open');
arrowicon.addClass("glyphicon-arrow-left");
arrowicon.removeClass("glyphicon-arrow-right");
overlay.removeClass("showOverlay");
overlay.addClass("hideOverlay");
sessionStorage["PopupShown"] = 'yes'; //Save in the sessionStorage if the modal has been shown
} else {
slidingDiv.animate({'right': '-20px'}, 200).addClass('open');
arrowicon.addClass("glyphicon-arrow-right");
arrowicon.removeClass("glyphicon-arrow-left");
overlay.addClass("showOverlay");
overlay.removeClass("hideOverlay");
}
});
});
}(jQuery));

Answer 1

I'm confused by the WordPress code here, rather than SilverStripe, it's not clear in your question which platform you're using.
Basically, if you want something more robust than cookies, you'll need to store the registration in the database and check it there (assuming the registration form is on your site). This means you handle the form submission on your site, send the data to the remote site and check the responses, and if all goes well, save the fact that the user has registered remotely into your database where you can check when deciding whether to show the form or not, next time.
If you don't have access to the registration form, or you want to also notice registrations made independently of your site, then you need to have an API you can query on the remote site in order to see if the user is registered.
I found a sharpspring API, but I'm not sure if it's relevant.