Title: RudyQ Shield
Author: Rudolph DSouza
Published: <strong>November 14, 2026</strong>
Last modified: November 14, 2026

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![](https://s.w.org/plugins/geopattern-icon/rudyq-shield.svg)

# RudyQ Shield

 By [Rudolph DSouza](https://profiles.wordpress.org/rudyq/)

[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/rudyq-shield.1.0.1.zip)

 * [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/rudyq-shield/#description)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/rudyq-shield/#reviews)
 *  [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/rudyq-shield/#installation)
 * [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/rudyq-shield/#developers)

 [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/rudyq-shield/)

## Description

**RudyQ Shield** is a privacy-first, self-hosted CAPTCHA designed for real humans.

Instead of classic math problems like “1 + 1 = ?”, it asks natural language number
questions in the 0–9 range, for example:

 * What is the number just before 5?
 * What is the number between 7 and 9?
 * Add one to 2. What is the result?
 * Minus two from 5. What is the result?

#### Features

 * Protects WordPress login, registration, password recovery and comment forms
 * Intelligent number-based challenges (0–9)
 * IP-based rate limiting
 * WordPress nonces and short-lived challenge tokens
 * Time-based validation
 * Honeypot field
 * Browser / automation detection signals
 * Colorblind-safe and high-contrast themes
 * Screen-reader friendly markup
 * Fully self-hosted – no external API calls
 * Clean uninstall removes all plugin options and data
 * No license keys, trials, quotas, or feature locks

All listed features are available on activation with no restrictions.

## Installation

 1. Upload the `rudyq-shield` folder to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory, or install
    the zip via Plugins  Add New  Upload.
 2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
 3. Go to Settings  RudyQ Shield to enable protection on the forms you want and choose
    theme / palette.

## FAQ

### Does it call any external service?

No. Everything runs on your server. No phone-home, no third-party APIs, no analytics
beacons.

### Are any features locked or license-gated?

No. The plugin is fully functional under the GPL. There are no license keys, trial
periods, usage quotas, or disabled modules.

### Can I remove the “Protected by RudyQ Shield” link?

The plugin shows a small credit link by default. Removing or changing it does not
disable CAPTCHA, login, or any other feature. There is no attribution integrity 
lock.

## Reviews

There are no reviews for this plugin.

## Contributors & Developers

“RudyQ Shield” is open source software. The following people have contributed to
this plugin.

Contributors

 *   [ Rudolph DSouza ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/rudyq/)

[Translate “RudyQ Shield” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/rudyq-shield)

### Interested in development?

[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/rudyq-shield/), check
out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/rudyq-shield/), or subscribe
to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/rudyq-shield/) by
[RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/rudyq-shield/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).

## Changelog

#### 1.0.1

 * Renamed plugin slug and text domain from rudix-captcha to rudyq-shield
 * Removed attribution integrity check and all feature-disable logic tied to branding
 * Credit link “Protected by RudyQ Shield” shown by default; removing it does not
   disable any feature
 * All CAPTCHA features remain fully available with no locks, trials, or quotas
 * Removed enterprise / license modules from the free distribution
 * Fixed Plugin Check i18n, escaping, and filesystem findings
 * Clean uninstall and legacy option cleanup

#### 1.0.0

 * Initial release

## Meta

 *  Version **1.0.1**
 *  Last updated **1 day ago**
 *  Active installations **Fewer than 10**
 *  WordPress version ** 5.8 or higher **
 *  Tested up to **7.1.4**
 *  PHP version ** 7.4 or higher **
 * Tags
 * [antispam](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/antispam/)[captcha](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/captcha/)
   [comments](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/comments/)[login](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/login/)
   [security](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/security/)
 *  [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/rudyq-shield/advanced/)

## Ratings

No reviews have been submitted yet.

[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/rudyq-shield/reviews/#new-post)

[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/rudyq-shield/reviews/)

## Contributors

 *   [ Rudolph DSouza ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/rudyq/)

## Support

Got something to say? Need help?

 [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/rudyq-shield/)

## Donate

Would you like to support the advancement of this plugin?

 [ Donate to this plugin ](https://rudyq.com)