If you plan to use an image CAPTCHA

• You MUST create a directory where the CAPTCHA will be written
• Joomla needs read and write rights to this directory
• The directory must be publicly accessible via a URL
  I.e.  the CAPTCHA directory is /var/www/yoursite.com/images/captcha
  the URL would be http://yoursite.com/images/captcha
• Creates CAPTCHA files with prefix "captcha_" and erases old images
• Do not set the CAPTCHA word length to greater than 8

If you are unsure of the exact path to use, proceed  as follows

• Login as a Joomla admin
• Go to the System - Global Configuration menu
• Select Server
• Examine the setting in the field Path to Temp Folder
• One level up will be the /path/to/joomla
• Use the tools provided by your web hosting provider to create a folder /path/to/joomla/captcha
• This is the path you will then need to specify when configuring the module:
  Advanced Options - Directory to Write Captchas
• Make sure the "owner" of this folder is the same as the owner for the /path/to/joomla folder

Example

You go to the System - Global Configuration - Server menu, and see the following setting next to Path to Temp Folder:

/homepages/22/875122/htdocs/joomla/tmp

This means that the /path/to/joomla is this:

/homepages/22/875122/htdocs/joomla/

Using the tools provided by your web hosting provider you create a folder called "captcha" under the /path/to/joomla.

The entry you will now make for the module config in the Directory to Write Captchas advanced option:

/homepages/22/875122/htdocs/joomla/captcha