Using Mailto: bad idea?
Ian Bennett
I read somewhere that placing a mailto on a page to enable feedback etc is a
bad idea as spammers trawl around picking them up.
Is this true, and if so is a mailform script a better way of doing this
anyway?
Regards,
Ian Bennett
ivycomputing.demon.co.uk
(I daren't even put my full email address in here!)
Pedt Scragg
In article <894976976.2098.0...@news.demon.co.uk>, Ian
Bennett <i...@ivycomputing.demon.co.uk> writes
>I read somewhere that placing a mailto on a page to enable feedback etc is a
>bad idea as spammers trawl around picking them up.
>Is this true,
Some spammers do collect email addresses from web pages.
>and if so is a mailform script a better way of doing this
>anyway?
>
The mailform script is *far* better for the simple reason that
some browsers (16bit IE springs to mind) cannot use mailto: tags.
>ivycomputing.demon.co.uk
>(I daren't even put my full email address in here!)
>
As your from: address already has a full email address in it, not
putting it here will make very little difference.
--
Pedt Scragg <newsm...@pedt.demon.co.uk>
Never curse the Crocodile's mother before crossing the river
David Allison
Rubbish mailtos are better if some one does not put there e.m. address on
the form your stuck
--
--
David Allison
http://www.wedding-services.demon.co.uk/
email: da...@wedding-services.demon.co.uk
Martin Regan
On Sun, 17 May 1998 21:10:56 +0100, Christine-Ann Martin
<ch...@nospam.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>I've had my homepages up for 18 months, initially with mailto's to my
>normal address (chris@), I then changed over to a system of special
>website-only email names so I could identify which area of my site
>people were responding to... I then realised that a fair bit of spam was
>being sent to my webpage names!
>
>Conclusion: harvesters *do* go out and trawl for email addresses on
>websites :(
Yes they do, but in my experience, I rarely, if ever, get any spam to
webmaster@, and I have a mailto link on *every* one of my pages
I seem to recall a comment that spamming lists exclude webmaster@
postmaster@ addresses, for the simple reason that the people that read
these addressed are [usually] more clued and can track the spammer down.
This is of course, unfounded, but to me, makes a little sense
>I've gone over to forms now and it's more or less stopped this rubbish
>dead in it's tracks without inconveniencing visitors :)
Both forms and mailto's have advantages and disadvantages, it's impossible
to say one is "better" than the other.
Some relative merits would be
1) mailto's take up a lot less space than a form
2) forms can specify which information you're looking for in a field
3) mailto can be included at the bottom of each page, enabling the user to
give you feedback without going to a "feedback" page (where they may forget
what they were commenting on)
4) Forms should work on most browsers, a mailto link required a correctly
configured mailer
5) mailto links give you a valid email address to reply to, forms don't.
6) forms don't display your email address for spammers to harvers, mailto's
do
7) After a user has filled out a form and sent it, they have no record of
it, by sending an email, it's in their outbox to look at again.
On a personal note, I much prefer mailto's, both on my page, and for giving
feedback on other people pages, mainly due to the ease of feedback. If I
feel like commenting on a particular page, if I can click on a mail link
there and then, I am more likely to, than if I have to switch to a
different page and fill out a form.
If you wanted the best of both, you could have a line like the following:
Please *email us your ideas* or fill out our *feedback form*
(where text within ** is the appropiate link)
--
Martin Regan | mailto:mar...@stheno.demon.co.uk
"exigo spamos et dona ferentes" | http://www.stheno.demon.co.uk/
"Given a choice, all other things being equal, do what's more fun!"
E. J. Jewell
In article <1f83TDAQ...@aion.demon.co.uk>, Christine-Ann Martin
<ch...@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes
>
>Conclusion: harvesters *do* go out and trawl for email addresses on
>websites :(
>
unsolicted item sent to my mailto: address (it was attempting to sell me
web authoring software). It arrived within a day of my first uploading.
Since then no more. Does it make any difference whether you are known
to the search engines? I have only registered my URL in the last 2-3
weeks.
Having flirted briefly with anti-spam measures, I now just let it come
and use the delete button. Occasionally I even read a few of them for
amusement but I never reply.
--
E. J. Jewell eje...@chy-an-piran.demon.co.uk
http://www.chy-an-piran.demon.co.uk/
Roger Jones
Martin Regan wrote
>6) forms don't display your email address for spammers to harvers, mailto's
>do
Most source for forms I've seen include the e-mail address of the site.
Don't you think the harvesters know this?
--
Regards
Roger
despammed address is r...@roga.demon.co.uk
Martin Regan
On Tue, 19 May 1998 11:31:26 +0100, "Roger Jones" <ro...@nospam.demon.co.uk>
wrote:
>Martin Regan wrote
>>6) forms don't display your email address for spammers to harvers, mailto's
>>do
>
>Most source for forms I've seen include the e-mail address of the site.
>Don't you think the harvesters know this?
I didn't know this, and actually disagree with it :)
Having an email address is not a requirement for demon's forms to work
The only forms that I have seen to include an email address of a site are
those that use a MAILTO as the action, which demon's forms don't. (and
using mailto as a form action is a *very bad* idea, anyway)
For example
<FORM ACTION="/cgi-bin/mailform" method="GET">
...rest of form...
<INPUT TYPE="Submit" VALUE="Submit">
</FORM>
doesn't contain an email address anwhere
Martin