Skip to main content
T
Taffypro
Known Participant
March 15, 2022
Question

Question about E-mail, .html, and Mail-to script

  • March 15, 2022
  • 3 replies
  • 523 views

Hi,

 

When I was learning .html I was taught that you should never put your e-mail address in the body of a page. This is because if you do you will be guaranteed to get a lot of spam. Is this true?

 

I remember the best solution is an “mail-to” script that when clicked on it opens the user’s email program and fills out a specified email address and subject line. Does anyone have the code for this?

 

Thanks for your help.

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    3 replies

    T
    TaffyproAuthor
    Known Participant
    March 15, 2022

    Is this an option?

     

    https://aemail.com/

    Nancy OShea
    Community Expert
    Nancy OSheaCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 15, 2022

    Sadly, not a good option.  So-called email address obfuscation isn't good enough anymore.  Even if does minimally work, webmail users still can't contact you.  They need a real contact form they can use.

     

    You're not going to find a good cheap & cheesy way to skirt around this problem. 

    Either learn to code with PHP Mailer library or use a form service as Ben M & I suggested earlier.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
    T
    TaffyproAuthor
    Known Participant
    March 16, 2022

    Hi Nancy,

     

    First off I must commend you on being the absolute best resource I have ever met on-line. Your mastery of coding from .html, .css, .php, .javascript and Dreamweaver is awe inspiring. The fact that you take time from your day to answer questions is beyond admiration. The entire web community is grateful.

     

    I’m a mediocre web developer at best. Sometimes the graphical artist in me gets excited to design…. and then i realize how difficult it is.

     

    So going back to my question about posting an email in a .html document…..

    I singed up for an upgraded SSL with GoDaddy. The sales guy said it gave me the security lock on all websites and encrypted them. I’m pretty sure no one is going to hack my horrible website (I get roughly 30 visitors a month)…. and besides… I have a backup and can just re-upload it. It is not a commerce website and it’s ONLY function is for people to call or email me. I am a small business, but I don’t want my phone number nor email to be compromised. Here is my current website in all its glory…..
    http://taffyproductions.com/…. I’m still pretty proud of this monstrosity. :)!

     

    Do you see a lock symbol?  If its “encrypted” do I need to worry any of this?

    Thanks again!!

    Love from Santa Fe, NM

    Nancy OShea
    Community Expert
    Nancy OSheaCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 15, 2022

    Yes, it's still true.  And so called mailto scripts are garbage.  Most people don't have email clients anymore.  They prefer web-based email platofrms like Gmail or Yahoo which don't work with mailto scripts.

     

    For best results, use a scripted contact form that gathers data from the form, thwarts spam, sanitizes & processes data securely.  You can send data to your MySQL database or an email address by your server.  

     

    This one is recommended by most hosting providers because it's secure.

    https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer

     

    If you're not a skilled coder, use a commercial solution:  Wufoo.com, JotForms or Email Chimp.

     

    Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
    T
    TaffyproAuthor
    Known Participant
    March 15, 2022

    Holy Moly Batman!  This is way more confusing than I was hoping for.  I use Godaddy to host the site.  Should I check with them or do I need to pay for another service to just do simple e-mails?  This site maybe gets 30 visits per month so I'm not sure how much protection I need.  I've never used a MySQL database or an e-mail address "by my server".

     

    Dang!  I was hoping for an easy solution.  I guess I could always just post a .jpg background with my email in the image.

     

    Tahnks again for your time.

     

    Gary

    O
    osgood_
    Legend
    March 15, 2022

    You dont really need a mySql database set up for a simple mailing form. That's more for members websites and larger websites etc. GoDaddy if you search their FAQ pages will most likely have a mailing script for web-forms and possibly even an example. Your page will need to be able to process the mailing script though and that will likely be either php, asp or node. GoDaddy is most likely to support php form mailing scripts.

     

     

     

    B
    Community Expert
    Ben MCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 15, 2022

    Yes that is true. And it's not just the visible body of the page, but within links too (ie: mailto) because bots scrape that code.  So to your second point, no mailto is not the best, nor recommended.  The best solution is a form that a user submits data through that then goes into a database or to your mail from there.  The type of script varies on your server technology (ie: asp, php, etc.) and sometimes you may be better off with a hosted form from a marketing or CMS platform. This way communications get tied into your overall customer database.

      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
      Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices