<a href="mailto:[email protected]">enquires@xyz</a> OR not?

[Addanc]

Calling all Web experts, if I insert the following mailto mark-up into my Web site contact page:

<p>Email: <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected] k</a></p>

would this be an invitation to a serious spamming?

What alternatives would the esteemed CUK congregation recommend? I'm using the 1and1 Linux hosting.

[AtW]

would this be an invitation to a serious spamming?

Yes, unless you use crafty JavaScript to print that email - make sure you don't keep email itself encoded in HTML for spam bots to miss it.

[TheFaQQer]

Yes - assuming that you get any degree of traffic (even spammers steer clear of my site).

You'd be better off not putting the email address in, and having the link call a script to send the email for you.

However, bear in mind that legally you must have the email address shown somewhere on your website - maybe as an image rather than something that can be machine read and harvested.

[Addanc]

Yes, unless you use crafty JavaScript to print that email - make sure you don't keep email itself encoded in HTML for spam bots to miss it.

I would have thought spambots would be on the look-out for the mailto: string associated with the href attribute as well.

[Addanc]

Can anyone recommend any free boiler plate scripts for handling an email form?

[AtW]

However, bear in mind that legally you must have the email address shown somewhere on your website

Eh? Legally (Ltd) should have company registered address, VAT etc - email address is not in that list I believe?

[TheFaQQer]

Can anyone recommend any free boiler plate scripts for handling an email form?

Linky.

HTH

[TheFaQQer]

Eh? Legally (Ltd) should have company registered address, VAT etc - email address is not in that list I believe?

http://www.out-law.com/page-7594

The following is the minimum information that must be on any company's website (from OUT-LAW's guide, The UK's E-commerce Regulations).

The name, geographic address and email address of the service provider. The name of the organisation with which the customer is contracting must be given. This might differ from the trading name. Any such difference should be explained – e.g. "XYZ.com is the trading name of XYZ Enterprises Limited."

It is not sufficient to include a 'contact us' form without also providing an email address and geographic address somewhere easily accessible on the site.

HTH

[xoggoth]

Found recently that href can point to just about anything, including jscript, so summit like this should work (or would if I knew the syntax of mailto in jscript) with an image of your email address in the image source.

<script>
<!--
function mailme()
{
mymail="me" + "@" + "whatever" + ".co.uk";
mailto in jscript whatever that is blah blah
}
-->
</script>


<a href="javascript:mailme();"><img src="mymail.gif"></a>


PS Using mailto in jscript is here:
http://www.webmasterworld.com/javascript/3290040.htm

[AtW]

http://www.out-law.com/page-7594

Interesting, good thing we got email included on that page.