How Can I Hide An HTML Form's Email Address
Hiding Your Email Within A Form
Online forms are an excellent way to provide your website visitors with a method of quick and easy contact. Pasting your email address on the pages of your site is not only a less effective method of opening a dialog with customers it is also a sure fire way of encouraging a greater amount of spam to your inbox. Hiding your email is the only way to prevent this from happening, but the HTML code for a lot of online contact forms includes your email address so that the contents can be posted to you.
The Principle
As technology has become more advanced spammers have found techniques of lifting email addresses from the HTML code of a website as well as directly off the page. Once again this means an increased number of spam and advertising emails to your inbox. It is possible to prevent this from happening and one method of doing so is using a small Remote program in place of a direct email command.
Using A Remote Script On Your Web Server
The remote program is written in a language such as Perl and is then placed on the server of your website. Instead of having your HTML form email the contents directly to your email address it will call this script. This script will then take the information filled in on the form and forward it to your email. Spammers and software have no way of reading your email address when using this technique so it can prove to be a very effective method of combating some of the spam you might receive.
Hosting Accounts And Scripts
This method does require a greater level of access to your host server. Some hosting accounts do not offer complete access to the server and the files within it. The more affordable accounts typically limit the number of custom scripts and applications that you can install for your website. On the other hand, some accounts include a secure contact form script as standard enabling you to benefit from the same effect without having to create, download, purchase, or install the necessary CGI script on the server.
An Alternative Method
If you do not have this level of access to your server and custom scripts scripts then you might want to consider one of several applications that are widely available online. These applications essentially scramble email addresses so that the visible email address within your code appears entirely nonsensical. This will deter automated software from picking up the email address because it does not contain the proper syntax such as the @ symbol or a .com top level domain. There are javascript tools available that can be added to any HTML website code in order to do this.
Preventing Spam By Cutting Out Supply
Spam is a serious problem and is a threat to every Internet user. Webmasters fall within the biggest risk category because of the necessity of placing an email address or contact form on their website. Preventing spam can be a difficult game and stopping the spammers from retrieving your email address in the first place is certainly one of the best methods of preventing the receipt of these irritating and unfriendly advertising emails.