Quick email encoder - antispam - Virtual Assistant Forums

Tess · #1 (**permalink**) 09-19-2007

I've noticed that many of our members have their email addresses directly visible on their websites which means that any robot cruising along looking for emails to harvest (and spam) will snap yours right up...having an exposed email address is one of the easiest ways to increase the amount of junk mail you get...which of course you don't want - so Hamid wrote up a simple little form that will help you generate an encoded email address, it will still appear as usual on your site but those robots won't be able to recognize it as an email and will pass your site by.

Use the form to generate an encoded email and replace it *everywhere* on your site you have your address...don't worry when you see the code, it looks funky and impossible, just copy and paste it in *instead of* the entire mailto tag in your code. Any questions, let me know

How to use it:
-Just click the link
-Enter the email address you wish to encode into the field
-Click the 'encode' button
-The page will then prompt you to right click and hit 'view source'
(The reason for this is the encoded email does not display properly on a web page and so isn't viable for copy and paste, that's why you've got to copy and paste directly from the source code)
-Copy the line of code from the window that pops up
-Replace all email tags in your website with the new odd looking code. (It will display the same as your regular email address, but isn't recognizable to those spammy robots.)

Office Goddess · #2 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007

Thank you SO MUCH! My email address is on EVERY PAGE of my website! I will get it fixed today. Thanks to you also, Hamid!!

O.k. - did it! It looks perfectly "normal" on the page but, boy is it weird looking in HTML!

FYI - this did NOT work in Mozilla Firefox but was JUST FINE in Internet Explorer

Tess · #3 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007

Let me know if you run into any trouble...the code looks kind of intimidating..it's a long string of nonsense (don't worry, it's supposed to look like that

)

Office Goddess · #4 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007

Definitely looked intimidating! Glad Hamid had to write it instead of me!

Looks just fine on the website, though. ANYTHING to keep the spam at bay! I've been lucky so far - the only spam I've gotten has been from my responses to my Craigs List ads (I've gotten everything from sales pitches to obvious money-laundering schemes in my inbox. Do they REALLY think we're THAT stupid?)

Modern Marketing Support · #5 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007

Thank you, thank you, thank you Tess and Hamid!

Mine looks fine in firefox and explorer.

Tess · #6 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007

Good, I'm glad it was easy to manage!
By the way, I saw one of your ads on Craigslist the other day, totally random...isn't there an image upload option? You should include your logo!!

winslowgirl · #7 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007

I am working on it as we speak!! Thanks Hamid and Tess!!

winslowgirl · #8 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007

Whew!! I got mine done.. Will change my ads too

I'm not sure I even understand all the why's we need it.. but hey... If Hamid says we need it!! I am in!!

note: have I mentioned I am not tech savvy at all.. How I make it in the virtual world with my computer is amazing, even to me!!

Tess · #9 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007

Well I'd say you're doing great Jackie!

It will take a while to notice a difference in the amount of spam you get once you've changed your email links, especially if it's been up and exposed like that for a long time - and it won't cut out all of it, but over the long haul it makes a huge difference.

An even better option is to NOT have your email address on there at all and set up a contact form - if your template options offer such a thing I'd highly suggest using that instead. Even with those you still get spam but then no one, not even human harvesters, can get your email address unless you want them to have it.

Office Goddess · #10 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007

Originally Posted by Tess

An even better option is to NOT have your email address on there at all and set up a contact form - if your template options offer such a thing I'd highly suggest using that instead. Even with those you still get spam but then no one, not even human harvesters, can get your email address unless you want them to have it.

So - I should take off my email address altogether? What about my PO Box info? Same issues?

Tess · #11 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007

LOL, ideally - in terms of spam, that would be the move to make but with the email encoded like this you'll be just fine.

As far as PO Boxes...it's been a while since I've been on the receiving end of floods of junk postal mail (funny, that problem only seems to plague the west...) so I don't know. I think a PO box protects you from a number of possible annoyances and should be fine.

Regarding the contact form - if your program offers one it's a great way to go - but the thing is then to make sure that navigation to your contact page is clealy visible.

VBP · #12 (**permalink**) 09-21-2007

On my web site, I took off my email address and replaced it with a link that says email us. Does that type of structure need to be encoded as well? I'm sure my web designer set it up correctly, but I wanted to double check.

Office Goddess · #13 (**permalink**) 09-21-2007

Originally Posted by Tess

Regarding the contact form - if your program offers one it's a great way to go - but the thing is then to make sure that navigation to your contact page is clealy visible.

I put mine on the bottom of the first page. Can't miss it that way

winslowgirl · #14 (**permalink**) 09-21-2007

Thanks for helping us with this!!

Tess · #15 (**permalink**) 09-21-2007

Originally Posted by VBP

On my web site, I took off my email address and replaced it with a link that says email us. Does that type of structure need to be encoded as well? I'm sure my web designer set it up correctly, but I wanted to double check.

Hi Doreen (sorry I missed your question!), the spiders read the source code of your web page so unfortunately you're still exposed...I'd suggest encoding and replacing on the site to avoid more junk mail than you're likely already getting.

Just curious, how much spam do each of you get daily?