Tell a friend

[Dez]

Been thinking of putting the 'tell a friend' link on a website, but need to do it as right as possible.

Just a few questions :

1. Is it better by an email link ?

2. Is it better by completing a form ?

3. Is it better to use both of the above ?

4. If using the form, how do you ensure that people don't use it to send emails to people from false email address's ?

5. I couldn't think of a 5th question, but if anyone can think of anything else that should be thought of in relation to this, your input would be appreciated.

Any help much appreciated.

Dez.

[MikeBigg]

I prefer to do it with a form ... I've had a redimentary tell a friend script on one of my sites for several years and have had zero complaints about misuse - so your 4th question, in my experience, is a non-issue.

A possible fifth question:

5) How do I make it so robots don't use my tell-a-friend forms to send spam emails?


Mike

[sbongo]

You can intergrate captcha verification to your form.It decrease 25% of spam for me.

[linkin99]

I prefer to do it with a form ... I've had a redimentary tell a friend script on one of my sites for several years and have had zero complaints about misuse - so your 4th question, in my experience, is a non-issue.

A possible fifth question:

5) How do I make it so robots don't use my tell-a-friend forms to send spam emails?


Mike

Agree that this needs to be considered, because it could be exploited.
Answer: Use a CAPTCHA script. (Not that they work 100% of the time, but it definitely makes it harder on the bots.)

[Dez]

I prefer to do it with a form ... I've had a redimentary tell a friend script on one of my sites for several years and have had zero complaints about misuse - so your 4th question, in my experience, is a non-issue.

A possible fifth question:

5) How do I make it so robots don't use my tell-a-friend forms to send spam emails?


Mike

Many thanks to all for the input - it's appreciated.

To Mike above, perhaps the Captcha, as kindly mentioned here would do that ?

Any other input from anyone on this ?

Dez.

[AfroNinja]

No one can send fake emails because on the server side you explicitly specify the headers yourself. And... what is CAPTCHA? is that the image verification thing you see on forms sometimes?

[MikeBigg]

No one can send fake emails because on the server side you explicitly specify the headers yourself. And... what is CAPTCHA? is that the image verification thing you see on forms sometimes?

Mr Ninja, on a tell-a-friend form, it is usual for your site visitor to enter his email address and one or more friends' email addresses and a short message. So, your sytem can send a message to multiple recipients and appear to come from someone other than yourself.

You're right - CAPTCHA is the image verification thing.

Mike

[MikeBigg]

To Mike above, perhaps the Captcha, as kindly mentioned here would do that ?

Hi Dez, CAPTCHA is a good way forward, it isn't fool proof, nor accessible, so isn't a perfect solution. I don't use one, partly because abuse hasn't been a problem and partly due to laziness

I'm interested to hear what other folks' experiences are.

Mike

[AfroNinja]

Mr Ninja, on a tell-a-friend form, it is usual for your site visitor to enter his email address and one or more friends' email addresses and a short message. So, your sytem can send a message to multiple recipients and appear to come from someone other than yourself.

You're right - CAPTCHA is the image verification thing.

Mike

hm, right, but on my forms I make the messages come from my site no matter what, I just use the name/email somewhere in the subject/body to ensure that the person who receives it understands that it isn't spam. Sure you can make yourself look like another person but you can't spoof an address with it, as it always comes from something@mysite.com

[MikeBigg]

OK - understand where you are coming from. I might look into doing ti that way, too.

Mike

[Dez]

Many thanks for the comments - it's all appreciated.

Dez.