How to get domain name back?

[sandbox]

Here's an example:

[chriskleeman]

Very interesting info, SB.

Tacit, I've been able to trace a lot of the spam I get coming directly from my website because of the way I've got the e-mail forwarding set up. I also have a web-mail interface set up on my website so I can see that I'm getting many of the same messages caught in my spam filter that are sent from the e-mail link on my website. But, a good part of the spam just comes in anyway....

I don't think from what I've been reading in this thread that private registration would help out the spam situation very much since I have that e-mail link set up, but it sure would be nice to get less than I do... I'm up to over 100 a day most days. The saving grace is the Postini spam filter that comes bundled with the service from my ISP.

Chris K

[Mayo]

Chris, you may already know this but I'm going to post this in case you don't... Your e-mail link is the weak link (pun intended!) that is allowing spammers to obtain your active e-mail address. Spammers send out "bots" to troll the Internet looking for Web sites that have unprotected e-mail links. The bots alert spammers that there is an active e-mail address that can be harvested and Voila! you are on multiple spam mailing lists...

Javascript can be used to make it much more difficult for bots to access your e-mail link. A fool-proof way to keep your e-mail address safe is to use an e-mail "form" rather than a link. Instead of a clickable link that automatically opens the viewer's e-mail program, a form presents the viewer with blank "fields" that they fill-in with their contact info and message. Then they click a "send" button and you safely get the message...

If you change your Web site e-mail address and apply one of these fixes I predict that your spam problem will disappear if the new address isn't publicly available on WhoIs.

[chriskleeman]

Thanks Mayo.

I knew there might be a way to better camouflage my e-mail address from the simple forwarding that's been implemented, and now I know why other sites use the "questionnaire" type form that you write about...

Frankly, I hadn't given it much thought how to solve the problem, but maybe when Paddy gets around to helping me re-design the site that can be implemented. If I have the time, I'll give it a go myself, but I am playing so much catch-up with everything after moving my daughter out your way I don't know when I'll have time.

I'm a compleat Javascript idiot, I know nothing. it would probably take me a while to get it right! Might be a project for me when the snow flies, the power's still on, but I wouldn't want to go anywhere kind of day!

Thanks a bunch for pointing me in the right direction!

Chris K

[tacit]

QUOTE(Mayo @ Sep 13 2007, 02:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you change your Web site e-mail address and apply one of these fixes I predict that your spam problem will disappear if the new address isn't publicly available on WhoIs.

Actually, it won't if he doesn't also change his email address, because the current email address is already on the spammers' lists. Spammers trade lists of email addresses; once an address gets on that list, even if you remove all traces if it from the Web, it will still get just as much spam as ever.

I have email addresses that have been deactivated six years ago that still get spam.

[Mayo]

Chris, the link I provided you takes you to a javascript that you copy and paste into your Web site HTML code. Replace the generic e-mail link info with your own and you should be all set...

E-mail forms can be done using HTML, CSS or other code and are a bit more work because a form will alter your Web page more or less depending on how you implement it... There is how-to info online and in books; e-mail forms may be a built-in feature of RapidWeaver and other WYSIWYG apps, but I cannot say that for certain.

QUOTE

it won't if he doesn't also change his email address

Tacit, didn't I say that in the snippet you quoted...?

QUOTE

If you change your Web site e-mail address...

[Paddy]

Agreed, Tacit - you'll need to use a new addy. And you don't need Javascript - the ASCII coding for the "@" works just as well, in my 6 years of experience using it. No spam ever. It's "& # 64 ;" - without the quotes and spaces of course.

[chriskleeman]

QUOTE(Paddy @ Sep 13 2007, 02:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Agreed, Tacit - you'll need to use a new addy. And you don't need Javascript - the ASCII coding for the "@" works just as well, in my 6 years of experience using it. No spam ever. It's "& # 64 ;" - without the quotes and spaces of course.

Hi Paddy,

Which of course, I think you already told me about in another thread, which I need to check on, I think I did it already???  

Need to change that address!!! What a dope!

CK

[Xairbusdriver]

A javascript will only work if the viewer has javascript enabled, of course.

Some 'forms' code still include the complete address in the html page. I question our hosting company when I downloaded their form template, the only 'hiding' is that the name of that item is "hidMAIL_TO". I wanted to use a program that creates completely ASCII addresses ( it can also create javascript code ), but their Perl scripts weren't set up to handle that. We use form irregularly, and for only a short time, so it wasn't worth the effort to write new Perl scripts (even if I knew how!).

I hide any and all email addresses on our site by using "<SpamStopper>" from Railhead Design. It's completely free, has several different hiding capabilities in ASCII or javascript, it's extremely easy to use and, did I mention it's FREE?!
(Had to insert spaces between the ASCII number and the ":" to keep the software fro converting everything back into readable characters! So much for "Code" or "Codebox" being useful for all code text...)

CODE

<a href="m ;a ;i ;l ;t ;o ;: ;j ;o ;h
;n ;d ;o ;e ;@ ;a ;n ;i ;s ;p ;. ;n ;e
;t ;? ;s ;u ;b ;j ;e ;c ;t ;= ;A ;  ;Q ;u
;e ;s ;t ;i ;o ;n ;  ;a ;b ;o ;u ;t ;
;y ;o ;u ;r ;  ;s ;i ;t ;e ;">C ;o ;n ;t
;a ;c ;t ;  ;u ;s ;! ;</a>

The above is using the "Full Paranoid" setting! It translates into a browser displayed link "Contact us!"; that's all the user sees. When the link is clicked, the usual opening of an email app occurs and the viewer can enter any text she wants, your address, the "Subject:A Question" about your site" is also filled in in the email page. Obviously, the "Subject:" can be anything you want, and it's great to use something specific that you can filter with your email program. And the display text can also be whatever you want, of course.

So far, I don't know of any bot/spider that goes to the trouble of decoding ASCII. An the whole process takes as long as it would to type the email address, the 'Subject', the display text and the anchor html. One click then creates the html, another button puts it onto the clipboard. Click on your html editor page and command-V where it goes. Done.

May be overkill and not 100% effective but it sure is easy and the cost is perfect!

[tacit]

QUOTE(Mayo @ Sep 13 2007, 06:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Tacit, didn't I say that in the snippet you quoted...?

QUOTE

If you change your Web site e-mail address...

Indeed. I interpreted that to mean "if you change your Web site so your address is not displayed," rather than "if you change the address you use to receive email from your Web site."

[Paddy]

I would imagine that spambots don't bother decoding the ASCII is because the nasty people using them simply have no need to do so - there are MILLIONS of email addresses on the web in plain sight, so why bother? Look for "mailto:" and the "@" in the code and you're golden. Why use a fancy lock-picking kit when a paperclip will do? Which about sums up my attitude towards using Javascript to hide email addresses too. Javascript has its uses, but that isn't one of them in my book.

BTW - GoLive, for reasons entirely unknown to me, will regularly screw up ASCII code. Not regularly enough to know exactly WHEN it needs to be checked, but often enough to be truly annoying. Dreamweaver does not appear to share this proclivity. I also don't think something like iWeb, which gives you no direct access to the code, allows you to do anything like substitute ASCII code.