A Canadian Tire website form
Email Addresses Posted Online
Email addresses can be posted on websites for contact information. Most organizations prefer to use email forms that send the filled out form's message to an undisclosed email address when the button to send the message is clicked on. Email forms are used on websites to reduce the amount of spam organizations receive. When email addresses are not posted on web pages, spammers cannot access them from web page content. Email address privacy is enhanced and spam is greatly reduced in quantity. Also, attachments to the email forms can be not permitted upon desire. Email attachments can pose security threats to computer systems if the attached files are designed to cause harm.
Organizational Websites
Most organizations like businesses and service providers now use email forms instead of posting their contact email address. This change was made by organizations to combat high volumes of spam they risked receiving by posting their contact email address on their respective websites. The way it works for the sender of an email to an organization through an email form is the following. With email forms, the contact email address is masked and the email address is only revealed if a response is returned to the sender. A minority of the websites for organizations still reveal contact email addresses. Many of these contact email address listings are for professionals of organizations. Others are like the following.
info@example.com
A Canadian Tire website form
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Email forms consist of a number of fields. Some of the most common fields are noted, below.
First Name, Last Name, Email Address, Subject, Message
Additional fields can be added, too.
Often, certain fields have an '*' next to them. This usually means that it is required for the field to be not left empty. When one of these fields is left unfilled, the message will not be able to be sent until the given field which is empty is filled with content as requested. Also, certain fields may have format requirements, like proper formatting of email addresses. Another example is postal code formatting. Y5T2Z1 may not be accepted since there is no space in it between T and 2. You should always ensure that email forms are filled in correctly so there will be no error messages arising upon sending them.
Private or Personal Websites
Personal websites have largely shifted away from posting email contact addresses to using forms, too. However, you can still find more postings of contact email addresses on personal or private web pages compared to organizations' websites. Spam reduction is the key reason for this shift. Normally, when an email address is disclosed on a web page, it is seen as a hyperlink that can be clicked on to send email to it from an email client. An example is the following.
Contact: info@example.com
Benefits of Email Forms
Organizational websites are preferred by organizations and businesses to be made to look professional in layout. Using email forms is a significant asset for enhancing the appeal of a web page to users. The option to permit users to attach files to the email can be included, too. However, most email forms do not permit files to be attached to them on the Internet.
Email forms are beneficial to use on web pages for providing an avenue to contact a person or organization by email in a number of ways. They include the following.
The contact email address is not disclosed on the web page. As a result, the contact email address cannot be copied from the web page to use by spammers as a spam destination.
Email forms present a professional look to the public when they are used by organizations.
They are easier for business customers to use.
New customers can be gained more easily by organizations and businesses.
Information obtained by forms can be specified for business needs.
Provided information is more consistent compared to information provided in emails from email accounts.
Conditions before sending the email can be mandated to be checked off before the message can be sent.
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