Version 1.1.4  8/20/03
Email Mask
Copyright jim evans 2003

This Free Program Lets You Hide Your Email Address On Your Website From SPAMers

Download Program
 
This program is brought to you free by InfoMagic.  Visit InfoMagic at http://www.factsfacts.com/InfoMagic/

According to Consumer Reports the most common way SPAMers get Email addresses is by "harvesting" them from public webpages.  They do this with widely used software that roams the Internet searching the hidden code that underlies web pages looking for character patterns that have the form of email addresses and capturing these addresses.  Ads for one such product claims it collects thousands of addresses hourly and is "so simple a 12-year-old can learn to run it in 15 minutes."

Don't be intimidated by the terms HTML and JavaScript you'll see on this page.  You don't need to understand anything about either of them to use this program.  Virtually all webpages are created using HTML "code" (programming language is called code).  You use a web page design/creation tool to make your web page.  It creates the HTML code for you, and you may be unaware it's there.  But, if you look behind the curtain, underneath the pretty page you will see it is made up of a jumble of letters and symbols.  This is the HTML code, also called the "Source".  Most webpage making tools let you look at and edit/change the underlying HTML code.  The illustrations on the page come from Microsoft's FrontPage webpage making tool, but your tool almost surely has a similar feature.  In FrontPage the Tab you press to go to the HTML is in the lower left of the screen as shown here:

A second, similar type of code used in making webpages is called JavaScript. 

Email Mask generates some JavaScript code you add to your webpage that conceals your address from the SPAMers while letting visitors email you.  You will copy & paste this code into your webpage's HTML code.  I've tried to make following explanations clear enough so you can do this without understand anything about HTML or JavaScript.  In the unlikely event your webpage tool doesn't have an HTML view/edit feature you can put your webpage in Windows Notepad to make the changes.

Email Mask lets you choose among four different prompts your visitors can click to Email you.  [The following examples really work.  Try them if you want.]

You can use your email address as a clickable link to send the email, like this:

 Email me at 

Or, you can use some words/text of your choice as the clickable link, like this:

 

Or, a graphic, like this:

  Email

Or, a button, like this

You can also add words of your choosing that will automatically appear in Subject of the visitor's Email

.

After you generate the JavaScript using the program and copy it to the Windows Clipboard, you paste it into your webpage's HTML code in the place you want it to appear on your webpage.  Here is one method of doing this.  Caution:  Always back-up your webpage files before modifying them.

First, using your webpage making tool, mark the location you want put the clickable Email link with some characters you will recognize when you see them in the HTML jumble.  In this illustration I have marked the location with a bunch of Zs. 

Here's how it looks in FrontPage normal mode:

You can email me here:  ZZZZZZZZZZ
If I'm still distributing it, the current version of this program can be found at http://factsfacts.com/EmailMask/

Hope you find it useful.
jim evans

Here's how it looks in the HTML jumble:

<p align="left">&nbsp;</p>
<p align="left">You can email me here:&nbsp; ZZZZZZZZZZ<br>
If I'm still distributing it, the current version of this program can be
found at <a href="http://factsfacts.com/EmailMask/">
http://factsfacts.com/EmailMask/</a></p>
<p align="left">Hope you find it useful.<br>
jim evans</p>
               </td>

Now, remove the marker (Zs) and add about 4 Carriage Returns (press Enter 4 times) to create some working space

<p align="left">&nbsp;</p>
<p align="left">You can email me here:&nbsp;

 

 

<br>
If I'm still distributing it, the current version of this program can be
found at <a href="http://factsfacts.com/EmailMask/">
http://factsfacts.com/EmailMask/</a></p>
<p align="left">Hope you find it useful.<br>
jim evans</p>
               </td>

Next paste the JavaScript in the middle of the space you made with the Carriage Returns

<p align="left">&nbsp;</p>
<p align="left">You can email me here:&nbsp;

<script language=javascript>

<!--
var htm1 = "mail";
var htm2 = "to:";
var adres = "facts.com";
var adres = "@facts" + adres;
var adres = "emailmask" + adres;
var PrompText = adres;
document.write("<a href=" + htm1 + htm2 + adres + ">" + PrompText + "</a>")
//-->
</script>
 

<NOSCRIPT>
<em>Email uses JavaScript to defend against SPAM.<BR>
You must enable JavaScript to contact me.</em>
</NOSCRIPT>

<br>
If I'm still distributing it, the current version of this program can be
found at <a href="http://factsfacts.com/EmailMask/">
http://factsfacts.com/EmailMask/</a></p>
<p align="left">Hope you find it useful.<br>
jim evans</p>
               </td>

Here's how it now looks in FrontPage. 

Notice, the place where the prompt should be is blank.  That's because
it's masked (hidden), and is only visible when the page is viewed in a browser. 
 

You can email me here: 
If I'm still distributing it, the current version of this program can be found at
http://factsfacts.com/EmailMask/

Hope you find it useful.
jim evans

Now, here's how it looks for real to a visitor:

You can email me here: 
If I'm still distributing it, the current version of this program can be found at http://factsfacts.com/EmailMask/

Hope you find it useful.
jim evans

 

Using a Graphic as Your Prompt

If you are using a graphic as your Email prompt, after pasting in the JavaScript you will see something like this in your webpage maker tool:

The easiest way to add the graphic is to simply copy the file named "email.gif" from the Email Mask program folder into the folder with your webpage file.

But, if you don't like this graphic and want to use a different one, locate the following line that's at the top of the JavaScript you pasted in:

<a href="JavaScript:EmailMask()"><img src="email.gif" alt="Email" border="0" width="40" height="28"></a>

carefully edit the line and change "email.gif" to "yourgraphic.ext".   You also have to change the width=  and height=  values to the width and height of your graphic.  Be careful not to change anything else.  Then put your graphic in the same folder with your webpage.
 

Finding the Width & Height of a Graphic

There are several way you can determine the width and height of your graphic.  In Windows XP the dimensions are given in a folder's "Details" listing.  Also in XP, you can look at the files Properties > Summary > Advanced. 

If you have a graphics editor (Paint Shop Pro, PhotoDelux, Photoshop, Corel PhotoPaint, etc.) it will give the dimensions. 

You can put the graphic in a webpage and look at the HTML/Source associated with it.  It will have the dimensions, just like this one you're changing does.

Levels of Masking

Email Mask lets your choose from three levels of masking:

  • Simple generates code that is easiest for you as the webpage maker to read and understand, but provides the weakest masking.

  • More Secure generates code that's more difficult to read/understand, but provides more secure masking.

  • Scramble code is the most difficult to understand.  I'm not sure how much stronger masking it provides, but like chicken soup, it can't hurt.

Note: All three levels create results that look the same in a browser.
That is, all look the same to your website visitors

 

Note:  For your masked Email address to work the visitor must have JavaScript enabled in their browser.  Most people do, but if they don't they'll get an announcement saying:

Email uses JavaScript to defend against SPAM.
You must enable JavaScript to contact me.

 

You can email me here: 
If I'm still distributing it, the current version of this program can be found at http://factsfacts.com/EmailMask/

Hope you find it useful.
jim evans