email reciept

[Nitro]

I recently developed a web app with php which sends emails out via form
submission. I'ts an eProofing system for a publishing/advertising
company. Now, I am being asked to provide email reciept of some sort.
They want to know if the recipient recieved the email. It would be nice
to know if they checked the email as well.

I've done some searching, but haven't found anything concrete yet on
how to build this. Right now I'm just looking for a simple solution if
it's possible. Just to clarify, I'm not looking to check if an email is
valid. I'm trying to add something that would let us know that the
email was recieved (and looked at) if possible.

How can this be accomplished?

[Kim André Akerø]

Nitro wrote:

I recently developed a web app with php which sends emails out via
form submission. I'ts an eProofing system for a publishing/advertising
company. Now, I am being asked to provide email reciept of some sort.
They want to know if the recipient recieved the email. It would be
nice to know if they checked the email as well.

I've done some searching, but haven't found anything concrete yet on
how to build this. Right now I'm just looking for a simple solution if
it's possible. Just to clarify, I'm not looking to check if an email
is valid. I'm trying to add something that would let us know that the
email was recieved (and looked at) if possible.

How can this be accomplished?

The closest thing would be to add a Return-Receipt-To header to the
e-mail. On those e-mail clients that support it on the receiving end,
it will request a return receipt to the e-mail address specified in the
Return-Receipt-To. Example header line:

Return-Receipt-To: re***********@example.com

Please note that this header line will only request it from the client.
If the client software supports the use of the header, it's up to the
user configuration whether the request is allowed or ignored.

http://www.savetz.com/yic/YIC04FI_7.html

--
Kim André Akerø
- ki******@NOSPAMbetadome.com
(remove NOSPAM to contact me directly)

[Ron Barnett]

"Nitro" <jt***************@yahoo.comwrote in message
news:11*********************@k70g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...

>I recently developed a web app with php which sends emails out via form
submission. I'ts an eProofing system for a publishing/advertising
company. Now, I am being asked to provide email reciept of some sort.
They want to know if the recipient recieved the email. It would be nice
to know if they checked the email as well.

I've done some searching, but haven't found anything concrete yet on
how to build this. Right now I'm just looking for a simple solution if
it's possible. Just to clarify, I'm not looking to check if an email is
valid. I'm trying to add something that would let us know that the
email was recieved (and looked at) if possible.

How can this be accomplished?

Hi Nitro,

Assuming you can send an HTML email as your response - if not, there are
plenty of libraries to help,
I suggest you include a thumbnail sized image of the document submitted in
the confirmation email.
This should in reality be a link back to your server so that when the user
views his 'proof' he actually make a call to your server which can log the
event.- just make sure the link has a unique ID for tracking. It should
work every time unless the user gets blase' about checking the proof and
simply ignores or deletes the message.
This is somewhat more engaging than a simple read-receipt but a bit more
work.

Cheers

Ron

For PHP Class libraries try : http://ronbarnett.users.phpclasses.org/
or Pear . . . .

[ctclibby]

They want to know if the recipient recieved the email. It would be nice
to know if they checked the email as well.

There is no way you can guarentee this. Best chance of reception is
grabbing the server log from the recipients server QSL'n the message.
Sorry - SMTP transfers are logged; well they should be according to the
rfc's. Your email server logs when the message was accepted by the
recipient server; said with tongue in cheek as this message could be
accepted by a MX relay who relays to another MX ... You can NOT
guarentee what happens after that.

A link in the html you send to the recipient would be the best thing,
but probably not 100% accurate. Heck, probably not 75% accurate.

Typical of marketing firms, throw money up in the air in a heavy wind
and they then have to know where it comes down!

valid. I'm trying to add something that would let us know that the
email was recieved (and looked at) if possible.

Think about it. Would you want folks to know that YOU read some email?

todh

[Jerry Stuckle]

Ron Barnett wrote:

"Nitro" <jt***************@yahoo.comwrote in message
news:11*********************@k70g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...

>>I recently developed a web app with php which sends emails out via form
submission. I'ts an eProofing system for a publishing/advertising
company. Now, I am being asked to provide email reciept of some sort.
They want to know if the recipient recieved the email. It would be nice
to know if they checked the email as well.

I've done some searching, but haven't found anything concrete yet on
how to build this. Right now I'm just looking for a simple solution if
it's possible. Just to clarify, I'm not looking to check if an email is
valid. I'm trying to add something that would let us know that the
email was recieved (and looked at) if possible.

How can this be accomplished?

Hi Nitro,

Assuming you can send an HTML email as your response - if not, there are
plenty of libraries to help,
I suggest you include a thumbnail sized image of the document submitted in
the confirmation email.
This should in reality be a link back to your server so that when the user
views his 'proof' he actually make a call to your server which can log the
event.- just make sure the link has a unique ID for tracking. It should
work every time unless the user gets blase' about checking the proof and
simply ignores or deletes the message.
This is somewhat more engaging than a simple read-receipt but a bit more
work.

Cheers

Ron

For PHP Class libraries try : http://ronbarnett.users.phpclasses.org/
or Pear . . . .

Ron,

A lot of people (like myself) now run with images in emails disabled
because spammers use this trick to check for valid email addresses.
--
==================
Remove the "x" from my email address
Jerry Stuckle
JDS Computer Training Corp.
js*******@attglobal.net
==================

[otrWalter]

Nitro wrote:

I recently developed a web app with php which sends emails out via form
submission. I'ts an eProofing system for a publishing/advertising
company. Now, I am being asked to provide email reciept of some sort.
They want to know if the recipient recieved the email. It would be nice
to know if they checked the email as well.

I've done some searching, but haven't found anything concrete yet on
how to build this. Right now I'm just looking for a simple solution if
it's possible. Just to clarify, I'm not looking to check if an email is
valid. I'm trying to add something that would let us know that the
email was recieved (and looked at) if possible.

How can this be accomplished?

Others here have givein you the only real email solutions, and their
draw backs and propability of working.

The only 100% way of knowing that someone read a message is to send
them an email informing them that there is a new document on the
eProofing system waiting for their review. Then they have to log in to
read it.

It's the only way to be sure.

It's how we did it for a financial management system we built a few
years a go. eMail was sent telling the client that their statemenets
were ready to review, they had to then log into the server to
review/doiwnload their statement via PDF.

It was safe, secure, and tracking who read what.

Hope this helps you

Walter