php email read verification

[kumarsena]

hey guys,

just wondering if it is possible to make a email read verification method using php. i was thinking something like adding a image to an email and somehow get a script to update the number fo times the image has been loaded. what then if the email receiver does not support html?

or is it possible to do something with javascript(this woudl be a bit dodgy thoug,,,i think)?

thanks in advance
kumar

[mcibor]

with img it's the easiest way. Use <img src="verification.php?id=_here_number_of_that_user&user=_here_user_name">

on verification.php
$id = (int)$_GET["id"];
$user = (ctype_alnum($_GET["user"] === true)? $_GET["user"] : "";

if(function_that_will_validate($user, $id))
{
//verified read
}
else
{
//not verified
}
//read image
echo $img;

Forget javascript, as most post managers disallow even simple js, as it may be security breach.
Hope this helps
Michal Cibor

[mincklerstraat]

mcibor's answer sounds to me like a great solution for clients that have got full html turned on. Recent versions of thunderbird let you see HTML with all images blocked in its default setting - very nice for users since spammers have been using techniques like you describe for a long time to see which e-mail addresses are currently active, so unfortunately for you, this won't be foolproof - Thunderbird users are likely to stay registered as "unread." If you really need this badly, you might want to include a link users can click on to confirm they've read.

[kumarsena]

hey just what i was looking for...thanks, i thought the same about javascript....

thanks agaian

kumar