Seize The Web - A Web Design Blog

Contact Form

For most websites a Contact Form is the best way to encourage feedback from visitors. You can guide responses from visitors so you receive information useful to you and avoid extra data you can't use.

Will work for you if:

1. you want specific information from each customer that you can narrow down into field
   - this can be as simple as Name, Email address and Message field or you can ask in further detail, ie. Company/Organisation or Age Bracket
2. your visitors are likely to waffle a little if given the opportunity - more targeted enquiries ensure minimal administration time on your behalf

A contact form is standard in most content management systems, but you may pay a small fee to have your web company configure it. Talk to your web developer about your requirements to make sure you get a form that will attract the information you want to receive.

Forms for Download

A Contact Form can cost extra, depending on your website project. If you don't want to attract extra costs but still have specific information to collect from each enquiry, a downloadable PDF (or a series of these) is a quick and cheap option. It's also easy to do for free or very little, depending on what software you already have on your computer.

Easier than it may seem

Here are the steps:

1. Use your word processing software (Microsoft Word, iWork or something similar) to create a form with text fields, radio buttons and check-boxes (all accessible through the word processing software)
2. Once you're happy with the form, save it
3. If you don't already have one, download a PDF printer - there are several of these available online - many are open source, so may be free or require a nominal donation to download - see list at bottom of post for PDF Printer options
4. Select Print for your document, then select the PDF printer option (this may be called different things depending on which printer you download)
5. Go through the steps to name the PDF and save it to your computer
6. You will then have a PDF available to upload to your website and add to any page requiring contact from your visitors

Will work for you if:

• you want flexibility to change your forms as often as you want without having to pay your web company for changes each time - simply create a new PDF and replace the files on your website
• multiple forms are required, eg. function/party planning website - finger food order form, menu, drinks list, venue bookings etc
• you want/are okay to have visitors print your form, fill it out then fax/scan-and-email back to you
• you want a secure and reliable document for facilitating contact, but don't want a contact form

If you want to get really fancy, you can create PDFs with editable regions. I've included a bit more about this at the bottom of this post under Extra Resources.

Email Address (MailTo link)

If you don't want a contact form or downloadable form on your website to facilitate contact, a mailto link is a good alternative. This contact method can attract the most spam, however, unless you're careful.

Will work for you if:

1. you don't need targeted information from the enquiries on your website
2. you don't wish to guide your customers on the feedback you require
3. you're happy to receive whatever your visitors want to send through via email

What is a MailTo link?

A mailto link is added like any other link using your website's CMS. Depending on the CMS, you may need to select the link type as mailto, or you may need to include the mailto in the link area yourself. (Testing will always determine this one way or another, so have a try yourself).

The code looks like this:
<a href='mailto:mail.name@company.name.com'>Full Name</a>

And here's an example of a mailto link for one of our addresses,
sales@getstarted.com.au: MailTo link

Protecting MailTo links

Spambots and spiders crawl through websites looking for email addresses. You probably don't want a whole heap of spam coming through to your email inbox just because you've chosen to use a mailto link. Ensuring your email address is disguised to spambot eyes is important, but never foolproof (like all things internet). The good news is that it is relatively easy (refer to Extra Resources at the bottom of this post for how to protect MailTo links).

To Sum it All Up

From our perspective, Contact Forms are the way to go. Most of our clients use these - the average result is that incoming enquiries are fewer in volume but more targeted. A custom Contact Form will cover most non-standard needs. There are cases in which it's more appropriate to use a MailTo link or PDF form, but these are specific and obvious when they arise.

Extra Resources

PDF printer options

1. http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/ - easily creates PDFs from any Windows program - use like a printer - free
2. http://www.dopdf.com/ - converts document to PDF from any software (Microsoft Word, WordPad, NotePad) - use like a printer - free
3. http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp - any software document to PDF - use like a printer - free
4. http://www.primopdf.com/primopdf_free_idx.htm - any software document to PDF - use like printer - free

If you're going to pay for something, you should look at the following options:

1. http://tryit.adobe.com/au/acrobat9/?sdid=ELVFR - Adobe Acrobat - PDFs were created by Adobe in 1993 - expensive but comprehensive
2. http://www.nitropdf.com/index.asp - the full version of PrimoPDF (above) - extensive features, similar to Adobe Acrobat

Create protected MailTo links

There are websites around that will help you protect your 'mailto' links. We've grabbed a few that make it simple, but there are plenty out there.

Mysterious Ways Developments

http://www.mways.co.uk/prog/hidemail.php

Generates HTML encoded mailto link for you - when you hover over the link, the label shows 'mailto:beth@bigbluehead.com'
<script language='javascript' type='text/javascript'>document.writeln(unescape('%3C%61%20%68%72%65%66%3D%27%6D%61%69%6C%74%6F%3A%62%65%74%68%40%62%69%67%62%6C%75%65%68%65%61%64%2E%63%6F%6D%27%3E%42%65%74%68%20%53%74%75%66%66%3C%2F%61%3E'))</script>

Ecardiff

http://www.ecardiff.net/unescape.asp

Converts HTML mailto links (or any HTML) into javascript escape codes - when you hover over link, comes up with 'mailto:beth%40bigbluehead.com'
<a href="mailto:%62%65%74%68%40%62%69%67%62%6c%75%65%68%65%61%64%2e%63%6f%6d">Beth Stuff</a>

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