Can one validate a user's e-mail address?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Uncle Joe
  • Start date Start date
U

Uncle Joe

Assume that a user wishes to add comments to one of my blogs. Is it
possible to
test the user's email address up front to ensure that it is valid? I'm
thinking of also building
a database containing problematic user email addresses. If a user's
email address is matched
to the database, the user wouldn't be allowed to post comments because
of prior history of
inappropriate commenting (spam, hate speech, vulgarity), and so forth.
 
Not unless you send the user a email.

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
==============================================
If you feel your current issue is a results of installing
a Service Pack or security update, please contact
Microsoft Product Support Services:
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Thanks. I don't how they do it but the Atlanta Constitution online
newspaper's blogs comment input form
checks the email one enters in the "from' block. They use Movable
Type, PHP, and MySQL databases.
They also restrict comments to 300 characters. That would be handy.
 
They don't do any checking other than sending you an email to the email address you enter

--




| Thanks. I don't how they do it but the Atlanta Constitution online
| newspaper's blogs comment input form
| checks the email one enters in the "from' block. They use Movable
| Type, PHP, and MySQL databases.
| They also restrict comments to 300 characters. That would be handy.
|
| | > Not unless you send the user a email.
| >
| > --
| > ==============================================
| > Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
| > ==============================================
| > If you feel your current issue is a results of installing
| > a Service Pack or security update, please contact
| > Microsoft Product Support Services:
| > http://support.microsoft.com
| > If the problem can be shown to have been caused by a
| > security update, then there is usually no charge for the call.
| > ==============================================
| >
| > | >> Assume that a user wishes to add comments to one of my blogs. Is it
| >> possible to
| >> test the user's email address up front to ensure that it is valid?
| >> I'm thinking of also building
| >> a database containing problematic user email addresses. If a user's
| >> email address is matched
| >> to the database, the user wouldn't be allowed to post comments
| >> because of prior history of
| >> inappropriate commenting (spam, hate speech, vulgarity), and so
| >> forth.
| >>
| >
| >
|
|
 
No, I'm dense when it comes to using FP, but I'm intelligent enough to
know when they send me an email. That doesn't happen.
I sent them an email asking how they manage the email validation trick
and they thanked for visiting the site. In other words, "Buzz off,
buster."
 
Aren't you maybe talking about two different things, namely validating
an email address and checking it against a database?

If the definition of 'validate' here is to make sure it's an email
address with a mail server that will accept incoming emails, the only
way to know is to send an email and see if it comes back, right? If the
definition of 'validate' is to make sure the address is in a form in
which it's *possible* it might be real, you can parse the string with
some code; try Google and you will see several scripts that do so with
varying degrees of rigor.

But, checking an email address against a database is a different
question entirely, no? Maybe that's what the OP is talking about with
regard to the Atlanta paper.

Randy Morgan
 
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