how to detect email sent is being read using php bard

Posted on 3rd Sep 2023 00:00:00 in

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There are two ways to detect if an email sent using PHP has been read:

Request a read receipt. This is a feature that is supported by most email clients. When you request a read receipt, the recipient's email client will send you an email with the date and time of when they opened the message.

To request a read receipt, you can use the Disposition-Notification-To header in the email message. For example:

Disposition-Notification-To: you@youremail.com
The recipient's email address should be replaced with your email address.

Use a hidden image. This is a more technical method, but it can be more reliable than requesting a read receipt. When you send an email that contains a hidden image, the recipient's email client will download the image and load it into the message. You can then track when the image was loaded by checking the server logs.

To use a hidden image, you can embed the image in the email message using the tag. For example:


The width and height attributes are set to 1 pixel so that the image is not visible to the recipient.

When the recipient's email client loads the image, it will make a request to your server. You can then track this request in your server logs to determine when the image was loaded.

Which method you use to detect if an email has been read depends on your specific needs. If you need to be sure that the recipient has received and opened your email, then you should request a read receipt. However, if you are concerned about the recipient's privacy, then you can use the hidden image method.

Here is an example of PHP code that you can use to request a read receipt:

//////////////////////////////////

$to = 'recipient@email.com';
$subject = 'Your email subject';
$message = 'Your email message';

$headers = array(
'MIME-Version: 1.0',
'Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8',
'Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit',
'Disposition-Notification-To: you@youremail.com'
);

mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers);

////////////////////////////////////////////

Here is an example of PHP code that you can use to use a hidden image to detect if an email has been read:

/////////////////////////////////////////////

$to = 'recipient@email.com';
$subject = 'Your email subject';
$message = 'Your email message';

$image_url = 'http://www.yourserver.com/image.gif';

$headers = array(
'MIME-Version: 1.0',
'Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8',
'Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit'
);

$message .= '';

mail($to, $subject, $message, $headers);

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////


how to track?


To track the request in your server logs, you can use the following steps:

Enable logging for the web server that is hosting the image.
Find the log file that contains the requests for the image.
Look for a line that starts with the IP address of the recipient's email client.
The date and time of the request will be after the IP address.
For example, the following line in a server log would indicate that the image was loaded by an email client with the IP address 192.168.1.100 at 10:00 AM on January 1, 2023:

192.168.1.100 - - [01/01/2023 10:00:00] "GET /image.gif HTTP/1.1" 200 1
You can then use this information to track when the email was opened.

Here are some additional tips for tracking email opens using a hidden image:

Use a unique URL for the image for each email. This will help you to track which emails have been opened and which ones have not.
Use a small image, such as a 1x1 pixel GIF. This will help to reduce the size of the email and make it more likely that the recipient's email client will download the image.
Use a tracking software that can help you to analyze the data from your server logs. This can help you to understand how your email campaigns are performing and make improvements to them.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.