.NET - Recommended method to obtain user feedback (WinForm)

Question

I am looking for an effective way to receive feedback from users from within my WinForm application. I have looked around and found only web-based solutions that require users to go to a web page and fill out forms.

I am looking for something that can be implemented in a way that a user can open a WinForm dialog, fill out the appropriate fields and optionally send a file along with it (an error log in this case). I have seen many applications implement this but I am not sure how to go about doing it.

The only method I can think of is sending an email from within the application to my e-mail address. The only problem with this is I would need to hard code some email credentials for the email to be sent but I feel as though this is a slight security risk.

So my question is, are there better methods to receive feedback from users without them having to manually send me an email with feedback and attachment?

Answer 1

Within your WinForms app you could post them to a website, or better yet, a webservice.

Answer 2

Post the feedback to your web site using HttpWebRequest

Answer 3

Your email server's SMTP port maybe blocked by corporate firewalls. It is best to use a webservice to receive feedback as they work on port 80 which is same as that used for internet browsing and hence never blocked.

Answer 4

You could send the data to a page on a server you have access to, automatically fill out the form and then submit it. From there you could have a script automatically email you the data and the file.