verify email opened

Question

once we send email from php using mail() function, is there any way to check either mail is open or not?

may be any type of database insertion code in email..?

or calling any function from website?

any possibility.........

i search on internet all the day but did't found any ans.

Thanks

Answer 1

Small images - called Web Bugs - are the only direct way as Szere Dyeri points out, but they are increasingly frowned upon and blocked by every major mail client for privacy reasons now. I would not consider them a reliable way to tell whether an E-Mail has been read any more.

There is a legitimate way to request a read receipt by adding the following header to the E-Mail:

Disposition-Notification-To: [email protected]

Sending of this notification can be turned off by the recipient of course.

Answer 2

Add an invisible small sized image to the email content. And, let the image point to a unique url on your website. You will know that email is opened once that url is accessed. But this will not work in email clients that does not show images in the emails by default.

I found this web service called Get Notify. They claim they do this for free but you need to verify for yourself.