Best way to anonymize an email address

[idle0000]

I am looking for options for hiding a user's real email address. I need to create a page where a user will post info via form, and provide a contact email address. When viewers want to reply, I need to have the responder click a mail to link that will send mail to something like [e-mail] that will resolve to the poster's real email addy.

I want the email to go to the users mail client.

At that point when the user receives the message, and they reply, the email message will not be hidden any longer- and that's ok. I just need to mask the initial reply.

I can't think of a way to do this (using craig's list as an example of the functionality I want)- without a mail server and a scripted way to create email addresses on a domain with a forwarder...

Any thoughts in this area are welcome.

Thanks

[Roger_Ramjet]

Not possible without you setting up an email forwarder, not at all. Can't imagine how you could think that it would be????

[Roger_Ramjet]

The one option you have is a webpage form that the user fills in and your script sends as an email using the mail() fuction. They don't need to see any email address at all that way, but you do need to be on a server with sendmail running.

[idle0000]

The mail() function is too basic. I need true SMTP functionality using email clients.

Do any mail servers interface w/PHP so I could randomly generate an email address on mydomain.com and set up a forwarder?

If I could do that, then when the user posts information and enters his/her real email and chooses to use a 'hide my real email address' option, the script could then create the email account on mydomain.com, add a forwarder to the real email and post the anonymized addy on the page. When people clicked on that link, my mail server would answer, send the email to the real person, and if that person (the recipient) chooses to reply; both parties communicate directly from that point (using their email clients, not my website).

I know of other websites that can do this- craigslist.org is one, gay.com is another.

Please bear in mind that I new to PHP. I am an ASP guy where there are components that can perform this functionality. I did not assume this could be done, I only asked it it was possible. If not, then I suppose using a form is one option...

Anyway, thanks for your reply.

[Roger_Ramjet]

Ah! I mistook you. I thought that you were asking :
'how can I do this WITHOUT setting up an smtp server and forwarder?'

So I replied that you can't, meaning that you need an smtp server to do this job.