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330

answers:

1

We need to insert a web beacon (i know taboo) in to adobe PDFs to know when they are opened, as one of our clients is moving to a model of "giving" their documents away and following up repeat viewers for subscriptions. Its not enough to be able to provide a download, they want to attach the PDF to an email and "blast" to directed recipients (double-opt-in etc).

Adding the javascript to the pdf is easy enough: (iText) and the "openAction" event. However the security box pops up and displays:

"Security Warning"

"Document is trying to connect to 'xxxx.yyy.com' if you trusty the site choose Allow. If do not trust the site choose Block"

[help] [allow] [block]

I don't think we need to completley overhaul the dialogue box, I just think we need to change the middle text to be more descriptive of why we are doing it. Of course our client would love us to remove this completely...

Thank you in advance for any feed back you can provide,

Todd

+3  A: 

If you could modify or remove a security warning... They would be quite useless wouldn't they?

The warning is there exactly to prevent things like beacons, ping-back and other malicious techniques used to compromise the privacy of users.

Jacco
I understand why they are there, and I understand why folks are against these techniques. I don't think our client is incorrect in their desire to know who is viewing their PDFs that they spend thousands of dollars writing - and want to track repeat viewers down to solicit subscriptions. In fact they are even open to the security popup - however they prefer to have their name / logo in the box as to let their readers know who is requesting the information. The question of whether the text can be modified or not is still outstanding. And while I believe it is unlikely I don't know definitively
akaphenom
You are looking for a technical solution to fix a business problem; it won't work. There are many cases that will prevent this business model from functioning. For example: People open the PDF-document and print it. You just lost track of your copy.
Jacco
I guess the PDF still needs to be opened for it to be printed - no?
akaphenom