adding text strings to the Subject line and message area of a new Email

[Paul Ponzelli]

I have a link in a Web page that causes the Email program (Outlook Express)
to launch a new message when the user clicks on the hyperlink. To
accomplish this, I'm using an HTML tag of the form:

<A href="mailto:[email protected]">name</A>

I would like to have this tag add fixed text to both the "Subject" box and
the message body of the Email when the user clicks the hyperlink. Is there
a way to do this?

Thanks in advance,

Paul

 

[Adrienne Boswell]

I have a link in a Web page that causes the Email program (Outlook
Express)

On your machine - my machine uses Pegasus mail.

to launch a new message when the user clicks on the
hyperlink.

Please understand this is not always going to work. Some visitors may
not have an email client (or it's not configured). They may have web
mail only, or they are at an Internet Cafe, or library, or someone
else's computer.

To accomplish this, I'm using an HTML tag of the form:

<A href="mailto:[email protected]">name</A>

Wow! You're xyz.net! You know, of course, that is a real domain and
someone owns it, although I doubt it's you. Please use example.com,
that's what it was set up for.

I would like to have this tag add fixed text to both the "Subject" box
and the message body of the Email when the user clicks the hyperlink.

It's not reliable - it never works in my email client, and I'm sure
there are others that also don't work.

Is there a way to do this?

Even if you did this, the user may not want to use what you suggest as a
subject line.

You are really better off using a server side form, and putting your
email address on the page.

 

[David Segall]

I have a link in a Web page that causes the Email program (Outlook Express)
to launch a new message when the user clicks on the hyperlink. To
accomplish this, I'm using an HTML tag of the form:

<A href="mailto:[email protected]">name</A>

I would like to have this tag add fixed text to both the "Subject" box and
the message body of the Email when the user clicks the hyperlink. Is there
a way to do this?

See <http://www.ianr.unl.edu/internet/mailto.html> but check that it
works in your users' browsers.

 

[nice.guy.nige]

While the city slept, Paul Ponzelli ([email protected]) feverishly typed...

I have a link in a Web page that causes the Email program (Outlook
Express)

On your PC, yes. And on mine (at the moment) too. But not always. This will
open the default mail client *if* the user's system is so configured and
*if* there is a defauly mail client to open. This will not always be the
case.

I would like to have this tag add fixed text to both the "Subject"
box and the message body of the Email when the user clicks the
hyperlink. Is there a way to do this?

Yes, but it is dangerous. Some mail clients will not deliver an email with
what it considers to be an illegal address. To all intents and purposes, it
looks like the email has been sent from the user's point of view. However,
it never arrives.

Read this for more info on mailto...

The Mythical Mailto
http://www.isolani.co.uk/newbie/mailto.html

Cheers,
Nige

 

[Paul Ponzelli]

Many thanks to Adrienne, David and Nigel for their comments, suggestions and
links to those two very helpful Web sites.

Paul