RE: MAILTO

Below is a recent edition of "HTML_Tutor" that addresses this very thing
(and then some...)

HTH,

Joel R. Cochran
Director of Internet Services
VamaNet.com
(800)480-8810
mailto:custservice@vamanet.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: rob@dekko.com [mailto:rob@dekko.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2002 11:49 AM
> To: web400@midrange.com
> Subject: [WEB400] MAILTO
>
>
>
> I know that you can include a link like
> '      <a href="mailto:webmaster@dekko.com";>Feedback</a>
> But I want to tailor the subject line.  I've this can be done
> but I fail to
> see it in the manuals in the office and a couple of online
> references to
> HTML.
>


HTML TUTOR --- March 12, 2002
Published by ITworld.com -- changing the way you view IT
http://www.itworld.com/newsletters
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HIGHLIGHTS

* This week, Paul sheds some light on the form and function of
  the "mailto" link and then delves into the details of some of its
  finer points.

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Deep Into the Mailto Link
By Paul V. Miller

Hey there folks. Welcome to another exciting edition of HTML tutor. You
may remember that creating a hyperlink that will open the user's email
program with your desired email address in the address field is
possible. This is really useful in a variety of situations; perhaps you
want to illicit some kind of feedback or response to your site, or
maybe you're conducting research and you'd like people to answer a
specific question or two. Listing your email address is one way to help
people reach you, but providing a "mailto" link makes sending you a
response that much easier and, subsequently, more likely that they'll
bother.

The basic coding for a "mailto" link is very similar to the coding for
a basic hyperlink; both make use of the ANCHOR tag. A "mailto" link
with my email address would look like this:

    <A HREF="mailto:paulvmiller@yahoo.com";>

Pretty simple, eh? So, to make this useful, we throw in a few words and
close the tag:

    Please <A HREF="mailto:paulvmiller@yahoo.com";>email me</A> with any
    comments!

Voila! A perfectly useful and functional "mailto" link. By simply
clicking on "email me", the user's email program should open up with my
address in it, ready to send off any insightful comments.

The Devil's in the Details
But that's not all the mailto link can do for you. You can also specify
content for the subject line of the email. To do this, you simply add "?
subject=" followed by the desired words. An important note: a "mailto"
link allows for no spaces, but this is easily worked around. Replace
spaces with the symbol "%20", and the browser will insert the space for
you. So, let's say I wanted to use the above mailto link, but wanted to
add a subject line of "insightful comments." Easily enough done:

    Please <A HREF="mailto:paulvmiller@yahoo.com?subject=insightful%
    20comments">email me</A> with any comments!

Notice the code is exactly the same as the mailto link code I
originally wrote, but with "?subject=insightful%20comments" tacked on
to the end. Try this out and see what you get.

You can go even further with this, specifying an address value for the
CC field and even words to put in the body of the email. When
specifying content for additional fields of the email, you need to put
an ampersand "&" in front of the field name instead of a question
mark "?". So, lets add a CC address to the above link, using "&CC=":

    Please <A HREF="mailto:paulvmiller@yahoo.com?subject=insightful%
    20comments&CC=clownswithbigrednoses@clownsaregreat.com">email
    me</A> with any comments!

Now your email will go to the scary clownsaregreat address and me as
well.

Finally, lets add some words into the body of the email. For this, we
use "&body=" Again, remember that spaces are not allowed in the link;
you have to use "%20" instead. Other characters are not allowed as
well, but I will list them and their alternate codes at the end of the
email.

To add content for the body of the email:

    Please <A HREF="mailto:paulvmiller@yahoo.com?subject=insightful%
    20comments&CC=clownswithbigrednoses@iloveclowns.com&body=Please%
    20put%20your%20thoughts%20here.">email me</A> with any comments!

It's a long "mailto" link, but it gets the job done. Here is a list of
some common illegal symbols and the codes you can use for each within
the "mailto" link:

    %20          space or blank
    %0D%0        a line break
    %3F          question mark (?)
    %27          ampersand (&)
    %3E          equal sign (=)

Note
You don't need to use the code for the symbol ? or & if those symbols
are being used when naming the fields you're going to provide content
for. So it's okay to have "?subject=" or "&CC=" but having "?
subject=why%20do%20you%20hate%20me?" is not okay. Use the code %3F for
that last question mark!

Well, folks, that's all for this week. As always, thanks for opening
this email and meet me right back here next week for more HTML
fun. 'Till then, have a fantastic one!

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About the author(s)
-------------------
Paul V. Miller designed his first Web site in 1996 and has been a
freelance designer ever since. Paul currently teaches HTML and
JavaScript, as well as doing freelance Web design for non-profit
organisations in New York City. He still types out all of his HTML by
hand, even though his friends with GoLive think he's nuts. Paul is
based in Brooklyn, NY and can be reached at paulvmiller@yahoo.com.
____________________________________________________________________________
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

A mailto with a Subject
http://itw.itworld.com/GoNow/a14724a54335a81162158a2

Forms and the mailto Action
http://itw.itworld.com/GoNow/a14724a54335a81162158a5

Mailto
http://itw.itworld.com/GoNow/a14724a54335a81162158a6

HTML Hot Tip: Undocumented Mailto URL Extensions
http://itw.itworld.com/GoNow/a14724a54335a81162158a7

Unleashing the Power of mailto URLs
http://itw.itworld.com/GoNow/a14724a54335a81162158a3

MAILTO: Munging
http://itw.itworld.com/GoNow/a14724a54335a81162158a4
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ITWORLD.COM NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

Index of HTML Tutor
http://itw.itworld.com/GoNow/a14724a54335a81162158a11

Creating Imagemaps, Part 2: Coding it Up
http://itw.itworld.com/GoNow/a14724a54335a81162158a9

Graphics and File Types: JPEG vs. GIF
http://itw.itworld.com/GoNow/a14724a54335a81162158a10
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