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denno
denno
Known Participant
January 24, 2025
Answered

Mailto link gives differing results

  • January 24, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 921 views

Hello at another long interval!
I hardly do any of this any more except maintain a website for a bunch of dulcimer players.  (a "drone of dulcimers?")

Simply enough, I've got a couple of (I presume) Mailto: links on this page:

https://www.dulcimerassociationofalbany.com/2025.htm

When I click on them, up pops an email form from my email client (midtel.net), addressed from me and to the the official party, easy-peasy.
When she tries clicking on it, on her computer, up comes one of those obnoxious dialog boxes asking what program she'd like to use to open the link.

I'm trusting a glance will make it plain to any of you; whereas I have not done any code in years and may not see how to set it to rights.

TIA and thanks for still being here!

 

denno

Correct answer Jon Fritz

That's simply how mailto: links work.

They open the default email application installed on the device If none is set up, say if your visitor uses a browser based email, like Gmail (or pretty much everything other than Outlook), they just don't work. You can have all of your site users set up an email client to get the link to work (something they typically won't do) or you can use a simple form-to-email script instead of the mailto: link.

Your hosting company may have one available for you to use, for simple contact email forms. It's worth checking with them first because they're usually very easy to implement with step by step instructions provided, even for non-coders.

If they don't have one, you'll probably want to verify what kind of scripting is available to your site so you can find a simple script and plug it in. Once it's there, it won't matter if they use Outlook or their browser for email, the server will collect the data they send and push it to you, bypassing any need for an email client to be installed. 

3 replies

Jon Fritz
Community Expert
Jon FritzCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
January 28, 2025

That's simply how mailto: links work.

They open the default email application installed on the device If none is set up, say if your visitor uses a browser based email, like Gmail (or pretty much everything other than Outlook), they just don't work. You can have all of your site users set up an email client to get the link to work (something they typically won't do) or you can use a simple form-to-email script instead of the mailto: link.

Your hosting company may have one available for you to use, for simple contact email forms. It's worth checking with them first because they're usually very easy to implement with step by step instructions provided, even for non-coders.

If they don't have one, you'll probably want to verify what kind of scripting is available to your site so you can find a simple script and plug it in. Once it's there, it won't matter if they use Outlook or their browser for email, the server will collect the data they send and push it to you, bypassing any need for an email client to be installed. 

    denno
    dennoAuthor
    Known Participant
    February 1, 2025

    I thank all three of you for explanation and solutions.
    I'll fly the form answer past my "client."  She also expresses no great worry about spam if I just publish her address; though I'd avoid it myself.
    Another demo that I'm a royal dinosaur here.  But it is not a major activity for me at all these days. 

    These might all be a correct answer; I may pick one out of a (randomly-genereated) hat to mark.
    Thanks again.
    denno

    Nancy OShea
    Community Expert
    Nancy OSheaCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 1, 2025
    quote

    I'll fly the form answer past my "client."  She also expresses no great worry about spam...

    By @denno

    ==========

    She should be worried.  Robot harvesters scrape email addresses from the open web and sell them to spammers, who in turn spoof legit emails in their mass mailings.  This results in innocent people getting blacklisted & blocked for spamming.  Don't let that happen.

     

    P.S. You can pick multiple correct answers. 😉

     

     

    Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
    Nancy OShea
    Community Expert
    Nancy OSheaCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 24, 2025
    • Mailto links are on the brink of extinction.
    • Nobody uses them anymore because they're not secure & generate too much spam.
    • Most users no longer have email software installed on their devices.
    • Instead, they use web-based services from their browsers like Gmail, Yahoo, Webmail, iCloud, etc...  Such users can't use Mailto links because nothing happens.

     

    Best Option for Coders:

    Create a scripted Contact Form on your site that anybody can use. 

    PHPMailer is the one most web hosts recommend.  But your hosting plan must support server-side scripts & PHP code.

    https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer

     

    Second Option for Non-Coders:

    Use a 3rd party service.

     

    Hope that helps.

     

    Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
      BenPleysier
      Community Expert
      BenPleysierCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      January 24, 2025
      It sounds like your email client is set up correctly for handling Mailto: links, while she needs to configure hers. Here are a few steps she can follow to fix this issue:
       

      1. Set Default Email Client: Make sure that her preferred email application is set as the default email client.
      - On Windows: Go to Settings > Apps > Default apps, scroll down to Email and select her preferred email client.
      - On Mac: Open Mail, go to Mail > Preferences > General and select her preferred email client in the Default email reader dropdown.

       

      2. Check Browser Settings: Sometimes the browser settings need to be configured to handle Mailto: links.
      - In Chrome: Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings > Additional permissions > Protocol handlers and make sure it's set to allow sites to ask to be default handlers for protocols.
      - In Firefox: Type `about:preferences` in the address bar, go to Applications and look for mailto in the list. Select the preferred email client from the dropdown menu.

       

      3. Try Another Browser: If the above steps don't work, she could try opening the link in a different browser to see if the issue persists.

       

      I hope one of these solutions helps her out. If she’s still having trouble, let me know and we can delve deeper into the issue! 😊

       

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