How do I make a hotspot clickable as an email link?

Report · Jun 17, 2019

I'm not doing this right and don't find an answer anywhere so need to come here...

I have made a hotspot on a page so viewer user can click on and get an email link. I've tried filling in some of the hotspot blanks but none of those work. Also, while I'm at it, I don't like 'default' email programs and usually want to communicate with the outside world using my gmail account... I'll bet that others have preferences other than default also. I'm not sure if there is some clever way to allow the user to choose another email app than default and use that with the link... that would be peaches if possible, but if not, just clicking and getting the default email app would be fine. As it is, I'm getting nothing but an error 404...

Report · Jun 17, 2019

Image hotspots have fixed dimensions and cannot be used in responsive designs. Therefore you should try linking an image.

Having said that, an email link as in <a href = "mailto: abc@example.com">Send Email</a> uses the email client that has been installed on the system. In my case this is Outlook. If no client is installed, then no email is sent. Another problem is email harvesting. In my example, I would harvest abc@example.com and use it to send spam to, use the email address to send spam from or bombard the inbox with a barrage of 1,000 's of emails per minute.

Use a normal contact form to overcome all of this, it's your choice.

Wappler is the DMXzone-made Dreamweaver replacement and includes the best of their powerful extensions, as well as much more!

Report · Jun 17, 2019

Just like that. Good and correct. Thank You BenPleysier for good advice. I don't like contact forms as I want to start an email thread with customers... I'll just give the address and let them type it into whatever method they prefer to get the ball rolling. Just as one more question, can I use a hotspot to let them click on and load the email address into their 'copy' function so they can 'paste' it into the method of their choice... I'm stretching here but even that would be something where they could click on and do no damage.

Thanks!

Report · Jun 18, 2019

To answer your original question, copy and paste the following into new document and try it out in a browser.

<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <title>Untitled Document</title>
    </head>
<body>
    <img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1458862768540-8b091824fe2d?ixlib=rb-1.2.1&ixid=eyJhcHBfaWQiOjEyMDd..." usemap="#emailmap">
    <map name="emailmap">
      <area shape="rect" coords="290,235,320,265" href="mailto:test@example.com" alt="phone">
    </map>
    <p>Please click the email icon</p>
</body>
</html>

If you want to obfuscate the email address, have a look at https://andrew.hedges.name/experiments/obfuscator/ or Google the subject for alternatives.

As far as being able choose the mail client, tere is no choice.

Wappler is the DMXzone-made Dreamweaver replacement and includes the best of their powerful extensions, as well as much more!

Report · Jun 18, 2019

Thank You BenPleysier, This is good, but I have decided to go back to the user on this one... Give the email address and they will need to type it into their preferred client. No copy and paste, just do it. I also have the option to work with customers in Facebook Messenger... If I lose customers because they can't read, remember and type in an email address... then that is evolution going on and many are left behind today simply because they refuse to get involved and to learn. so be it...

Report · Jun 18, 2019

I think your'e missing a much bigger issue.

Publishing your e-mail address online is irresponsible. It just proliferates the amount of spam that gets generated and adds to an already alarming problem. Also I don't know why you would deliberately make it hard for the majority of web mail users to contact you. That's like shooting yourself in the foot.

I haven' needed an e-mail client on my devices for years because I use web-based email like g-mai nad hotmail, etc... If you think I'm going to copy & paste your address into my my browser, you're mistaken. How do you copy & paste with a mobile device or tablet? You don't. So that's the end of that.

These days, you owe it to yourself and your site visitors to have a secure & convenient contact form on your site. If you can't build one yourself, use a service like Wufoo.com. That way, everybody can reach you with the click of a button, no matter which e-mail services or devices they use.

Nancy O'Shea— Product User, Community Expert & Moderator

Report · Jun 18, 2019

Thank You for your response Nancy, Very good indeed, I'm not beyond hiring professionals to help me get this right... and now I have two questions: 1. ) the email I need needs to be used as 'ongoing threads' until a project is completed the email address I have now is with GoDaddy, the host... Should I rather open a Gmail account just for this purpose and use that? and 2. ) I'm annoyed when big companies like Epson and Canon have emails that are their own secluded space as it seem inflexible as I only have contact with them through their own system and if they stop talking or go on vacation I feel like I'm left out in the cold... Not very logical I know, but Gmail seems more 'open' to me.

I'll take your advice and contact Wufoo.com and see what they can offer...

Thank You,

Ken

Report · Jun 19, 2019

You don't need to change your e-mail address. Use whichever account best serves your business needs. And make it one you check regularly.

Nancy O'Shea— Product User, Community Expert & Moderator

How do I make a hotspot clickable as an email link?

1 Correct answer