Subject line in an email hyperlink

[Robert24264369s06t]

Why doesn't Dreamweaver ask for a SUBJECT LINE when creating an email hyperlink ? 

It seems like a blindlingly obvious feature to have.

PLEASE can we have an email link button that asks for SUBJECT LINE TEXT...and perhaps BODY text too ?

[L e n a]

There are several points to address in your request...

The first, and the one that will answer your question, is that... DW does not offer this feature natively and that DW having gone into maintenance mode, there will be no more update, except to keep DW running on the various current operating systems.

But there are other points that raise questions.

In fact, it is not very recommended to use the mailto: protocol for two reasons (at least):

On the one hand, what happens if the user is browsing from a computer that is not his own, that will open the mailbox of the owner and not the one of the caller.

or

if the user uses a webmail type of messaging system? in that case, the mailto: protocol will not be able to succeed and may try to open the system's default messaging system, causing a problem to the end user.

But, and worth, on the other hand any sniffer will be able to spam the clear indicated URL and the service.

So it is better to manage all mail sending from the server and not to delegate it to a third independent service (mailbox among others).

For that you can use the PHP framework PHPmailer which is very simple to use and which allows to work the sending of mail in full safety, by adding SUBJECT, BODY, ATTACHMENTS and much more
https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer
A very basic example
https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/blob/master/examples/mail.phps

Of course, if you need further explanations, please don't hesitate.

[Robert24264369s06t]

Thanks, Lena,
I teach HTML at a high school.....generating the code for an email
hyperlink is in the syllabus. It's something that is required to be taught,
so the pros and cons of using mailto: are irrelevant to me.
I need the kids to be able to code this stuff as easily and simply as
possible.

--

Robert Parker

[private info removed by moderator]

[Ben M]

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@Robert24264369s06t wrote:

generating the code for an email
hyperlink is in the syllabus. It's something that is required to be taught,
so the pros and cons of using mailto: are irrelevant to me.

Robert Parker

[private info removed by moderator]

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Please for the sake of your students, teach it because it's in your syllabus, which does need to be updated, but tell them why they shouldn't use it and explain the advice that has been offered.  This feature is not going to be available in any modern editor, Dreamweaver aside, so at the most you are going to write down and have the students copy/paste the solution. 

[L e n a · Accepted solution]

To my knowledge, from the hyperlink insertion dialog box proposed by DW, it is not possible to add either the SUBJECT nor the BODY.

The only possibility is to enter these two parameters directly in the code, as :

mailto:foo@foo.com?subject=Your subject&body=Your content

[Nancy OShea]

It seems like a blindlingly obvious feature to have.

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@Robert24264369s06t

Mailto: links are highly risky for many reasons and should not be used. 

1. It exposes your email address to every email harvester on the planet. 

2. It puts your address at risk for exploitation by spam bots (copycats) and blacklisting by email services and web hosts. 

3. It's useless for the majority of people who have web-based email  -- Gmail, Yahoo, HubSpot... 

4. Mailto: link does nothing without an email client installed on the user's device.  Nobody uses  Outlook or Windows/Apple Mail these days. 

If you want people to reach you, use a secure contact form.  DO NOT expose your email address online unless you want nothing but trouble.

Online Form Services:

Wufoo.com

JotForm

Embed a Sign-Up Form:

Mailchimp

DIY Contact Form & Secure Form Processing Script:

PHPMailer