mailto - autosend?

[TheFaQQer]

Does anyone know of a way that I can get a mailto link in HTML to not only generate the subject and body (which is fine) but to automatically send the email as well?

Here's the situation:

- System generates an email which needs to be responded to to either approve or reject an action
- User receives the email, which has two links to click on to either approve or reject
- Clicking on the link generates an email with the correct content
- User then clicks "send" button in Outlook (or whatever) to send the email
- System receives the email and parses the content.

The client doesn't like having to click the link and then having to click send as well. They don't seem to understand the concept of email very well, and I have tried to persuade them that (a) it's not possible and (b) it's not something you want to do anyway.

Just wanted to clarify whether it was impossible to do, or can I put something in the tag to get it to autosend?

Ta

[doodab]

Instead of a mailto link could you use a submit button that did a POST to a web form so that when they click on it the details are submitted and it gives them a "thankyou" page?

[fullyautomatix]

Does anyone know of a way that I can get a mailto link in HTML to not only generate the subject and body (which is fine) but to automatically send the email as well?

Here's the situation:

- System generates an email which needs to be responded to to either approve or reject an action
- User receives the email, which has two links to click on to either approve or reject
- Clicking on the link generates an email with the correct content
- User then clicks "send" button in Outlook (or whatever) to send the email
- System receives the email and parses the content.

The client doesn't like having to click the link and then having to click send as well. They don't seem to understand the concept of email very well, and I have tried to persuade them that (a) it's not possible and (b) it's not something you want to do anyway.

Just wanted to clarify whether it was impossible to do, or can I put something in the tag to get it to autosend?

Ta

Your client is correct and this should be not a mailto link in the email but rather a link to a server side page on the server which then sends the email automatically.

[TheFaQQer]

Instead of a mailto link could you use a submit button that did a POST to a web form so that when they click on it the details are submitted and it gives them a "thankyou" page?

The problem with that is when they use mobile etc. to respond. At the moment, they send an email in, which does all the whizzy bits but the user doesn't need to be connected to the system. If they have a web form, then they need something which is connected to their environment to handle the submission.

I considered replacing the mailto links with some java / javascript / form access to post the response directly to the application but ruled it out because they would need to be connected (plus I don't know how any different mobile email clients and browsers would work with the script!)

Personally, I don't think they should be approving via email at all - they should connect to the application and do it through there, where there is proper security in place to stop the wrong person doing the wrong thing. However, they've always done it this way.....

[TheFaQQer]

Your client is correct and this should be not a mailto link in the email but rather a link to a server side page on the server which then sends the email automatically.

As I've just said in my last reply, though, that means that they need to have a connection to the server, which won't be possible or desirable if they are using mobile.

[doodab]

Could you offer them a one click solution for internal users and keep the existing solution for the mobile population?

[TheFaQQer]

Could you offer them a one click solution for internal users and keep the existing solution for the mobile population?

Possibly, but only by having two sets of "Approve" and "Reject" links - one that sends an email, and one that goes to a web page.

The standard product will automatically wait for a response to an email and then restart as soon as it is received. If I take out the email being received, then I need to make significant changes to get the process to stop and restart automatically.

If I have a link in an email which does not send the email, I also need to code something that will handle the prospect of multiple responses (i.e. the manager clicks on the link a number of times) and captures where the link is coming from to ensure that it's not someone who shouldn't be doing it.

I can some up with different ways of doing things (and it's not me that will be developing it, since it is outside of my area), but the question is going to be asked whether we can just modify the mailto tag. I've already said no, and so has the vendor, but I wanted to see if there was any way of modifying the tag.

[Sockpuppet]

You can use a form with the action mailto:

e.g.

<form method="post"
action="mailto:[email protected]"
enctype="text/plain">
<input type=text
name=your_comments>
<input type=submit
value="Submit Your Comments">
</form>

Though its cosidered bad practice as it reveals your e-mail address to the form person but in your case that's not a problem.


Edit: Seems its changed over the last x years so no longer sends e-mail. Now just pops up in client.

[VectraMan]

This quesiton comes up all the time with my plan B software, and I always point them to the post to a form solution as the only way that'll really work. Unfortunately the type of users we have aren't generally capable of setting that up.

On a Windows client, you can make it send an email via MAPI (but probably not from a web page, at least not without resorting to plugins), but that assumes they have a MAPI email client, and that it's setup, which in these days of webmail is far from guaranteed. But then they probably don't work with mailto: tags either.

[NotReallyButSeriously]

Does anyone know of a way that I can get a mailto link in HTML to not only generate the subject and body (which is fine) but to automatically send the email as well?

Here's the situation:

- System generates an email which needs to be responded to to either approve or reject an action
- User receives the email, which has two links to click on to either approve or reject
- Clicking on the link generates an email with the correct content
- User then clicks "send" button in Outlook (or whatever) to send the email
- System receives the email and parses the content.

The client doesn't like having to click the link and then having to click send as well. They don't seem to understand the concept of email very well, and I have tried to persuade them that (a) it's not possible and (b) it's not something you want to do anyway.

Just wanted to clarify whether it was impossible to do, or can I put something in the tag to get it to autosend?

Ta

Have you not recommended a form that sends to email? I see that as the best/less likely to issues/most user friendly way.

EDIT just read the rest of the replies, client seems like a headache, I suggest educate them on what email is and how it works (I can't see why 1 extra button press is such an issue to them).