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Hi,
Maybe I am not seeing the wood for trees but how do I arrange things so that a visitor to a Xara built website can send a mail to the site owner, or a pre-defined recipient, with just a single click ? That is no outlook pages on screen, just a simple click and the mail is sent ?
As I said it is probably easy peasy but I am not making much progress...
Looking forward to hearing your suggestions
Zap
Highlight the email address, the open the Link menu.
You can also link to text, such as Send email and then add the email address in the link.
Won't that just do a "Mailto:" command which will open your default desktop mail program. I think he wants a prefilled form to actually send the email.
Without invoking mailto:, one needs an SMTP server. There is a lot of coding involved but look at https://smtpjs.com/ to see what you need to get up to.
You could also try a hidden form, PHP, Ajax and jQuery if you have access to your web service server - https://stackoverflow.com/questions/...jax-and-jquery.
Acorn
When you link to an email address, Xara automatically adds the mailto: command. And if you link to text such as Send email, Xara encodes the email address to hide it from spambots.
And Acorn points out, this does not open all email clients, and it does not open webmail clients.
On the other hand, adding the actual email text and linking the actual email will make the email address visible in the HTML so it can be harvested by spambots.
I am not sure if this actually hides the email address but if you visit this gallery www.placitasartists.com/k_jacobs/ and click on Contact Info, you see the actual email address but it is not linked. I placed a rectangle over the text, made the rectangle 98% transparent, and linked the rectangle to the email address.
So what information would this email contain if the user has simply pressed a button?Quote:
Originally Posted by zapatak
If you mean the user has to enter information then press a button - that's a form.
I don't see any request re a form from the OP, just a request to open an email reply :confused:
It all depends on what "just a simple click and the mail is sent" actually means.Quote:
Originally Posted by Egg Bramhill
Does it mean "just a simple click and the mail client is opened"?
or does it mean "just a simple click and the mail is sent" (using info already entered on-screen)?
or does it mean "just a simple click and the mail is sent" (using some other info)?
It's just that I don't associate opening the email client as actually sending the mail with one click.
Hi, sorry to have confused the issue by not really describing the problem...Quote:
Originally Posted by Egg Bramhill
It is obvious that there is more to this e-mail business than meets the eye!
To be clear, I would like to place a button on the webpage which the user can click. Once he does this a mail is sent to a pre-determined recipient with no further intervention necessary on the part of the sender. I think that this would be a useful function and see many possible uses in the fields of opinion polls, voting etc
My own intended use is slightly more complex....
I am running a site for a group of devoted people who want to find some money to restore their 18nth century church organ. www.aobv.fr We are in Provence France and the site is in French.
The idea is to set up a crowd funding operation. The one touch mail button will send a mail to a mail address which is temporarilly closed. The 'out of office' reply will be a pre-prepared mail explaining the organ situation and asking for donations. This mail will arrive in the mail inbox of the original button clicker who can then forward it as many times as he wishes to friends, family and other people he considers likely to make a donation.
I hope that this explains why I am trying to send an empty mail to myself...
I hope that you can help or maybe even suggest another way of arriving at the same result.
Best wishes
zap
It can't be done exactly as you describe - you can't activate the email client on the computer and make it send the email immediately. Without the email client you won't know the users email address.Quote:
Originally Posted by zapatak
It would be very sneaky if a button press gave away a users email address.
Just be upfront and explain what is going on on the web page than try and manipulate people via email.
Hi there,
Pleased to see that you have at last understood the question !
I agree that it is very much a Catch 22 type situation but there must be a solution... many commecial sites have 'one click do this buttons !' sending a mail should be feasible
Unfortunately most of the people likely to see this webpage are over 70 and not particularly PC aware.. the whole idea is to make it as easy as possible, otherwise it simply will not work.
Creative solutions please
zap
It is, but what is missing here is that invariably those sites will have a logon and through the logon and cookies they will know your email from the time that you register with them. The one-click is fine if you have logged on.Quote:
Originally Posted by zapatak
I am going to say very explicitly you cannot have a button that captures the users email address and sends you an email with nothing but a button click and it's quite right that it's not possible.
If you want to appeal for funds, put it on the website and don't try and spam them.
If you insist on the email route, use a form and give them an opportunity to enter their email, or use a mailto.
Woah !
Please leave the hypocritical ethics out of the discussion!
The only person who would receive the email address is the webmaster, he along with the president and treasurer of the association, already posses the addresses of all members including phone numbers and street addresses.
The idea is simply to make it easier for the members who are willing to participate to do so, there is not the slightest intention or suggestion of spamming them.
Another option I was considering is the use of a QR code embedded in a page, once scanned it can send the request for details with a single click, the details of which can then be forwarded to the users email client.
Keep up the good work
zap
You seem determined to make a simple proposition more complicated. If your audience is tech naive, I don't see how a QR is a way of addressing that.Quote:
Originally Posted by zapatak
Good luck.
Good point !
I think that less than half of them have completed the VR tour.... access by QR code
How about having a simple one line form where they fill in their email address? You could have an explanation above it saying you will send a pre-written email back to them that they can forward to whoever they feel may want to help.
Simple and totally transparent.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the suggestion and it is still under consideration...
I have placed a form on the website to collect annual membership fees, unfortunately it is very rarely used. The members prefer to write out a cheque whilst standing in front of the treasurer at the first annual meeting; Imagine the queues....
I am still hoping that an imaginative and inventive forum member will suggest a one click solution, otherwise I will use a two click mailto solution with plenty of simplified explanations...
Enjoy the heatwave
zap
Heatwave? It's mid winter here and down to 16°C. Jumpers, socks and closed windows time. This is Australia, not Austria :D
Sorry Chris, didn't want to make you jealous..Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris M
We are expecting 44° here in the south of France on friday... Lethargy rules and it is difficult to drag myself out of the pool to get to grips with Xara! it is more of a winter thing...
We spent three weeks in Tasmania last year looking after a herd of Kashmir goats ! Loved every minute !
zap
Now there was the opportunity to collect emails..Quote:
Originally Posted by zapatak
I'm exactly the same, but I haven't won the Lotto.Quote:
I am still hoping that an imaginative and inventive forum member will suggest a one click solution
Have you been listening carefully ???
We already have all the e-mail addresses but we don't want to harrass 500+ members when only a small percentage will be sufficiently motivated to join in the crowd-funding campaign.
For the few that do we want to make it as painless as possible, that is by placing a pre-composed mail in their e-mail client. They then have to simply select potential donors from their contact list and press 'send'!
I will have to make a decision soon as the president is getting a little impatient.
Acorn hinted that there may be a javascript solution but I am afraid that is far beyond my humble knowledge.
If nothing imaginative and practical pops up I will have to go for the two step mailto process.
But at least for a couple of days I am still open and hoping for suggestions.
zap
I could say the same, LOL.Quote:
Originally Posted by zapatak
Well, they've volunteered their emails so I don't see why you would be harassing them.Quote:
We already have all the e-mail addresses but we don't want to harrass 500+ members when only a small percentage will be sufficiently motivated to join in the crowd-funding campaign.
Your existing plan hopes website visitors will press a button to get details. You could do exactly the same via email.
Acorn provided info about sending emails through javascript. He didn't solve the basic problem that will stop you having a one-press solution.Quote:
Acorn hinted that there may be a javascript solution but I am afraid that is far beyond my humble knowledge.
If your visitors are tech savvy enough to forward a pre-written email to multiple other recipients, then they're savvy enough to fill their email into a one line form.
You may be overthinking the task, and/or underestimating your members. A mass mail out seems the obvious route. I doubt anyone would see it as harassment as it sounds like you don't email your members on a regular basis.
Sorry you are confusing me. Do you have any experience with large groups of elderly people ?
They have given their e-mail addresses so that they can be informed of coming events, Concerts, Conferences, Visits etc, believe me they wouldn't appreciate a mail which had no relevance to the majority of them, it would cause confusion and distrust thus undermining confidence in the association.
The subtlety which you appear unable to grasp is that only interested members will press the button, a mass mailing hits them all.
Obviously you have no answer and neither do I but there may be someone who does !
If nobody waves a magic wand before the weekend I have informed the president that we will go for a double click mailto solution.
Time for a splash !
zap
I don't need the patronising tone.Quote:
Originally Posted by zapatak
So your strategy (which cannot work) is to capture members that visit a web page and hit a button to express interest. The problem with this strategy is that it can only capture people who will visit the website, these will be a subset of those who might wish to support your venture, so of the eligible respondents in your community, you've eliminated a large proportion already.
There isn't, but you've been presented with alternatives.Quote:
Obviously you have no answer and neither do I but there may be someone who does !
Enjoy your swim.
Sorry, no wish to patronise intended but I feel that you do have a tendancy to make assumptions which are simply not valid.
The website has no grand ambitions its principal objective is to bring together the people who have had some connection with the local church organ. That means, attending the church, getting married, christening, funeral, concert etc with 500 members from the immediate vicinity I think that they are doing very well.
The president has also decided to launch a simultaneous crowd funding campaign on a governement sponsored national crowd funding site, 'ALLO ASSO' hopefully this will bring in the majority of cash needed, they contact cultural commitees in both regions and departments, relevant industries, Banks etc. To be accepted on this governement scheme however you have to prove that you are trying to help yourself ! hence our campaign.
It is looking obvious that there probably is no 'One click solution' but I have always been an optimist, who knows a solution may still be found ! If not, as I said, I will do a two click workaround. The association members will feel that they have done their bit!
We did a similalar operation to restore three 16nth century paintings, the actual contribution from the (a different) association was virtually negligible but everybody was satisfied and pleased with themselves !
The pool is 29° the air 35°, time for a break
zap
Having an email bounce a reply back is far too convoluted.
If you can stick with mailto: then add the following style of link into Web Properties > Link:
Note the punter add their friends' emails into the To field; the administrator is already included as a Bcc addressee.Quote:
mailto: ?bcc=zapatak@somedomain.fr&subject=Crowd%20Fun d%20Our%20Organ&body=i%20think%20you%20could%2 0consider%20crowd%20funding%20this%20church%20orga n%20restoration.%20Details%20are%20in%20https%3A%2 F%2Forganfund.fr.%0A%0ABest%20wishes%2C
I composed this with https://www.rapidtables.com/web/html/mailto.html and cut out the bit in the double quotes.
I needed to add a blank space in the To field.
Personally, I would just ask your members to link to a page on the church site; just put the full URL in text and let them do the rest.
Acorn
Dear Acorn,
Thanks for waving your magic wand ! We almost have a solution. I have tried on two different PCs and effectively it chooses the default email client of the machine which it is running on, thus the user can add his hopefuly generous contacts and mail them all with a pre-composed message with a simple click ! Thanks a million.
One small the point, your suggested text for the body simply did not appear ! I know that it is possible to add body text because in my own limited experimentation I have managed to do it.
If you can give me a clue it will be most welcome but you have already lifted a weight from my shoulders!
Time for a splash
zap
zap, I suggest you experiment with the email generator and cut out the text in quotes and add to the link all in a separate Xara design page and upload that so it can be assessed.
You might have added a space or a return or your text could be too long.
Acorn