E-mail link

user friendly email links

[moltar]

Most of us, webmasters, are tech savvy and use e-mail programs such Outlook, Eudora or any other software. Most of the users users use webmail.

If you create an e-mail link such as e-mail [email] and the user clicks that link, Outlook will pop up by default and if user had not set up an account, it will ask user to set up one.

In my opinion that annoys and destructs users. Not all of the users know how to copy the email link if it's not visible on the page (right click -> "Copy Shortcut").

If you place an actual email into a sentence then it makes the sentence look ugly.

How do you deal with your e-mail links? Are there any usability studies regarding this issue?

[ILLstyle]

usability studies

not that I know of if you find some let me know.

[marcs]

You could use a form-to-email type solution. That avoids any browser/client-side issues.

[divaone]

in-sentence email links are ok, but i place a small email icon next to each and every email link on a site to make sure the visitors understands what they are about to click. of course, i offer a form as the primary option.

[moltar]

divaone: I am not just talking about an e-mail link, what I meant to say: email us [email] Vs. [e-mail] [email] styles.

If I use 'email us' anchor text, then some users won't be able to find my email address, and if I place an actual email address into the sentence it looks weird.

Please email [email.com] us for further information.

Vs.

Please email us at [e-mail] [email] for further information.

But, of course, sentences could be more complex and it would make the matter even worse.

[divaone]

how about using a title tag?

a href="mailto:[e-mail]" title="[e-mail]"

(which I believe WebmasterWorld adds automatically to links in posts).

[hanuman]

I am a text junkie... I hate html mail, and I never waste bandwidth on html formated mail!

send your comments to

[e-mail] .

and don't hide it behind the link
LOL

[eWhisper]

I use a combination of web based and Outlook email, so I always like it when I can copy the email to paste into a browser, or have the option to just click on a link.

For the pages I code, I always use this script so I don't get spidered by spam bots.

I always use this script for emails, haven't gotten any spam bots sending me junk this way.

<p>For further info, please contact
<script language=javascript>
<!--
var contact = "Your Name"
var email = "YourEmail"
var emailHost = "YourDomain.com"
document.write("<a href=" + "mail" + "to:" + email + "@" + emailHost+ ">"+ contact + "</a>" + ".")
//-->
</script>
</p>

This would show as:
For further info, please contact [e-mail].

[killroy]

Unfortunately the mailto: schema has been deprecated in most recent HTMLversions, so our only REAL solution is a plain text address, or a form.

SN

[adfree]

Being swamped with spam like crazy on any published e-mail address (visible or not, once it's coded with mailto: spam siders will pick it up) I have decided to do it that way:

"bla...contact us at: name @domain.com (please remove the space before the @, we avoid spamming this way for you and us...bla"

Masking the e-mail address, yet showing your intention clearly addresses a couple of points:

- spam bots don't pick it up
- users still know what it is all about
- due to their manual handling they get to decide what e-mail client to use
- no enforcement on your part (except avoiding spam spiders)

Never had any complaint from users, they have always been receptive and understanding about this and like the freedom of choice. If contact is important to them, they will spend the second to remove the one space (or any other special symbol for that matter).

Cheers, Jens

[bill]

Unfortunately the mailto: schema has been deprecated in most recent HTMLversions, so our only REAL solution is a plain text address, or a form.

Where did you get this information? I've got validating XHTML Strict sites that use

<a href="mailto:[e-mail]">email</a>

and have never heard of this.