mailto: Links in Webmail

Some links on websites are live e-mail addresses that when clicked on will open your e-mail client with a blank message and the To: field filled in. The underlying HTML code is a mailto: link. Due to spam problems, these types of links are becoming fairly rare.

If you are using our webmail, clicking on this type of link won't work. It only opens Outlook Express rather than webmail. We have had requests to enable this functionality and this page presents our methods for enabling mailto: links in webmail.

mailto: Links in Internet Explorer

We couldn't find any easy way of doing this, so we had to code something. We found a great little program and altered it a bit until it worked with the US Netizen webmail. Many thanks to Mike from rabidsquirrel.net for his G-Mailto source code.

Download and install G-Mailto version 1.32a. Open G-Mailto preferences and select Internet Explorer and click on Use this browser. Click on Use HTTPS (Secure) then click on Use this Protocol. Note: this should work for other browsers, too.

If you are logged in to US Netizen webmail and you click on a mailto: URL, a new window will open showing Compose Message with the To: address filled in. If the Subject or anything else was in the mailto: link, those will be filled in too.

mailto: Links in Firefox 1.x

You can use the G-Mailto software above for Firefox 1.5.

If you prefer an extension, us the WebMailCompose extension from Jed Brown. Some of the links on his site are broken, but you can download the extension from this link.

Once installed, open the Settings menu for WebMailCompose and choose the WebMail Services tab. Uncheck everything except Enable Other. In the address box, enter the following code:

https://mail.google.com/a/usnetizen.com/?view=cm&fs=1&to=^T&su=^S&body=^M&cc=^C&bcc=^B 

On the General tab, check all three boxes and enter this address in the bottom box:

https://mail.google.com/a/usnetizen.com/ 

Click OK to save. You'll need to restart Firefox to get it to work.

Now, each time you click on a mailto: link, Firefox will open a new tab at the US Netizen Webmail login page. If you are already logged into webmail, that step is skipped. Once logged in, an empty message will be opened with the information from the mailto: link filled in. Usually, this is just the To: field, but Subject: is commonly used.

mailto: Links in Firefox 2.0

The G-Mailto program works in Firefox 2.0.

The extension isn't updated for Firefox 2.0 yet, but you can force an installation if you have installed the MR Tech's Local Install extension. Just check the box to bypass the maxversion check when you are installing WebMailCompose.

The WebMailCompose Settings menu doesn't work in Firefox 2.0. You will need to fire up your favorite JavaScript editor and edit webmailcompose.js found in C:\Documents and Settings\ yourname\ Application Data\ Mozilla\ Firefox\ Profiles\ wnw4fdt1.default\ extensions\ {77FD3355-E57A-4e76-B9CB-BDCD3A50D02F}\ chrome\ content\ webmailcompose\. Change the line beginning var wmc_OtherComposeURL = to:

var wmc_OtherComposeURL = "https://mail.google.com/a/usnetizen.com/?view=cm&fs=1&to=^T&su=^S&body=^M&cc=^C&bcc=^B";

Then change

getPrefYMailCompose().SetDefaultBoolPref("webmailcompose.gmail", true);

to false and change

getPrefYMailCompose().SetDefaultBoolPref("webmailcompose.other", false);

to true. Change

var wmc_DefaultComposeReadURI = "http://mail.google.com/";

to

var wmc_DefaultComposeReadURI = "https://mail.google.com/a/usnetizen.com/";

Save the file and restart Firefox. mailto: links should now be working.

Test a mailto: Link

Click here to test: fakeaddress@phonywebsite.con

If you aren't already logged in, you will be taken to the login page. After you log in, the message will open.