can one of you computer genuis help me with a mail problem

Calvin Walley · Post by **Calvin Walley** » 17 Nov 2013 3:17 pm

i am using win 7 and when I am on a webpage and need to ask a question about a product I want to be able to click on the "contact us " link and it go thru my yahoo mail account BUT every time I do it say that I do not have my mail client set up

please... please walk me thru what I have to do to correct this

a 1000 thanks in advance

calvin

ps keep it simple

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 17 Nov 2013 4:47 pm

I have no dog in this hunt, and I'm only curious.

Why not use a POP mail account normally offered through most ISPs? All the "free" web mail stuff is nothing but internet marketing opportunities for the providers. What am I missing?

Calvin Walley · Post by **Calvin Walley** » 17 Nov 2013 5:16 pm

(1) I don't know how to do all that stuff
(2) I have been using yahoo mail for years and all my friends know how to e-mail me there
I just want on click on a link and be able to e mail a vendor

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 17 Nov 2013 5:55 pm

In Firefox you set your email preferences (mailto) by clicking on Firefox/Preferences...

Calvin Walley · Post by **Calvin Walley** » 17 Nov 2013 9:07 pm

thanks cal , but that doesn't help me on ie and yahoo

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 17 Nov 2013 9:59 pm

A "mailto:" link is a special web command that hooks into the operating system (any OS) in search of what is known as an "email client." This "email client" is actually a desktop application (software, program, app) that is "registered" with the computer's operating system to "do" email. It is not a web browser. Only a highly customized browser could respond to a "mailto:" link and open a "web mail" page. I don't know of any that do this.

What are some current email clients?

In olden times, Windows users, up to XP, could activate a computer program called "Outlook Express" to compose, send and receive what is known as "POP3" or "IMAP" email messages. Those are email "protocols." Outlook Express was a sibling of Microsoft Outlook, which is a business class email client. It was okay for its day, but has been long deprecated by Microsoft.

With Outlook Express dead and gone, Microsoft grudgingly agreed to create a more modern replacement that could run on Windows Vista and 7 computers. This email client was named Windows Live Mail. I use it to this day on all of my Windows XP and 7 computers. It shares many features and naming conventions of the old Outlook Express.

For those who are not interested in, or able to install Windows Live Mail, Mozilla offers the Thunderbird email client. Linux users often install Thunderbird along with Firefox.

There are other brands of email client available; some free, others commercial. Russian spammers tend to use The Bat! email client, made in Russia, which I automatically detect and delete via my MailWasher Pro email filters.

The point here is that unless you switch over to an actual email program, one that runs as a stand-alone desktop application, your mailto links cannot open anything, since nothing has been registered to perform that function. A web browser is not an email client. Going to Yahoo.com and clicking on Inbox, only opens a web page that functions as a manual "web mail client". Web mail is just another web page, technically speaking. It is not an email client, as such.

I hope this helps clear up the confusion.

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 17 Nov 2013 10:11 pm

If you have Yahoo Messenger installed you might be able to set Yahoo as your default faux mail app, or so I've heard. You can also try clicking on the Windoze Start button and clicking on Default Programs and setting up Yahoo there.

I've used Windoze Live Mail, and it's OK. Thunderbird, as the Wiz mentions, is a good alternative.

Actually, I'm surprised you're still using Yahoo email, after the interface redo that everybody's been bitching about.

Calvin Walley · Post by **Calvin Walley** » 17 Nov 2013 10:13 pm

Wiz

if I understand you , then there is nothing I can do to be able to click on the "contact us" link and get it to work ?

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 17 Nov 2013 10:17 pm

The mailto tag is one of the banes of web designers, because it doesn't always work unless the user has an actual email app configured and it doesn't work on public computers. And now there's the problem of mobile devices. A contact form works much better.

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 17 Nov 2013 10:53 pm

I think you need to install the Yahoo Toolbar version 7.2 and up for Internet Explorer. That should let you set Yahoo as the default email reader.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 17 Nov 2013 11:15 pm

Calvin Walley wrote:Wiz

if I understand you , then there is nothing I can do to be able to click on the "contact us" link and get it to work ?

I set up contact pages with three contact systems:

1: A JavaScript presented Mailto link for those with a desktop email client program installed and configured.

2: A JavaScript presented copy and paste link for those using Web Mail, like Yahoo. They have to highlight, copy and paste the email address into the To: field in their Webmail page.

3: A contact form they can submit to the owner of the website, or the webmaster. This requires nothing more of the visitor. All the delivery is done via web scripting and validation I set up.

The reason for the JavaScript email links is to defeat email harvester bots. The contact form is actually the best method of contact, in my opinion, and the only one left if the visitor has JavaScript disabled.

Evidently, some webmasters are still unaware of these options. Having nothing but a "Mailto" link on a contact page is foolish. It leaves out many users who lack an email client, like Windows Live Mail, or Thunderbird, etc.

Calvin Walley · Post by **Calvin Walley** » 17 Nov 2013 11:27 pm

I have the latest version of yahoo toolbar
used to all I had to do was click on the link
and it opened my e-mail with their address already there
oooh well I guess those days are gone

and to think folks here think learning the pedal steel is hard ....lol

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 17 Nov 2013 11:34 pm

Calvin, I think there's a plug-in or something for the tool bar that you have to install to get the functionality you want.

Walter Killam · Post by **Walter Killam** » 18 Nov 2013 7:23 am

1 - Right click on the mailto: link
2 - copy the link
3 - open your webmail & start a new email
4 - paste the link (ctrl+v) into the To... section
5 - delete the "mailto:" prefix
6 - compose & send your email as usual

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 18 Nov 2013 11:18 am

Cal Sharp wrote:The mailto tag is one of the banes of web designers, because it doesn't always work unless the user has an actual email app configured and it doesn't work on public computers. And now there's the problem of mobile devices. A contact form works much better.

Amen to that.