[OPLINTECH] Mailto links on public computers

[Phil Shirley]

I tried changing the registry entry as I posted in an earlier message 
(below) but it didn't work for me; when I clicked on a mailto link in IE 
I got an error that the mail client wasn't properly configured, and in 
Firefox I got no error but nothing happened when I clicked a mailto link.

However, I found another way, which worked for me.  I adapted the 
instructions on the first page below and the sample reg file on the 
second page below:

http://www.squirrelmail.org/wiki/WindowsMailto

http://code.deeproot.in/deepofix/browser/trunk/packages/squirrelmail/src/contrib/squirrelmail.mailto.NT2KXP.reg
(or http://tinyurl.com/cfnofc )

My reg file should be attached (unless attachments are stripped from 
list messages; it's just the sample reg file in the second link above, 
with SquirrelMail changed to MailtoHelpPage and the Squirrel Mail URL 
changed to the URL of a page on my library's web site).  It works for me 
on a Windows XP Professional PC, but keep in mind that this changes the 
registry so be careful - its possible to mess up a computer by messing 
with the registry.  To use this file:

1. Change my library's URL to the URL of a page on my site (by the way, 
I stole the text for this web page from David Popeck at Lakewood).

2. Change the file extension from .txt to .reg

3. Back up the registry if you want.

4. While you're logged onto the computer as someone allowed to change 
the registry, double click on the file and say "yes" when asked if you 
want to add these to your registry.

5.  Get into Internet Options (through IE's tools menu or some other 
way) and choose MailtoHelpPage as the default mail client(programs tab - 
email).

That worked for me; hope this is helpful to someone.

Phil


Phil Shirley wrote:
> I don't think the person who sent this to me would mind my posting the info:
> 
> hkey_classes_root> mailto > shell > open > command change value data
> to path to
> 
> “c:\progra~1\intern~1\iexplore.exe” http://a.org/b.htm
> 
> where "a.org/b.htm" points to some useful web page on your server (so it 
> would actually be cuyahogafallslibrary.org/mailto.htm or something, 
> which would explain what was going on, what to do, and tell you to close 
> the page when you're done reading it).
> 
> Phil
> 
> Phil Shirley wrote:
>> Already got a private reply that one library sets a registry key to open 
>> a web page.
>>
>> Phil Shirley wrote:
>>> Has anyone one come up with any good way of dealing with mailto links on 
>>> public computers?  These are the links that want to open in your default 
>>> mail client, which isn't always appropriate, especially on public 
>>> computers.
>>>
>>> I would like to find a way to make the "default mail client" on a PC 
>>> actually be a script or something that opens a web page explaining how 
>>> to get the information from these links and then use it in their own 
>>> email ("right click and select 'properties' to find the email 
>>> address...").  I can create a shortcut or a script to open a web page 
>>> like this, but when I tried (a few years ago) to get Windows to accept 
>>> this as the default mail client I couldn't get it.  (That was 2000; what 
>>> I want to do it in now is XP.)
>>>
>>> Someone told me that a public library has a mail client (maybe Outlook 
>>> Express) set up on the public computers with an actual email account 
>>> that can send email.  If anyone's done that I'd be interested in hearing 
>>> about it - I'm really not inclined to give the public access to a mail 
>>> account that I'm responsible for, and I would think people would prefer 
>>> to send the message from an account where they can get a reply.
>>>
>>> Thanks for any help you can give me.
>>>
>>> Phil
> 

-- 

Phil Shirley
Technology Services Coordinator
Cuyahoga Falls Library
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
330-928-2117, ext. 109
pshirley at CuyahogaFallsLibrary dot org

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