Using Hyperlinks in Twixl InDesign articles, you can launch the reader's mail client and create a new mail message. This article explains how to use the mailto: syntax (so you can prefill some fields for your reader) and tackles some difficulties for Android devices.
TIP:
For more general info about using Hyperlinks in InDesign, check this article: Hyperlinks
1. General Example
1.1. What?
Let's say you want to achieve the following result: A clickable hyperlink that will prepare a new email for your reader with a pre-defined addressee, subject and body.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| To: | to@email.com |
| CC: | cc@email.com |
| BCC: | bcc@email.com |
| Subject: | This is the Subject. |
| Body: | This is the Body. |
1.2. Syntax
The syntax for this example is as follows:
mailto:to@email.com?cc=cc@email.com&bcc=bcc@email.com&subject=This%20is%20my%20Subject.&body=This%20is%20my%20Body.
| Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
mailto:to@email.com |
This is the startpoint, it opens the reader's mail-client with a new empty mail and the To: Field prefilled with the address to@email.com |
?cc=cc@email.com |
This syntax tells that you want to add an option to this url. In this case you want the CC: Field prefilled with the address cc@email.com . Extra options after the first option needs to be added with & as a prefix. The first option after mailto always needs the prefix ? . The following options can also be added: |
&bcc=bcc@email.com |
Option to prefill the BCC: Field. |
&subject=This%20is%%20my%20Subject. |
Option to prefill the Subject: Field. Don’t forget to replace each space by %20. |
&body=This%20is%20my%20Body. |
Option to prefill the Body: Field. Don’t forget to replace each space by %20. |
2. Example with a url in the predefined body.
Adding a url to the body can be tricky. If you do this with the standard syntax, it will not work on Android devices.
2.1. What?
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| To: | to@email.com |
| CC: | |
| BCC: | |
| Subject: | A Body with a url. |
| Body: | https://www.twixlmedia.com |
2.2. Syntax
The correct syntax for this example is as follows:
mailto:to@email.com?subject=A%20Body%20with%20a%20url.&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.twixlmedia.comSo, the tricky part is the url. You can't use a standard url like https://www.twixlmedia.com . You will need to encode that url first. You can encode a url by using one of these free online tools:
- https://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/dencoder/
- https://www.urlencoder.org
- http://www.url-encode-decode.com
The result for https://www.twixlmedia.com will be https%3A%2F%2Fwww.twixlmedia.com . It's this encoded url that you need to embed in the syntax of your mailto: url.
REMEMBER:
Always test your setup before you publish! More info about Preview on device can be found here.