Is there an alternative to using a WebHelp Feedback mailto:

Please post all questions and comments regarding Help & Manual 7 here.

Moderators: Alexander Halser, Tim Green

Post Reply
Dave Gehman
Posts: 575
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:05 pm

Is there an alternative to using a WebHelp Feedback mailto:

Unread post by Dave Gehman »

For WebHelp "Feedback" buttons:

The one built into our skin, WebHelp_SlateGrey.hmskin, uses the HTML mailto: keyword.

Unfortunately, more than 80% of our users either gather their email via the Web or via a client that's not embedded in the operating system -- i.e., they aren't using Outlook in Windows. And we don't want to try to get them to find and follow instructions on making their mail client the default.

Is there an alternative client-agnostic widget that we can shoehorn into the skin?
User avatar
Tim Green
Site Admin
Posts: 23153
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:11 am
Location: Bruehl, Germany
Contact:

Re: Is there an alternative to using a WebHelp Feedback mail

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Dave,

The problem here is that at some point, an email needs to be sent. If you do it from the web page you have to use mailto to access the user's own mail client. There's no way around that. Otherwise you have to have a form that tells the web server to send the email, and the web server needs to be set up to do that. Either you have to have your own setup on your web server or you have to use a commercial service and link to that.

Linking to commercial web feedback services is problematic. You need to find one that isn't collecting all your users' data and selling it to spammers and scammers (or the service itself is a spammer and/or scammer, or they're both selling the data and doing it themselves). If you can find one, then you can turn off the standard feedback link in the skin and add a link to the web feedback service instead. 8)
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
Simon_Dismore
Posts: 205
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 2:57 pm

Re: Is there an alternative to using a WebHelp Feedback mail

Unread post by Simon_Dismore »

Tim Green wrote:Linking to commercial web feedback services is problematic. You need to find one that isn't collecting all your users' data and selling it to spammers and scammers (or the service itself is a spammer and/or scammer, or they're both selling the data and doing it themselves). If you can find one, then you can turn off the standard feedback link in the skin and add a link to the web feedback service instead. 8)
Hi Tim, do you know if EmailJS is any good?
User avatar
Tim Green
Site Admin
Posts: 23153
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:11 am
Location: Bruehl, Germany
Contact:

Re: Is there an alternative to using a WebHelp Feedback mail

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Simon,
Simon_Dismore wrote:Hi Tim, do you know if EmailJS is any good?
I don't actually have any direct experience with any of them. However, I'd tend to be cautious with any that are either free or surprisingly cheap...
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
User avatar
Martin Wynne
Posts: 2656
Joined: Mon May 12, 2003 3:21 pm
Location: West of the Severn, UK

Re: Is there an alternative to using a WebHelp Feedback mail

Unread post by Martin Wynne »

Hi Dave,

It's easy enough to make a "Contact Us" topic. Link to it from your feedback button. Insert an HTML Code Object on there. Put an ordinary HTML <form> on there. Have it submit to a simple PHP file on your server. Write the PHP file to collect the sender's data and email it to you. Put the PHP file in your Baggage Files. It will be an unusual server which doesn't have PHP (or ASP) enabled.

If it's PHP I can post some skeleton code for you to fill in your stuff. Sorry I don't know ASP, but someone else here will do. Here's a sample HTML <form> you could use (Insert HTML Code Object in topic and paste it in, edit your web domain in the first line):

Code: Select all

<form name="contact_form" method="post" action="http://daves_web_site/help_stuff/send_form_email.php">
<table width="760" align="center" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="12" border="0">
<tr>
<td align="right" valign="top" width="10%"><label for="your_message">your&nbsp;message</label></td>
<td valign="top"><textarea style="padding:5px; border:2px solid #CCCCFF; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:18px;" name="your_message" maxlength="4000" cols="70" rows="12"></textarea></td>
</tr>
</table><p>Please fill in at least some of your contact details below, otherwise we won't be able to get back to you. We won't share your details with anyone else.</span></p>
<table width="760" align="center" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="12" border="0" style="font-size:18px;">
<tr>
<td align="right" width="10%" valign="top"><label for="your_name">your&nbsp;name</label></td>
<td valign="top"><input type="text" style="padding:5px; border:2px solid #CCCCFF; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:18px;" name="your_name" maxlength="60" size="40"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" valign="top"><label for="your_address">your&nbsp;address<br>and&nbsp;postcode</label></td>
<td valign="top"><textarea style="padding:5px; border:2px solid #CCCCFF; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:18px;" name="your_address" maxlength="500" cols="60" rows="8"></textarea></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" valign="top"><label for="your_email">your&nbsp;email</label></td>
<td valign="top"><input type="text" style="padding:5px; border:2px solid #CCCCFF; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:18px;" name="your_email" maxlength="60" size="40"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="right" valign="top"><label for="your_phone">your&nbsp;phone&nbsp;number</label></td>
<td valign="top"><input type="text" style="padding:5px; border:2px solid #CCCCFF; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:18px;" name="your_phone" maxlength="60" size="40"></td>
</tr>
</table><p>It would help us if you would also answer these questions by clicking the buttons. Thanks.</span></p>
<table width="760" align="center" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="12" border="0" style="font-size:18px;">
<tr>
 <td valign="top" style="padding-left:12px; border:2px solid #CCCCFF;">
   <span style="color:blue;"><i>Do you usually vote in elections?</i></span><br><br>
   <input type="radio" name="vote" value="vote_always"> yes I always vote<br><br>
   <input type="radio" name="vote" value="vote_sometimes"> I sometimes vote<br><br>
   <input type="radio" name="vote" value="vote_never"> no I never vote<br><br>
   <input type="radio" name="vote" value="vote_not_saying" checked="checked"> I'm not saying
 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
 <td colspan="2">Click this button to send us your message: &nbsp;<input type="submit" value=" send message " style="font-size:20px;"><br><br>
 Thanks for contacting us. We will get back to you as soon as we can.</td> 
</tr> 
</table>
</form>
Here's what part of that looks like:

contact_us.png

cheers,

Martin.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Last edited by Martin Wynne on Wed Nov 04, 2020 10:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dave Gehman
Posts: 575
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:05 pm

Re: Is there an alternative to using a WebHelp Feedback mail

Unread post by Dave Gehman »

Thanks, Martin. I'm right in the middle of a rush project and will look at this when that project is behind me.
User avatar
julio
Posts: 118
Joined: Wed May 28, 2008 12:06 am
Location: Porto Alegre, RS - Brasil
Contact:

Re: Is there an alternative to using a WebHelp Feedback mail

Unread post by julio »

That is the same approach we use here, a PHP script that handles all tasks involving storing data and sending an e-mail to me when users send a feedback, except that this script resides on our server and cannot be accessed through GET requests, only via POST. I believe this is a better way to do this, because it prevents users from 'seeing' the code behind it.
Martin Wynne wrote:Hi Dave,

It's easy enough to make a "Contact Us" topic. Link to it from your feedback button. Insert an HTML Code Object on there. Put an ordinary HTML <form> on there. Have it submit to a simple PHP file on your server. Write the PHP file to collect the sender's data and email it to you. Put the PHP file in your Baggage Files. It will be an unusual server which doesn't have PHP (or ASP) enabled.
User avatar
Tim Green
Site Admin
Posts: 23153
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:11 am
Location: Bruehl, Germany
Contact:

Re: Is there an alternative to using a WebHelp Feedback mail

Unread post by Tim Green »

julio wrote:That is the same approach we use here, a PHP script that handles all tasks involving storing data and sending an e-mail to me when users send a feedback, except that this script resides on our server and cannot be accessed through GET requests, only via POST. I believe this is a better way to do this, because it prevents users from 'seeing' the code behind it.
That's definitely the best solution for users who can set it up. It can't be implemented in the skin directly because it's not possible to assume that users will have the resources available to be able to set it up on their server... :?
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
Post Reply