Putting email-links into your blog

This article is about how to show an email address in your Blogger blog.

Previously, I've described the email address that is shown in the navbar when someone is reading your blog.

But there may be cases when you do want to display your own, or perhaps your company or club,  email address on your blog.    Lots of people warn against doing this because you could get lots of dodgy spam, but so far I haven't had problems on several blogs where I've done it (or maybe my ISP just has a good spam filter).

How you put an email address into your blog depends on where you want to put it, and whether you just want to display the actual address, or to display some other linked text that is set up so that when a reader clicks it, they are taken to their email system to send you a message.

Putting a linked email address into a Post or Page

Edit the Post or Page in the usual way:

• In the place where you want the address to go, type it - eg  fred@frog.org.cc

• Select the address, and click the Link button on the toolbar

Most probably, Blogger will recognise that you've put in an email address, and automatically make the link as soon as your click the button.  

However of the link isn't automatically made, then the link dialog box will open.  In it, select the "Email address" radio button.

• Type the words you want your reader to see into the Text to display field. 
• Put the email address that you want messages sent to into the Link to field.
• Press Ok.

Later on, if you want to change the email address (eg if it was automatically made, and you want to change the words that are shown), just hover your mouse over the address, and choose "change" from the blue hover menu.

Putting a linked email address into a Text or HTML Gadget

Putting an email address into a text or HTML-Javascript gadget is similar to putting it into a post, with one important change:

• Add the gadget the usual way - it can be either a Text or  HTML-Javascript gadget

• Type the words that you want your reader to see, 

• Select them and click the Link button.

• In the dialog box that comes up, delete "http://" that is there initially.

• Type in     mailto://THE-EMAIL-YOU-WANT-TO-USE and press OK

The HTML in the gadget now says

 <a href="mailto:YOUR-EMAIL-ADDRESS"> THE TEXT YOU WANT TO DISPLAY</a> 

(though you may not see this if you're looking at a text gadget).

Using an email address with a picture Gadget

It's easy to have a picture on your blog, set up so that when a reader clicks on the picture they can send you an email.  :

• Add the gadget the usual way - choose the Picture gadget option

• Link to the picture-file in the usual way (either upload or select it from your Picasa-web-albums).

• In the Link field, type  mailto://THE-EMAIL-YOU-WANT-TO-USE

Once you save the gadget, the picture will be click-able, and when a reader clicks on it they will be invited to send an email message.

What your readers will see

If you have put an email address into your blog in this way, your readers will see it as a link (or a picture, if you used this option).  It may be look like an email address, or it may look like something else if you have used display text.    For example, this phrase is linked to emailing fred@frog.org.cc

When your reader clicks on the link, they are taken to whatever system is set up on their computer / internet-browser for sending a new email message, and the the email address that you used is in the To box.

For example, my own computer is set up to use Microsoft Outlook, so if I click on a mail-to link, a new Outlook message opens, with the address filled in and my default signature included.

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Related Articles

Understanding the email address that is shown in your blog

The Follow-by-email gadget - an easy way to add Feedburner to your blog

Putting HTML from a 3rd party into your blog

Setting up your custom domain (including your admin email address)

Tools for applying copyright protection to your blog