Alternative to the standard Mailto

[theremotedr]

Hi,
I sell on eBay and have a standard Mailto link on the page.
If I click on the link using an iOS device my email opens but the To field is blank as apprised to my email being shown.
If I use the same code on my web site & click the link it's fine & my email is shown in the To field.
I've also confirmed this on other sites which use these links.

I then assume EBay has something in place which looks for Mailto code and stops an email address being entered into the To field
Is there an alternative code which I could try to get around this, it would need to be installed the page and not anything external.

This is strange because being a business seller my email is shown under my default contact option on the page for all to see so why this clickable option targeted?

[jscheuer1]

Not sure. I can say that it is extremely unwise to publish any email address of yours or a business of yours on a public page on the internet because - by doing so you are basically saying to the world, "Send me Tons of Spam!" But that doesn't mean EBay is necessarily trying to protect you from that. But, it's a good guess. You can encrypt your email address though, such that humans only are likely to be able to know it's an email address. Whether or not EBay will allow that. Again, not sure. I have a free email encryptor which doesn't rely upon the end user having javascript enabled in order to use the resulting link (you need javascript enabled to use the encryptor though). Dynamic Drive has one that requires the end user to have javascript enabled in order to actually use the email link.

But there's another problem. Both my, and DD's encryptor, as well as an ordinary email link, all rely upon the end user (visitor to your EBay pages in this case) having a default email client configured. Many do not. Or, if they do, it's not their actual email service. So the best solution is to use a server side mail form where they can enter their address, subject, and comments - and, if they submit it, have it go to an email address of your choosing that they never actually see. EBay probably has such a thing available. If so, that's what you should use. Look for it in the control panel/options, etc. that they provide for you as an EBay account owner. Or search email in their help section.

I researched this a little more via Google. On Stack Overflow they say:


eBay already have a feature that enables potential buyers to send messages to a seller this should be the method used.

Which sounds like good advice to me. There is however a third party mail form available for free (or at least that was available for eBay for free, and looks like it still might be) that you can try (shows how to insert the form):

http://www.email-forms.com/ecommerce/ebay/

Shows how to create the form:

http://www.email-forms.com/mycontactform/mycontactform_basic.php

They seem to indicate that this is all free. But, for simplicity's sake, I think I would stick with what eBay already offers, whatever that is - like probably intenal mailboxes accessed on eBay I would imagine - though I don't know, you would have to use your eBay account's help or instructions to find that if you are not already aware of it.