The Syntax

The mailto: URL lets you pre format a message by supplying the address to whom you are sending the message, the subject, who should be copied (cc) or blind-copied (bcc), and the body of the message. The simplest, most common use of the mailto: URL is to specify the address to where the message should be send:

mailto:tomer@netscent.com

When embedded in an HTML tag, it looks like this:

<A HREF="mailto:tomer@netscent.com">send Doc JavaScript a note</A>

If you want to specify other properties of the mail message, you can add them to the URL as name/value pairs (name=value). Each property name is followed by an equal sign and a value. The list of name/value pairs is separated from the email address by a question mark (?). Name/Value pairs are separated from each other by an ampersand (&):

mailto:tomer@netscent.com?cc=yehuda@internet.com&bcc=
  tomer@internet.com&subject=Your Tips

and in HTML code:

<A HREF="mailto:tomer@netscent.com?cc=yehuda@internet.com&
  bcc=tomer@internet.com&subject=Your Tips">Your Feedback is
  Always Appreciated.</A>

On Mac, IE has difficulties in parsing the bcc parameter and appends it to the cc value. When you click on the above link, for example, the cc address will show up on the new mail window as yehuda@internet.com&bcc. Avoid the bcc parameter on this system/browser combination. Lotus Notes support only the address field of the mailto: URL, and will create a mess with the other properties if specified.

Next: How to use the mailto: URL tool