Add links automatically?

[schapman12345]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel
Email Client: Exchange

As a previous Outlook user, I'm very used to typing in a basic web address without the http stuff (such as "www.foxnews.com") and having that turn into a blue-colored, underlined working link immediately when I hit space after the last character.

In entourage, not only does this not happen, but when I viewed the sent email in Hotmail (seeing it as my recipient's would), it was still just text ... not an email.

I tried the full http... URL, and though it didn't turn into a link in my Entourage window, my HOtmail recipient saw it as a link.

But is there a way to get the www.cnn.com style entries to work the way it did in Outlook?

If not, is there a plugin?

Thanks.

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

Hi,

As a previous Outlook user, I'm very used to typing in a basic web
address without the http stuff (such as "www.foxnews.com") and having
that turn into a blue-colored, underlined working link immediately when
I hit space after the last character.

In entourage, not only does this not happen, but when I viewed the sent
email in Hotmail (seeing it as my recipient's would), it was still just
text ... not an email.

Well believe it or not... that's the way it's supposed to be.
E-mails are jsut text. The e-mails you had sent through Outlook were
probably sent as HTML or some other crazy sort of enriched format.
The issue is that it doesn't display the same way on all computers and
some cannot decrypt the formatting so the standard remains sending as
text.
Now... some applications are smarter than others and detect the links in
the text and activate them, but that's done on the recepient side.

Though, if you really really really want it, you can set the preferences
in Entourage to send as HTML. That should solve your issue.


Corentin

 

[schapman12345]

Thanks for the reply.

Unfortunately, I already set my Entourage settings to use HTML for all email compositions, and it's not working.

Though I understand your rationale for sticking with straight text email, that seems so "1999" to me. Shouldn't Entourage turn those URLs into working links, whether or not the recipient's email client lets them work correctly? It's hard for me to believe that in 2009, people still use straight text email clients. Aren't the companies that make those clients in danger of going out of business for producing something so old school?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi Steve,

if you send the email in HTML, Entourage should convert the URL
automatically, provided that the URL starts with "http://".

As for "old school": there are many advantages to using plain text as
opposed to HTML. With HTML, you impose your font choice on the recipient;
with plain text, the recipient's preferences are honoured. This is
especially important for people with reduced eyesight; a default HTML
setting of Arial 10pt may be very hard to read for them, but if the message
is sent in plain text, their choice of Consolas 24pt may be more adequate.
Also, keep in mind that the number of people accessing their emails via
mobile devices such as the iPhone is increasing; plain text messages
download much faster and are much smaller in file size than heavily
formatted HTML email messages, which benefits people with a download limit
or a slow mobile connection.

 

[Diane Ross]

Insert URLs into a message (The Entourage Help Blog)
<http://tinyurl.com/48aqna>

Insert URL from an open web browser into Entourage

<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2008/07/favorite_scripts.html>

 

[schapman12345]

Thanks to everyone for your answers. This helps.

Specific to Michel: thanks for this insight. I hadn't thought of the adjustable font size for sight-impaired people. That's important. I'm just having a hard time not being able to use things like bold, italic, etc., or having bullets that indent. Plain text seems so ... plain.

I'll figure out a plan, though. Thanks!

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

I'm
just having a hard time not being able to use things like bold, italic,
etc., or having bullets that indent. Plain text seems so ... plain.

As I was saying, you can send as HTML and get all the formatting back.
I would say keep it simple though.
I sometimes receive e-mails with weird fonts, colors everywhere and
dancing pigs on the bottom and a picture of the pets as a background and
really, really I'd rather have them in plain text ;-)

Corentin

 

[Diane Ross]

Plain text seems so ... plain.

Plain Text or HTML
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/get_started/plain_html.html>