Entourage 2008 - still no hyperlink?

[Gene Park]

Obvious question. Have you contacted Comcast regarding this issue? Forget
the chat now as they are all thoroughly phuqued and the bloody thing can
lock up Safari making it necessary for a forced break. The last time I used
the chat now I was left hanging waiting for an answer, but the moron I was
dealing with probably decided he needed a wank and closed off.
Your best bet in dealing with Comcast it to try to get one of the techies on
the phone in Alberta where they do try to provide a semblance of customer
service.
Gene
Lake Oswego, OR

 

[Scott Santee]

(I'm probably not the best person to post this since I'm quite unaware
of several things.)

I know several have clarified about Entourage *2008*.

For those users with 2004, if you type your email in Entourage (Word
not needed), and Save As Draft, you can see that it converts
http://www.something.com into a clickable link.

I also just tried sending a seemingly non-clickable "http://..." to
myself (without Saving As Draft) and it came back to me as a clickable
link.

The reason I'm hesitant to post this is because it might be a given
that you're talking about one of those clickable phrase like "click
here" where the actual link is "hidden" behind the text.

Or because I'm naively thinking that plain text emails requires you to
cut and paste the text of the link into your browser.

If I'm mistaken on these accounts (or something), feel free to delete
this post.

If not, then for 2004 users who would like to have a hyperlink within
an email, this gets you most of the way there quite easily.

Scott...

 

[Art Shotwell]

(I'm probably not the best person to post this since I'm quite unaware
of several things.)

I know several have clarified about Entourage *2008*.

For those users with 2004, if you type your email in Entourage (Word
not needed), and Save As Draft, you can see that it converts
http://www.something.com into a clickable link.

I also just tried sending a seemingly non-clickable "http://..." to
myself (without Saving As Draft) and it came back to me as a clickable
link.

The reason I'm hesitant to post this is because it might be a given
that you're talking about one of those clickable phrase like "click
here" where the actual link is "hidden" behind the text.

Or because I'm naively thinking that plain text emails requires you to
cut and paste the text of the link into your browser.

If I'm mistaken on these accounts (or something), feel free to delete
this post.

If not, then for 2004 users who would like to have a hyperlink within
an email, this gets you most of the way there quite easily.

Scott...

Scott, I'm no expert, but I think I've found that the email programs I've
used all will automatically create a link when they see a group of text that
starts with http:// in an incoming email. Art

 

[lgphoto]

I am in the same boat: angry that MS refuses to produce a professional version of Entourage for Mac user. There are SOOOO many mandatory things missing from 2008. How about that even this forum does not have a section just for Entourage 2008? All the versions are packed into one area. Not helpful.

But most importantly someone PLEASE get Paul Berkowitz's HTML script to work in 2008.

Thank you.

 

[Housewolf]

I work for a company that monitors communication portals for firms with high level security issues. We scan something on the order of 20,000 emails a week. 65% contain HTML - and this is a user group that has been advised against using HTML.

Whether YOU like HTML is irrelevant, the large majority of people use it, apparently enjoy it, and EXPECT to be able to use it if they choose to.

Hyperlinking is a base level function on virtually every email program in the world including other Microsoft products. You cannot rationalize away the inability to hyperlink on a $300.00 plus "top end" office application. It was a cheap short cut or an oversight. Don't pretend it was purposefully omitted as a tool to educate the masses on the purported evils of HTML.

 

[Barry Wainwright]

I'm a web developer so not using HTML seems odd. But I am now much
more interested in looking into it.

HTML on the web is fine. In email, prefer to emphasise the content over the
presentation. There are very few messages that have content that is actually
enhanced by the use of HTML (although I do use it for sending formatted
script - a rare exception to the rule). For this reason, I prefer the use of
plain text wherever possible.

--
Barry Wainwright
Microsoft MVP (see <http://www.microsoft.com/mvp/> for details)
Visit the Entourage User¹s Weblog for Hints, tips and troubleshooting
information:
http://www.barryw.net/weblog/

 

[Art Shotwell]

Plus, if the link is visible, you can copy & paste it into a browser URL
window. Art

 

[Barry Wainwright]

The reason I'm hesitant to post this is because it might be a given
that you're talking about one of those clickable phrase like "click
here" where the actual link is "hidden" behind the text.

Or because I'm naively thinking that plain text emails requires you to
cut and paste the text of the link into your browser.

The general conversation (apart from some vituperative wanderings and one
hijacked sub-thread) were about the use of 'click here' type text links.

However, how a properly formatted URL is handled depends on the mail agent
used to view the message. If you format a link with the 'http://' protocol
prefix and enclose it in 'braces' like this:
<http://www.apple.com>
Then the vast majority of mail clients will allow the user to simply click
on it to open it in a browser. Entourage doesn't absolutely insist on the
braces, but may get confused over where multi-line URLs end if you don' use
them. Outlook will generally let you get away without the 'http://' prefix
if the link starts with 'www.', but this shouldn't be relied upon as it is
definitely non-standard behaviour.

--
Barry Wainwright
Microsoft MVP (see <http://www.microsoft.com/mvp/> for details)
Visit the Entourage User¹s Weblog for Hints, tips and troubleshooting
information:
http://www.barryw.net/weblog/

 

[Diane Ross]

The general conversation (apart from some vituperative wanderings and one
hijacked sub-thread) were about the use of 'click here' type text links.

However, how a properly formatted URL is handled depends on the mail agent
used to view the message. If you format a link with the 'http://' protocol
prefix and enclose it in 'braces' like this:
<http://www.apple.com>
Then the vast majority of mail clients will allow the user to simply click
on it to open it in a browser. Entourage doesn't absolutely insist on the
braces, but may get confused over where multi-line URLs end if you don' use
them. Outlook will generally let you get away without the 'http://' prefix
if the link starts with 'www.', but this shouldn't be relied upon as it is
definitely non-standard behaviour.

When you compose a message the links do not appear active, but they are.
Just save the message as a draft and you will then see the active links.

Enclose the URL with < and > viz: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/> so that
if the URL wraps over more than one line, it will still work when it gets
there. Don't forget to format with the http:// prefix.

See this article for some handy scripts to insert web urls into a message
along with creating URLs.

Insert URLs into a message (The Entourage Help Blog)
<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2007/07/insert_urls_into_a_message.html>

HTML Newsletters, Messages & Signatures

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq_topic/html_msg.html>

 

[Doug13]

Thanks, Diane. It isn't a clean and complete solution but provides decent workarounds.

Other than that... C'mon people. The tired argument about whether the format for us computer geeks (plain text) or the format for the rest of us (HTML) belongs somewhere else. Most of us come here to find answers on how to do things and have no desire to deal with dissertations on your opinions. I'm looking for a way to embed hyperlinks easily for the benefit of a client, and I really hate wasting more time reading this garbage than getting the information I came here to get.

ps I'll keep my personal preference on this to myself, but FYI I use both formats depending on the situation.

 

[lgphoto]

&lt;Have you contacted Paul Berkowitz to ask him if he plans to update his script for 2008?&gt;

Paul Berkowitz has not answered my email i sent him 4 days ago. Maybe he's busy working on a fix. Paul are you out there?????

 

[Diane Ross]

Thanks, Diane. It isn't a clean and complete solution but provides decent
workarounds.

Glad I could help.

Other than that... C'mon people. The tired argument about whether the format
for us computer geeks (plain text) or the format for the rest of us (HTML)
belongs somewhere else. Most of us come here to find answers on how to do
things and have no desire to deal with dissertations on your opinions. I'm
looking for a way to embed hyperlinks easily for the benefit of a client, and
I really hate wasting more time reading this garbage than getting the
information I came here to get.

I agree we all tend to get defensive over certain issues. Plain text vs HTML
is one that seems to get most people very defensive.

I guess we've all received a few too many emails that have pink backgrounds
in font size 72 with tons of attachments.

 

[TD Lawlor]

So I've read through this thread and it seems you can't insert a link into an email signature in Entourage. I'm new to Mac having switched from PC so obviously this is all new to me.

I'm setting up from email accounts for my business and I'm extremely surprised to learn I can't offer an simple click through link to my firm's website.

I would suggest someone provide an update to alleviate this ridiculous omission.

If I can't use the email signature with a link, I'm going to have to use another email/calendar program. Any suggestions?

Am I missing something or is there a way to put an link in my email signature?

 

[Adam Bailey]

So I've read through this thread and it seems you can't insert a link into
an email signature in Entourage. I'm new to Mac having switched from PC so
obviously this is all new to me.

That's not entirely true, you just have to include it as a URL. You can't
link text.

I'm setting up from email accounts for my business and I'm extremely
surprised to learn I can't offer an simple click through link to my firm's
website.

Include your firm's web site URL. It's more memorable that way to begin
with.

I would suggest someone provide an update to alleviate this ridiculous
omission.

That someone would be Microsoft, and you're welcome to send feedback to them
via the Help menu in Entourage. Microsoft prioritizes features based on
feedback.

If I can't use the email signature with a link, I'm going to have to use
another email/calendar program. Any suggestions?

That seems ridiculous. I've been sending and receiving email in the
Fortune 500 corporate world for something like 8 years and I can count on
one hand the number of times per month I receive an email with linked text.
People use URLs.

Am I missing something or is there a way to put an link in my email
signature?

Use the URL.

 

[Frosty]

In an environment where Entourage is meant to replace Outlook (for Mac users in an enterprise), using HTML emails (with linkable text) is an absolute requirement. Not having features like that force Mac users to use parallels and Outlook.

 

[Adam Bailey]

In an environment where Entourage is meant to replace Outlook (for Mac
users in an enterprise), using HTML emails (with linkable text) is an
absolute requirement. Not having features like that force Mac users to use
parallels and Outlook.

Everyone's situation is different, please stop presenting this as an
absolute. I don't know anyone who hyperlinks text in email in intra-business
email.

That doesn't mean that *you* don't, but it's not the rule. Personally I'm
ambivalent, I don't care if they add the feature or not.

Regardless, everyone who has an opinion on this subject needs to send
feedback to Microsoft via the Help menu. It isn't going to be decided here.

 

[art689]

To me it is so simple. I just bought this product, and paid good $ for it. No where does it say that a common feature would be left out as a matter of "taste". "People like HTML, no wait a minute, people don't like HTML", etc. I want to fill up my huge hard drive with anything I want, and a feature that is "typical" should be there in a premium product. Frankly, I feel a bit offended when people defend bad decisions with that argument (People shouldn't use HTML), and, by implication, suggest that I can't decide for myself. I really don't care about this issue, probably, since I am so new I haven't run into it yet. I was only reading this thread to see how to reply, and more to the point, how do you start a new thread here?

regards, Arthur in Baton Rouge

 

[Diane Ross]

To me it is so simple. I just bought this product, and paid good $ for it. No
where does it say that a common feature would be left out as a matter of
"taste".

You need to send your feedback to Microsoft. We can't do anything about what
features they include. Send Feedback to Microsoft under any Office
application's Help in the Menu bar.

I was only reading this thread to see how to reply, and more to the
point, how do you start a new thread here?

I don't use the web interface. You can subscribe to this newsgroup with the
Entourage newsreader. It's easy to use.

How to subscribe to the Microsoft Entourage newsgroup

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/support_options/subnews.html>

 

[art689]

Thank you for your kind assistance about the newsgroup. However, I would not consider feedback to Microsoft as a worthwhile effort, because the issue has nothing to do with the feature, but instead has to do with the way they do business. Frankly, the same applies to Apple. So we customers just comment and move on. it's not personal. My comment was in the context of the discussion, and I will say I appreciate the effort you and the rest of the MVP people seem to put on these issues.

Fortunately, I solved my original problem on my own, and all is well.. for now.

Regards, Arthur in Baton Rouge

 

[Adam Bailey]

Thank you for your kind assistance about the newsgroup. However, I would
not consider feedback to Microsoft as a worthwhile effort, because the
issue has nothing to do with the feature, but instead has to do with the
way they do business.

You're being unreasonable. Either make the suggestion or let it go.

We've seen the impact feedback makes on Entourage by seeing much-requested
features offered.