How to Create a 'Mailto' Form in Dreamweaver

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Updated on May 26, 2022

What to Know

On Insert bar, select Forms > Forum. Next, select Form box > Properties > enter properties.
Next, choose fields. To add Submit button, select Button icon > set action to Submit Form > Save.

This article explains how to create "Mailto" forms in Adobe Dreamweaver versions CS3, CS4, CS5, CS6, 8, MX, and MX 2004.

Create Your "Mailto" Form

Follow these steps to create a Mailto form in Dreamweaver:

Switch to the Forms tab on the Insert bar, and click on Forms. You'll now see a dropdown list of form elements you can add.

To set the form properties, click on the Form box. In the Properties menu, enter the following:

Action: mailto:thetargetemailaddress@something.comMethod: GETEnctype: text/plain

Method: GET

Enctype: text/plain

Choose the fields you want from the Form tab on the Insert bar.
To add the submit button, click the Button icon and set the action to Submit Form.
Save the file.
Upload the file to your web server and test it.

What Are "Mailto" Forms?

"Mailto" forms collect information entered by your website visitors. The data is then emailed to an address you designate. "Mailto" forms let site visitors contact a company representative, register for an event, pay a bill, respond to a survey, join a mailing list and perform other communication-oriented tasks online.

A "mailto" form is one of the simplest forms to create in Dreamweaver and should take you, at most, about 30 minutes.

Tips

Setting the encoding type to
```
text/plain
```
is crucial; otherwise, you’ll get strange results.
Remember that the proper functioning of "mailto" forms depends upon the web browsers, email clients and operating systems your site visitors use. They don’t always work. Test with a variety of combinations whenever possible.

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