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Old 4 May 2020, 04:26 AM   #1
m46ah_30
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Dead on Arrival

I'm using the Fastmail application to "share" news articles from BBC, CNN etc. with another Fastmail user from my Android phone to their Win 10 PC. The links arrive without issue EXCEPT that they are not active i.e. they are not clickable; the web address must be copied and pasted to the PC to access the articles.

Is this SOP with phone-to-PC comms and the super simplified browsers and applications the phones use or is there some adjustment that can be made to correct the condition?

Last edited by m46ah_30 : 4 May 2020 at 06:37 AM.
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Old 4 May 2020, 08:33 AM   #2
somdcomputerguy
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See if their client has a 'make text links clickable' or something like that.

- Bruce
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Old 4 May 2020, 09:46 AM   #3
m46ah_30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by somdcomputerguy View Post
See if their client has a 'make text links clickable' or something like that.
Need clarification... see if WHOSE client has a "make text links...". I think I'm sending the emails through Fastmail's client.
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Old 4 May 2020, 09:50 AM   #4
somdcomputerguy
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If I thought the issue might be on your side, I would've said to check YOUR settings. In this case 'their' means the recipients.

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Old 4 May 2020, 09:56 AM   #5
m46ah_30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by somdcomputerguy View Post
See if their client has a 'make text links clickable' or something like that.
As I wrote in the original posting, they have what I have... Fastmail. It's my experience that FM makes text links clickable by default; I can't find anything in FM's settings that would indicate otherwise or that would contain the option to disable same. Any links we sent to each other via Fastmail arrive clickable.

There is nothing in the settings for Fastmail "preferences" in the application version of Fastmail' "rich text" composition settings. I can find no icons/buttons on the composition screen that could be used to code a clickable link while composing and email. Apparently Fastmail recognizes the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + K) for making lings active during composition but the keyboard that the Anrdroid phone is equipped with does not offer a CTRL key or any apparent substitute. Consequently a KB shortcut is not possible.

Last edited by m46ah_30 : 4 May 2020 at 10:16 AM.
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Old 4 May 2020, 10:13 AM   #6
somdcomputerguy
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You did say they are using FastMail, yes. I didn't know if they are using the web UI or another email client. I do believe that Fastmail makes the 'make text links clickable' option ON by default, or maybe not? A lot of things have changed over the years. Any way, in the web UI, goto Settings | Preferences, then click the 'Show Advanced Settings' link at the bottom of that page. Select the radio tickbox for 'Display the rich text version of messages when available' in the Reading | View HTML section. Note this setting is for RECEIVING messages, not SENDING them. This may be the cause of this issue.

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Old 4 May 2020, 10:20 AM   #7
m46ah_30
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I'll look for that setting on my PC first. I am always the user who is sending FROM my Android device TO a user who is working with a web interface.

Addendum:
I checked the adv. settings for "Reading" mail in both my PC and my Android device first thing. In both cases, the "Display rich text version..." was selected, apparently by default. I then sent an email containing a text link FROM my Android TO my PC. It arrived in my PC with a simple text link, not a hyperlink. I sent the same email to the other PC and it arrived in the same condition... text but not hyper.

Thanks for the suggestion, though.

Last edited by m46ah_30 : 4 May 2020 at 10:31 AM.
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Old 4 May 2020, 10:49 AM   #8
somdcomputerguy
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Hope you get it worked out!

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Old 4 May 2020, 06:37 PM   #9
JeremyNicoll
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Quote:
Originally Posted by m46ah_30 View Post
Apparently Fastmail recognizes the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + K) for making lings active during composition but the keyboard that the Anrdroid phone is equipped with does not offer a CTRL key or any apparent substitute.
I view incoming mails in plain text. Links in them are highlighted and can be clicked or right-clicked and "open in new tab" selected. It just works.

It sounds as if composing mail in html/rich-text is reducing the utility of your email.

As far as the Ctrl-key goes, there are alternate keyboard apps available for Android phones, which provide much better control than the default one; maybe one of those would help? One I have a note of, for possible future use - not tried it yet - is:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ion.pckeyboard
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Old 4 May 2020, 07:45 PM   #10
m46ah_30
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Originally Posted by JeremyNicoll View Post
I view incoming mails in plain text. Links in them are highlighted and can be clicked or right-clicked and "open in new tab" selected. It just works.

It sounds as if composing mail in html/rich-text is reducing the utility of your email.
I haven't had the opportunity to run a test to determine if changing the composition format is even possible in the Android version of FM. If the change does work it would answer my question but it would create a greater inconvenience for the recipient by having to give up the rich text option than it does to have to highlight-copy-paste a URL to a search box. Thanks for the idea, though!

Last edited by m46ah_30 : 4 May 2020 at 07:50 PM.
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Old 5 May 2020, 09:26 AM   #11
m46ah_30
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Interesting Developments

There have been some interesting developments regarding this Android-to-Windows PC hyperlink issue... at least interesting to me.

1. Changing the recipient's "Reading" setting from "always rich text" to "only plain text" did, in fact, change all present and future web addresses sent in email from plain text to hyperlinks.

2. Mozilla's vast array of extensions and plugins contains an addon called "Text Link". It enables the Firefox browser to convert any simple text web address to an active hyperlink when the user positions their cursor anywhere on the text and double left-clicks. It makes no difference what context the URL appears in, it will become a hyperlink if it's not already clickable by hovering over the address and simply double clicking.

I came to the forum with a problem and no solutions and leave with no problem and two solutions. Wish everything worked like that!
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Old 5 May 2020, 10:36 AM   #12
somdcomputerguy
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Glad you got it worked out.

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Old 5 May 2020, 12:32 PM   #13
BritTim
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JeremyNicoll View Post
I view incoming mails in plain text. Links in them are highlighted and can be clicked or right-clicked and "open in new tab" selected. It just works.

It sounds as if composing mail in html/rich-text is reducing the utility of your email.
I can kind of see some logic in this. If you are sending rich text, in principle, you should be able to specify whether you want the url displayed as a link or as text. The plain text version does not have any such control. There must be a global decision one way or the other.
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