Users are troubleshooting why the ‘Share by Email’ button in Discourse opens a blank tab instead of launching their email client. parenthere reports the mailto: link opens a new tab but nothing happens. riking identifies this as a missing mailto: protocol handler. elberet notes Chrome on Windows opens a blank tab before launching the email client, possibly confusing users expecting Gmail or a web form. codinghorror confirms it’s a browser config issue, showing Chrome settings where users can assign mailto: to Gmail. elberet argues that for users with desktop email clients (like Outlook), no website appears in Chrome’s handler list, questioning whether it’s truly just a browser config issue. Mittineague supports this is browser-dependent, showing Firefox’s similar settings. elberet questions whether default OS behavior should be preferred over web handlers. ewanly reports the same blank-tab issue in Chrome and Firefox on Windows 10 with Outlook as default, and finds no way to register Outlook as a handler in Chrome — only web services. They suggest Discourse could detect the system’s default email client or let users choose a preferred method in preferences. Falco confirms it works fine on Ubuntu 16.04 with Evolution. The core issue is cross-platform inconsistency in how browsers handle mailto: links, and whether Discourse can improve the experience for non-webmail users.
I click the button share by email:
It open new tab and url looks like
mailto:?to=&subject=%5BHeartEmma%5D%20Convertible%20car%20seats%20-%20Britax%20Marathon%20vs.%20Chicco%20NextFit&body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.heartemma.com%2Ft%2Fconvertible-car-seats-britax-marathon-vs-chicco-nextfit%2F107%3Fu%3Demmafu`
but nothing happen after that.
That means you’re missing a mailto: url handler.
I just noticed that Chrome on Win32 opens a new blank tab before handling the mailto: URL and launching my Email client, the empty tab stays open and in focus. Maybe @parenthere expected the new tab to show GMail or a Discourse-specific email form?
It’s funny because the post in the screenshot talks about this car seat (Britax Marathon), which is exactly the one we use for our 3 kids:
http://www.kidslandusa.com/images/product/zoom/britax_marathon_cowmooflage_z.jpg
I’m not using a website but an old-fashioned email client, so there is nothing for me to change in that dialog because no website registered itself as a protocol handler in my Chrome settings.
Since, in all likelihood, other users who would rather use a program than a website for their emailing needs will experience the same behaviour, is this really a browser config issue?
Yes. eg. Firefox
That’s not the point I tried to make. The way I see it, you changed your browser’s default configuration by using a website as a protocol handler, while the out-of-the-box behaviour would be to ask the operating system. 
So who’s right? I guess I should just get with the times and start using the GMail web app?
Thanks. Probably it is my browser or os issue.
Thank you, I am the forum owner. I like Britax Marathon. I used it too.
Its interesting. I’d tried to share a post by email, both of my browsers (Chrome and Firefox last versions) are giving a new completely empty browsers windows. (Firefox is opening a new tab and new window at the same time, and both empty!)
My default email program is MS-Office-2016-Outlook, if i right-click on any file in my Win10 system, → Send-to → email recipient, it will open an Outlook window.
I’ll try to setup my browsers for that if possible, but the main problem will be at the community user’s side. Many different OS’s, browsers and even the mobile cases! Would be so technical and hard to explain!
Is there is a way for Discourse to check if there is a system default email client(web or local) from Discourse’s share by email button?
Edit:
I tried to setup Chrome but there is no way to add handler!
But I noticed this default choice, Allow site to ask… Dos this give a chance to Discourse fix the problem?
I did click from the first screenshot of Learn more, and I found the follwings:
Handlers. Chrome allows web services to ask if you’d like to use them to open certain links. For example, certain links can open an email program. If you're using Gmail or Hotmail, this setting lets the site handle links that would otherwise open a program outside your browser.
So we may add it at the user Preferences as a field to let users enter/chose their preferred default method of email client. Could be?
On my machine, Ubuntu 16.04, it opens the default mail program (Evolution), so no problem here.
