-
-
Even in the web 2.0 world, often times the most cost effective way to set up a collaboration mechanism is an email distribution group. How often do you see:
| For support contact THISAPPSUP. If you need permissions, send mail to THISAPPLEADS. |
If you were really on the ball, you would set up a list or form that had all of the fields and pre-requisite questions, but I understand, sometimes that gets de-prioritized. However, there is something in between that is about as easy as posting the above, but makes it so much easier for you and the user contacting these aliases. It's our old friend MailTo.
If nothing else make the email addresses hot. Such as <a href="mailto:thisappsup">THISAPPSUP</A>
But wait, for not that much more effort, how about this. They click on the link, and instead of just firing up an email, it gives it a little more structure:
Maybe not web 2.0, but at least web 1.1:
Here is the mailto code:
<a href="mailto:thisappsup?Subject=Support Request for This App&Body=This App Support Team, I need help with This App">THISAPPSUP</a>
This way you can help give a little structure to the mail request. Even though the sender can still change things, it will still help speed things up and structure it more. It will also help differentiate sources of the mail if mail groups are used for multiple purposes. For example, you could include a reference to the page from which the mail is being sent, or a version number.
Note: The email addresses in this post are purely fictitious. The links will initiate an email message, but don't expect that the example recipients will actually work. :)
See also: MailTo Protocol
-
-
In an earlier post, xCalendar, I echoed a need for a XML calendar syndication standard (that isn't based on RSS).
I found an xCal schema:
XSD xCal XSD Schema
-
-
In my last post Search Your Internal Site From Internet Explorer I talked about how to expose a search to your site so that it will light up the Internet Explorer Search Box. I referred to OpenSearch. The site refers to an XML schema spec, but does not provide a schema.
XML is one of my weekend hobbies, and XML schemas are one of the best intersections between linguistics and programming.
XSD OpenSearch XSD Schema
For those of you using XML editors and want to validate that your Search Provider file is using the correct schema, or want intellisense, I put together the above XSD schema.
-
-
You can use Internet Explorer 7's search box to search almost anything, and you can enable visitors to your site to do the same.
Here's how:
- Create an OpenSearch XML Document such as the following:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/">
<ShortName>Search Westin's Technical Log</ShortName>
<Description>A filter search of all of Westin's technical blog.</Description>
<Contact>http://weblogs.asp.net/wkriebel/contact.aspx</Contact>
<Url type="text/html"
template="http://weblogs.asp.net/wkriebel/search.aspx?q={Search Terms}&o=Relevance"
/>
<LongName>Search Westin's Public Technical Log</LongName>
<SyndicationRight>open</SyndicationRight>
</OpenSearchDescription>
- Publish the file somewhere, such as http://weblogs.asp.net/blogs/wkriebel/searchWestinTechnicalLog.xml
- Add a LINK tag to a web page where you want it to light up the Search Box Drop Down:
<link title="Westins Technical Log" rel="search"
type="application/opensearchdescription+xml"
href="searchWestinTechnicallog.xml">
</head>
- Optionally, add a link to the page that will add the provider:
<A href="http://weblogs.asp.net/controlpanel/blogs/posteditor.aspx?SelectedNavItem=Posts§ionid=524&postid=5709632#" onclick="window.external.AddSearchProvider("searchWestinTechnicallog.xml");">Click here to add a search provider for Westin's Technical Log to your toolbar search box</A>
There are a number of things for which this is handy:
- SharePoint sites:
Example: http://someSharePointServer/SomeSiteCollection/SomeSite/_layouts/OSSSearchResults.aspx?{Search Terms}
- Visual Studio Team System Web Access:
Example: http://MyVSTSWebAccess/WorkItemTracking/WorkItem.aspx?artifactMoniker={Search Terms}
- Community Server
The example in this article
Also, you can select from existing search providers, or use a form to create your own or copy the XML to your page at: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/searchguide/en-en/default.mspx
Other articles on this topic: