Open Bug 264774 Opened 20 years ago Updated 2 years ago

Can not click URL in message header to launch with web browser.

Categories

(Thunderbird :: Mail Window Front End, enhancement)

Product:
Thunderbird
Component:
Mail Window Front End
Type:
enhancement

Tracking

(Not tracked)

People

(Reporter: erik, Unassigned)

Details

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; rv:1.7.3) Gecko/20040913 Firefox/0.10.1
Build Identifier: Thunderbird 0.8

I use POPFile (http://popfile.sourceforge.net) to pre-sort my email, and it puts
a URL in each message header that takes me to POPFile's interface so I can
change the message classification. In Thunderbird, that URL isn't clickable. I
have to manually copy/paste it into a Firefox window.

Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:
1. Get an email with a URL in any header
2. Click on URL in header

Actual Results:  
Nothing happens

Expected Results:  
Firefox (or whatever browser the user has as default) should open URL.
Are you asking for urls in message headers to be clickable, exempli gratia:

X-Emergency: Visit http://www.bite-me.com/

If so, you may have an uphill struggle to convince anyone that this is a good
idea. Many people do not want HTML rendering full stop.

Could the fine folk at popfile write an exetension to meet your needs?
(In reply to comment #1)
> Are you asking for urls in message headers to be clickable, exempli gratia:
> 
> X-Emergency: Visit http://www.bite-me.com/
> 
> If so, you may have an uphill struggle to convince anyone that this is a good
> idea. Many people do not want HTML rendering full stop.
> 
> Could the fine folk at popfile write an exetension to meet your needs?

This is not an example of HTML rendering - this is an example of recognizing a
plaintext URL and making it clickable, as pretty much every email client already
does with plaintext message content (and most do with header info).  I don't
think HTML code in a header should be rendered (not that I've ever seen HTML
code in a header).

As for POPFile's authors writing an extension for a specific email client's
deficiency, I wouldn't expect them to, but anything's possible.  This might be a
realistic expectation if POPFile were a Thunderbird utility specifically, but
it's not.
(In reply to comment #2)
> (In reply to comment #1)
> > Are you asking for urls in message headers to be clickable, exempli gratia:
> > 
> > X-Emergency: Visit http://www.bite-me.com/
> > 
> > [ snip ]
> > 
> > Could the fine folk at popfile write an extension to meet your needs?
> 
> This is not an example of HTML rendering - this is an example of recognizing a
> plaintext URL and making it clickable, as pretty much every email client 
> already does with plaintext message content (and most do with header info). 

Does Eudora make URLs in Headers clickable, if so all and any or just some.

I may have to admit to simplifying more than is proper. I expect headers
to be plain text, and therefore even stereo-typed text sych as URLs should
not be active. I wouldn't do anything that might help phishers. In fact, I
would not make URLs clickable in e-mail body text unless the mail was on
a whitelist - perhaps you and your family get less spam than I do.

See (for example) Bug 196749 for just how readily information leaks from 
headers are exploited. Perhaps you can see that there is case for keeping 
the stable door shut before the horse bolts.

I was mainly adding to this bug because I wasn't sure that I understood
what you wanted. Now I do, we can consider whether URLs in the headers
should be clickable. Personally I do think that this is a form of rendering,
but given your explanation I can see two sides to this. I hope, though, that
you can see that whilst body text with which it expected that humans interact
might want to make URLs active/clickable; headers, which are intended for
MTAs et cetera, ought not.

Maybe, just maybe, your header, X-Popfile: or some such could be an exception
to this, hence the suggestion for an extension.

> I don't  think HTML code in a header should be rendered (not that I've ever 
> seen HTML code in a header).
> 
> As for POPFile's authors writing an extension for a specific email client's
> deficiency, I wouldn't expect them to, but anything's possible.  This might 
> be a realistic expectation if POPFile were a Thunderbird utility 
> specifically, but it's not.

I suspect that you don't like my attitude, but it is a third party world
now, and a plug-in world as well. Anyone who wants to extend/improve
Thunderbird has an API and a framework so to do.

BTW, I went to the web page you mentioned & it was a splash page with next
to no useful information on it, so I not only no wiser, but not much better
informed about Popfile.

If a developer happens along and decides he or likes your idea then perhaps
it will happen, if not, you will have to produce a proof of concept yourself,
I think.


(In reply to comment #3)
> Does Eudora make URLs in Headers clickable, if so all and any or just some.

Yes, presumably all, but I can't say for sure.

> In fact, I would not make URLs clickable in e-mail body text unless the mail
> was on a whitelist - perhaps you and your family get less spam than I do.

POPFile eliminates my need for whitelists or blacklists.  I get plenty of SPAM -
99% of it (or more) goes into my SPAM folder (and when it doesn't, I use the
X-POPFile-Link header to reclassify it).  Clickable URL's could be a good
user-selectable option, but to simply not allow it?  Good feature for people not
computer literate enough to know where to click and where not to click, but a
hindrance for the rest of us.

> Maybe, just maybe, your header, X-Popfile: or some such could be an exception
> to this, hence the suggestion for an extension.

This is also useful for other headers, like the "List-Unsubscribe:" header
inserted into Yahoo Groups messages.  Another listserve I'm on extends that
further, with headers for List-Archive, List-Post, List-Help, and
List-Subscribe.  I'm sure there are plenty of other examples.

> > As for POPFile's authors writing an extension for a specific email client's
> > deficiency, I wouldn't expect them to, but anything's possible.  This might 
 
> I suspect that you don't like my attitude, but it is a third party world
> now, and a plug-in world as well. Anyone who wants to extend/improve
> Thunderbird has an API and a framework so to do.

I think that extensibility is a great thing, and that what you say here (except
about me not liking your attitude) is absolutely right, but I also think that
some things are basic features that should be built into an email client.  Being
able to click URL's to launch them (in plain-text) has become so universally
adopted among email clients that I think that is one of them.  That's why I
consider this a core program deficiency rather than a good candidate for an
extension.

> BTW, I went to the web page you mentioned & it was a splash page with next
> to no useful information on it, so I not only no wiser, but not much better
> informed about Popfile.

Click on your preferred language.  Since the POPFile documentation site is
available in 12 languages, the intro page contains links to 12 different
homepages.  Assuming English is your preferred language, clicking that will take
you to <http://popfile.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl>
This is Seamonkey bug 23114.
Severity: minor → enhancement
Component: General → Mail Window Front End
This is an automated message, with ID "auto-resolve01".

This bug has had no comments for a long time. Statistically, we have found that
bug reports that have not been confirmed by a second user after three months are
highly unlikely to be the source of a fix to the code.

While your input is very important to us, our resources are limited and so we
are asking for your help in focussing our efforts. If you can still reproduce
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you still believe we should implement it, please visit the URL of this bug
(given at the top of this mail) and add a comment to that effect, giving more
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If it is not a problem any longer, you need take no action. If this bug is not
changed in any way in the next two weeks, it will be automatically resolved.
Thank you for your help in this matter.

The latest beta releases can be obtained from:
Firefox:     http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/
Thunderbird: http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/releases/1.5beta1.html
Seamonkey:   http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/

I think that this feature is now in Thunderbird. If not, having looked at
both sides, I would vote for it.
It's in place for TB for the RSS "Website:" header, but not for a URL that's in 
a subject line.
Status: UNCONFIRMED → NEW
Ever confirmed: true
OS: Windows XP → All
Hardware: PC → All
Version: unspecified → Trunk
Leaving the Subject line to one side, I suspect that this RFE is about headers
that are revealed by the disclosure triangle: Show all headers. This also
applies to mailto: URLs, CCs, BCCs and so forth.

Should not URLs in that part of the UI be clickable. I vote Yes.

What is your view? Are you saying WONTFIX?
QA Contact: front-end
Assignee: mscott → nobody
Severity: normal → S3
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