Send Entries Using HTML Formatted Email

There used to be a plugin for earlier versions of Movable Type called MT-Mail-Entry that allowed you to send friends a HTML-formatted email that included the entire entry. For 3.5 users, it works fine. For anyone that upgraded it's no longer an option.

I've seen several requests from MT4 users for a plugin to send emails and Dan Wolfgang has provided a solution with a plugin called Share. Here's what he has to say about it:

At its core Share will let you add an "email this to a friend" form to entries -- but it goes far beyond that!

Share will let you create a plain text or HTML formatted email through a template, which means email can be branded with your site logo and can include not just a link back to the selected page, but also related entries or category links or anything else MT can generate! The email subject line can also be customized.

Maintaining your site's design is important: the Result template will provide feedback to users about Share's success or failure while maintaining your site's look.

Oh, how I hate spam! Spammers will submit to any and every form that they can find, including comments, search boxes, and even Share's form. Spammers will be kept at bay through email address validation as well as by using the installed junk filters to test for validity, such as SpamLookup and TypePad AntiSpam.

You can try it out on entries on this site by clicking on the email link in the entry footer. The link will take you to the "Email this to a friend" form at the bottom of the page.

entry footer

Dan makes some persuasive points for using his plugin. It's easy to install following Dan's instructions. Style the form to look like your comments form and add header and footer styles to the Share Email Body template. You'll find these styles if you look at your site's CSS.

For corporate bloggers, this is a fantastic way to brand your emails so they retain the look of your site and I recommend this plugin to all bloggers who use Movable Type.

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