How to send an email from JavaScript

Comprehensive guide: Server-side orchestrations

Describing JavaScript's approach to email sending is a bit like narrating a relay race, but instead of athletes, we have APIs and server-side scripts. Here's a granular breakdown of the process:

AJAX: Synonymous with seamless UX

With AJAX you can use JavaScript to send data to your server-side email service without stirring the water, i.e., AJAX delivers seamless user experience by avoiding page refresh.

$.ajax({   // Aren't $.ajax just the bees' knees?
  url: '/email-service',
  method: "POST",
  data: { subject: 'Hi!', body: 'Just saying hi!' }
});  
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3rd Party APIs: Ultimate email-sending power

Email services like SendGrid or Mailjet offer robust APIs that work openly with JavaScript. Be forewarned! Keep your API keys shielded from client-side – they're gold!

SMTP Libraries: Cleaner and easier

Shout out to SMTP libraries like smtpJs. Their Email.send() method can be used with encrypted SMTP credentials. If you're caught without an SMTP server, consider SMTP relay services. Secure them tightly to your specified domain.

Remote control: Sending email without refreshing the page

Directly from your website with PostMail

Postmail gives you the key to direct email sending from your website. Be the hero, handle the "everything is OK" and "we messed up" scenarios with grace. Users love being in the loop.

The Old School: The Mailto alternative

Have a time-travel to the father of web email with window.open('mailto:[email protected]') It's the grandpa way to open the default email program installed on users' systems. A nice fallback to have, no rocket science, but useful!

Programmers HATE him! XMLHttpRequest – the ultimate fallback option

var xhr  = new XMLHttpRequest();    // Remember this guy? Yeah, he's still around!
xhr.open('POST', '/email-handler', true);
xhr.send('Email contents');
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Error handling, spam protection and encoding

Spam protection and error handling are to email sending what dentists are to sweet lovers. We need'em! Try-catch is your best tool here, while utilizing encodeURIComponent for content encoding guarantees proper formatting. As a side-note, try not to expose personal or sensitive emails publicly.