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However - there
is a handy free email program from Mozilla called
Thunderbird, which easily
enables you to create the code for
an HTML signature - complete with
graphics and links. The HTML signature can be used not only
in the Thunderbird email program,
but also in Microsoft Outlook and other
email programs that are HTML signature enabled.
You can download the free Thunderbird
program at
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird.
For additional information on Thunderbird,
please visit our
January 2005 Tech Tool. There
are a number of benefits to using Thunderbird to create the
HTML signature code...
- It's a free program. You don't
have to purchase an HTML editing program.
- It
creates a nice, clean, small code - unlike HTML editors,
which create bloated code.
- It's very easy to use.
Once you've downloaded Thunderbird,
follow these direction to create your HTML email
signature...
Before you create your HTML
signature, you'll need a place to store it.
You can create a folder on your C drive called
My Signatures - or any name you prefer - just so you
remember what it's named and where it is.
You are going to create your HTML
signature within a new email and save the code so it can be
used as an HTML signature file whenever you need it.
Let's begin by opening the
Thunderbird email program and clicking on the Write
button at the top.
Next, you're going to create a Table
that you can insert graphics and words into:
- From the menu
bar, click on Insert,
then Table...
- From fly-out menu, select the
number of rows and columns you want
You might want to start out with 2 rows and 1
column.
- Width
is something you'll want to play
around with. For now, try setting it to 650 pixels.
- It's best
to set the Border at 0 pixels unless you like seeing those
ugly lines around everything.
- Click the
OK button.
You will now see your table outlined
in red dotted lines (these won't show up
when your email is sent).
For the purposes of this tutorial, we'll reserve the
top row for the contents of your email and just use the
bottom row for your graphic signature.
- Click into the
bottom row. Then, on the menu bar, click
Insert, then
Image... then the Choose
File... button.
- Locate your graphic on your hard
drive and double click on it. Now click the Appearance
tab at the top. You'll find an option at the top right
that says, "Align Text to Image". From the
drop-menu selection, choose the "Wrap to the right"
option. This will allow you to type words that will appear
to the right of your graphic.
- If you'd like your graphic to be
linked to a web site, click on the Link tab at the
top and type in the URL of the web site in the space provided.
- Click the OK button.
If you need to resize your graphic
at this point, just click on it and resize using the
tabs on the corners of the
graphic.
Now click to the right of your
graphic and begin typing your name, contact information, and
whatever else you want to appear in your signature.
You can modify the font, size and color using the
email text editing options.
Finally... we come to the fun
part - creating the HTML code!
- Go back up to the email
menu bar at the top and choose
Edit, then Select All
- Next, go to Insert HTML...
- You will see a pop-up window
that contains the HTML code
you will need to create your signature.
To get the code,
scroll over all of the code so that you have
selected it all. Next, right mouse click inside
the code window and select Copy.
Or... a quick short-cut method
for selecting and copying the code is to just left
mouse click inside the code window, then type
Control-A, then Control-C to select
and copy it.
You're almost done!
Open the Notepad program that
comes with Windows. You'll
find it on your computer listed under Start,
Programs, Accessories.
- In Notepad, click on Edit,
then Paste. This will paste the
code you copied into the page.
- To save your file, click on File,
then Save As
- Locate the folder
you created on your C drive called My Signatures
- At the bottom of the flyout
screen you'll see an option entitled Save as Type:
Click on the down arrow next to the selection window and
choose All Files
Now click in the window above
that's called, File name: and type in the name of
your signature and - this is the most important part,
because you are creating an html file - type
.html
after the name. For the
time being, you might want to call it something like
Test.html Click on the
Save button.
Phew.... that was a lot of work!
But now you have an html
signature file that you can use in not only the Thunderbird
email program, but also in Microsoft Outlook, as well as
many other email programs. When you
open your email, the row above your graphic will be open and
available for you to type your message into. Try it
out - send a few emails to yourself and see how they look.
Now that you've
made it thought the basics,
take a little time and have some fun
creating a variety of HTML email signatures!
Here
are the steps you need to take to use your HTML signature in
Thunderbird...
- From the menu
bar, click on Tools,
then Account Settings... In
the window that appears, click on your email address at
the very top left.
- Now click the check box about
half-way down in the grey section that says, Attach
this signature: Then click on the Choose...
button. Click the Open
button, locate the
folder you created on your C drive
called My Signatures, and inside
of that, your
Test.html signature file. Click the OK button.
Here are the steps you need to take
to use your HTML signature in Microsoft Outlook...
- Choose Tools, then
Options. Click on the Mail Format
tab at the
top of the window.
- Toward the bottom, click on the
Signatures button to open the Create Signature
dialog box.
- Click the
New button. Enter a name for your new signature
in the space provided.
- Click in the radio button titled
Use this file as a template: Click the Browse..
button and locate the folder you created on your C drive
called My Signatures, and inside
of that, your
Test.html signature file.
- Click the Next> button.
Click the Finish button. Click the OK
button.
- NOTE: the
above steps may vary slightly with different versions of
Outlook.
BTW -
there is one advantage Microsoft Outlook has over
Thunderbird - Outlook will let you
set up your email program to use a number of different
signatures. You can even select one signature for
the new emails you create and a
different one for emails you reply to. |