Email Signature and Stationary Options

CTI Navigator can automatically include your personal signature or stationary along with e-mailed MLS reports.  The signature or stationary must first be created in some other text or HTML editing program (as described below). To link your signature/stationary to MLS reports: open a Search Results table, click the Email icon, click the E-mail Options tab, and check the appropriate stationary or signature option. Use HTML signature (and/or stationary) for Embedded HTML or HTML Link messages. Use a Plain Text signature for Text Link  messages. Click on the Browse button to locate the appropriate stationary or signature file. To always include this signature/stationary with emailed MLS reports, click the "Set as Default" button.

Stationary is a formatting template that can include a background image, unique text font colors, and/or custom margins. Stationary typically comes with your e-mail program, and also can be created or saved from received e-mail. In Microsoft's Outlook Express, Stationary is typically stored at C:\Program Files\Common Files\ Microsoft Shared\ Stationary. Stationary files should be smaller than 10 KB. Pictures and other graphic objects in stationary can make the file too large to be reliably transmitted by e-mail. Extensive use of stationary in email is generally discouraged because it does not convey useful information to the recipient. 

Signature is a small template file of information (such as name, agency, phone numbers, disclaimer) that can be automatically added at the end of an e-mail message. According to generally accepted Internet etiquette, signatures should display no more than four lines. A simple signature file is often created (as a .txt formatted file) in WordPad that comes with Windows. (WordPad is listed in the list of Windows programs sometimes by itself and sometimes under "Accessories".) WordPad is useful because it makes a smaller file size (less coding overhead) than more extensive word processing programs (like Word or WordPerfect). 

Note 1: When HTML code (such as for an Embedded HTML or HTML link report) is transferred into Outlook or Outlook Express, the incoming code will disable any HTML code already present (such as for an automatically inserted signature). This means that a signature automatically inserted in outgoing messages by Outlook or Outlook Express may not display properly or at all unless the it has been setup in CTI Navigator's Email Options as described above.

To find the name of your existing signature file or where you saved it, open CTI Navigator > create a search results data table > select the E-Mail icon > click the Options tab > look at the file name beside whatever Signature you have checked (HTML or Text). To find the path to this file, click the Browse button beside the name. To edit that file, exit CTI Navigator and open the signature file in the appropriate text or HTML editor.

To change an existing signature, open the file in which you created your signature > make the changes > and save it using the appropriate editor (typically WordPad for ".txt" text files, and either Microsoft FrontPage or Adobe's Macromedia Dreamweaver for ".aspx" graphical files).

If you originally created an htm signature file in MS Word, Word inserts extraneous code (such as xmlns schemas) that may (or may not) display in your email. To prevent such extraneous code from appearing in email, either open the file in a true graphical editor (such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver), or open the file in a current version of Internet Explorer (see note 2) > remove the xmlns schemas code > save the file.

Note 2. To edit an html file in Internet Explorer, open the file, select View, then Source Code. To remove Word's xmlns schemas, highlight and delete everything except html inside the first set of chevron symbols (< >). This should leave <html> as the first line of code (usually followed on the second line by <head>). Click File, Exit and Save the changes to replace the original code in the file.

To add a logo or photo to your e-mail signature is an advanced function. Use the Insert Picture function in your HTML editor program to insert the logo where you want it positioned in your signature (see notes 3 and 4 below). The file of the logo should be in gif or jpg format, and must be small (preferably less than 2 KB). The logo file should be on your computer's hard drive (or a download site on the Internet), and the HTML code must use "absolute reference" (rather than relative reference) to the location of the image file. An absolute reference designates a specific drive letter, folder(s) and file name on your computer. Be sure to save the file in HTML format to preserve the graphic. You may need someone with an HTML editor program and familiar with HTML code to setup your photo or company's logo in a file appropriate to add to an email signature. Otherwise, commercial programs are available for creating email signatures. 

Note 3. The basic steps in FrontPage to add a photo to an existing signature file are as follows:
  1. Open FrontPage > select File > Open > Look in > change path to location of existing signature file
  2. Click on the existing photo place marker (or delete it and click where you want the photo to appear) > select Insert > Picture > From File > Look in > change the path to the location of photo
  3. Click and hold the right corner sizing handle on the photo box > drag to resize the photo
  4. To position the photo to the left of the text, select Format > Position > Wrapping style= Left > Positioning style=None > OK
  5. To move the photo up/down, click and hold on the photo and drag straight up/down > stop when the vertical positioning bar is beside the desired line of text
  6. To position the photo to the right of the text, select Format > Position > Wrapping style= None > Positioning style=Absolute > enter a Location (such as Left= 380, Top =20) > and/or click OK > click and hold on the photo and drag it to the desired position to the right of the text > re-size if desired
  7. Click the Preview tab at the button of FrontPage to see how the signature will display. Beware that the photo box (even an empty section) may overlap and obscure part of the text unless sufficient clearance from the text is provided
  8. File > Save (to replace exiting file) or Save As (to create new file). Use this file in CTI Navigator.
Note 4. You can change the path to a photo on your computer in an existing signature code using WordPad (and not need FrontPage) as follows:
  1. First note the path on your local hard drive to where your stored the photo file. If you have the Address Bar enabled in your Windows Explorer, just highlight the photo file and copy (Ctrl/C) the full path in the Address Box. It is usually a good idea to have both the photo and signature file in the same folder (but it is not entirely necessary). Do not use Word because it automatically adds extraneous code (for its own schemas).
  2. Then Open WordPad and open the signature file you want to use. Find the line which refers to the photo. For example,  src="TomPhoto_small.jpg"
  3. Click inside the initial quotation mark after scr=" and in front of the photo filename (e.g., scr="|TomPhoto_small.jpg) and either paste or type the full path to the photo. For example, src="C:\My Documents\My Photos\TomPhoto_small.jpg". If you paste the path, but careful to insert a backslash mark in front of the photo filename because the paste may not include this backslash separator in front of the file name. Do not change any other code in the file.
  4. Either Save the file to replace the original signature file, or Save As and give it the name you want to use for your signature. If you always want to include this photo in your signature, use the same file name as your existing signature (to overwrite it) and you won't need to change where it is referenced in CTI Navigator or your email program (Outlook Express or Office Outlook) .

Warning: signature files (especially with logos or photos) make email messages larger and slower to transfer or display. Some recipients' email may treat the signature as an attachment that is either blocked from display or must be opened separately from the main message.

Also beware that unusual or fancy fonts not installed on the viewers' computer may not display properly. Their computer would emulate your font with the closest type of font installed on their computer. Emulated fonts may or may not resemble your original in format or appearance.

 

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