Xfire Miniprofiles as Email Signatures
This page provides detailed instructions about how to embed your Xfire miniprofile as an email signature in the most popular email interfaces: Microsoft Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Gmail.
Microsoft Outlook
- In Outlook, go to Tools -> Options -> Mail Format from the top tool menu.
- Click "Signatures" at the bottom.
- Click the "New" button.
- Give your signature a name (i.e., Xfire Miniprofile) and, if necessary, choose a template to use. Click Next.
- The Signature Edit tool will appear.
- In the text entry box, right click and select "Insert Image."
- For the picture source, paste in the URL to the miniprofile you want to use (i.e., http://miniprofile.xfire.com/bg/os/type/2/myusername.png.) You can find this in the HTML code block on the Xfire Miniprofile page.
- Add alternate text, a border, and alignment as desired.
- Click Ok to insert the image.
- Click "Advanced Edit."
- Click "Yes" to the warning about launching an outside editor.
- Wait for Microsoft Word to load, and then go to Word.
- Right click the image and select Hyperlink.
- In the address box, enter the URL to your profile page (i.e., http://profile.xfire.com/myusername).
- Click Ok.
- Save the file. Close the Microsoft Word window.
- Go back to Microsoft Outlook. Click Ok to any warnings.
- Click Ok to exit the Signature selection box
- Use the drop downs at the bottom of the Mail Format tab to select the signature for new/reply/forward messages as desired.
- Click "Apply."
Hotmail
(Note: these instructions will not work in Firefox, only IE.)
- Sign in to Hotmail.
- Click the "Options" button in the upper right corner.
- Click the "Mail" tab on the left to go to mail options.
- Click "Personal Signature" - this will bring up the Signature edit box.
- IMPORTANT - at this point, make sure that "Show the rich-text toolbar" is UNCHECKED. You should see a bare text entry box, without any text formatting options.
- In the text entry box, enter on the first line.
- On the next line, paste the full html code for the miniprofile you want to use; i.e.,
<a href=http://profile.xfire.com/myusername> <img src=http://miniprofile.xfire.com/bg/bg/type/0/myusername.png width=440 height=111> </a>
It's okay if this wraps to multiple lines. (Advanced: If you want to remove the border from the image, add a "border=0" tag after the "height=111" tag in the IMG tag.) - After that code, add a tag. The final, full text in the box should look like:
<html> <a href=http://profile.xfire.com/myusername> <img src=http://miniprofile.xfire.com/bg/bg/type/0/myusername.png width=440 height=111> </a> </html> - Once you have entered all the necessary code, CHECK "Show the rich-text toolbar." Your screen should reload with the full rich-text editor in Hotmail, and your miniprofile should automatically appear as an image in this box.
- Click Ok to save your signature.
Yahoo! Mail
- Sign in to Yahoo! mail.
- Click the "Mail Options" button in the upper right corner.
- Click the "Signature" link under Personalization.
- Click "Plain" above the text entry box.
- Paste the full html code for the miniprofile you want to use in the box; i.e.,
<a href=http://profile.xfire.com/myusername> <img src=http://miniprofile.xfire.com/bg/bg/type/0/myusername.png width=440 height=111> </a>
It's okay if this wraps to multiple lines. (Advanced: If you want to remove the border from the image, add a "border=0" tag after the "height=111" tag in the IMG tag.) - Once you have entered all the necessary code, click "Color and Graphics." Your screen should reload with the full rich-text editor in Yahoo! mail, and your miniprofile should automatically appear as an image in this box.
- Check "Add Signature to all outgoing messages."
- Click Save to save your signature.
Gmail
- You cannot embed an image in Gmail email signatures through their web interface. If you use POP to access your Gmail through Microsoft Outlook, use the above instructions for Outlook to add your Xfire miniprofile as a signature.
NOTE: All these mail clients (web and desktop based) have a tendency to use the Internet Explorer cache to pull the image to embed in the signature. When your recipients receive the email, the miniprofile displayed may or may not be a live representation of your Xfire status. Using the HTML link when creating the signature will ensure that they are easily able to click to a live readout of your Xfire status on your profile page.
