You have the ability to create new email templates from scratch or edit/copy any current templates through Template Builder. If you don't see access to your templates, contact your Account Manager or emfluence Support to enable it in your account. Learn more about Template Builder here.

Landing Page templates are not editable by Platform Users as they have to be coded by an emfluence developer. Newer platform accounts may not have any page templates. If you use the Landing Page Drag & Drop options, you can create Landing Page Themes to reuse which can be edited by users with access to the page.

Why can't I add a group to an email?

If you have access to a group you have the ability to add it to an email. However, if you have changed the Owner of an email to another user (so it will be tied to their record rather than yours), or if you are editing an email someone else started and now owns, and that user does not have access to the group you are trying to add, the platform will prevent you from adding the group (since that user doesn't have the ability to send to it). Client Admins can edit a user's group access either on the group itself, on the Options tab, by checking the user's box and saving, or on the user's record under the Group's tab by checking the box next to the group you want to give them access to and saving. Alternatively, you could also change the owner of the email to a user with access to the group you want to send to.

Why didn't my file upload?

Both for security and for storage, emfluence only allows certain types of files to be uploaded. The only types of file extensions allowed are: gif, jpg, jpeg, png, zip, pdf, ics, ical, and vcf.

Also, because you shouldn't be uploading large files to send by email, we do put limits on how large a file can be to uploaded into the platform. The PDF maximum size is 10MB and other types of image files are 1MB.

How do I change my password or permissions?

If you don't remember your password and are locked out of your account, you can use the Forgot Password option on the sign-in page. Input your username and email address and you will receive an email with a link to reset your password.

If you are currently logged in and wish to change your password, you can do this by clicking on the User Cog next to your displayed login name (which will launch the User Detail modal and then you can click Edit User). Alternatively, you can also navigate into the Options menu and select Edit Profile, and then you can click Edit User. If you are a reseller user, clicking on the User Cog will allow you to edit the password of your reseller login (whereas changing information on Edit Profile only edits the user you are logged in through your reseller).

On the Edit User page, you will need to type in your existing password at the bottom of the screen which will then allow you to edit your username, email address, or enter a new password.

Can I add another user?

All Client Admins have the ability to create new users in the emfluence Marketing Platform in the Options menu under System Users. You will need a first name, last name, email and username, along with knowing which permissions to give the new user, and which templates and groups they should have access to. As a short-cut, you can begin by copying the permissions of a current user. You can find more on user creation here.

Why don't I see complaints for Gmail?

Unlike other email providers, Google does not return individual spam complaints. If your email has a good chunk of Gmail addresses, your complaint rate may be larger than shown. Google only shares high-level data per day (not per send or per contact) making in unable for emfluence to incorporate that data within our reporting. If you are seeing deliverability issues at Gmail, you may want to sign up for Google's Postmaster tool which will offer some limited insight on days where your may have exceeded the maximum-allowed number of spam complaints. You may choose to share access to that reporting with emfluence.

Why did my Apple Mail Views spike in 2021 and suddenly drop in 2022?

In 2021 Apple Mail's privacy updates changed how they deal with incoming messages. As the change was rolled out over the course of the year and more people opted-in to the program, Apple Mail began to block tracking pixels by automatically downloading images to a proxy server for every message received by an Apple Mail client that has the privacy setting activated. By doing so, Apple was causing a false positive for an email open/view that did not exist. This resulted in email view rates being artificially inflated by Apple Mail for contacts who didn't open your email. At the beginning of 2021, emfluence began filtering out these kinds of false positives. Because of this you may see your opens in Apple Mail decrease as they return closer to normal

Why do I see a gray (or other color) bar in Outlook?

There is a known bug in some versions of Outlook where the background color of an email can bleed into the email in the form of a thin single-pixel line. While Outlook is aware of the issue there isn't one simple fix. Email on Acid has an article about this you can find here. Because it only shows up in some versions of Outlook, and only on some devices, it makes it hard to troubleshoot. However, there are some steps you can take to eliminate the line if you see this occurring:

Check to make sure you aren't using any font-sizes or line-heights that are odd numbers. Outlook prefers you to use only even-numbered font-sizes (ex: 10, 12, 14, 16) rather than any odd-numbered sizes (ex: 11, 13, 15). A further suggestion is to use fonts divisible by 4 (12, 16, 20 etc. which are the safest in Outlook).
Try to avoid multiple consecutive blank lines.
You can attempt to use a non-breaking space before you close a </td> table cell. You would need to get into the code in able to do this, but you can make this addition and see if the lines disappear.
Attempt to wrap the table which is causing issues in a new outer table which sometimes can fix the problem on its own.
If you are comfortable with code, you may also attempt to add Outlook specific code to your emails. This is explained in more detail here.

If you can't resolve the issue, you may consider changing the background color of the template to the same color as the body of your email, most likely white (so if a line does creep through, it is the same color as the background and indistinguishable to the viewer).

Why do I see so many VAWP results?

Spam filters used by some inboxes can read the links in your email while checking for malicious code and count them towards your metrics. emfluence takes steps to try and count only actual views and clicks, but occasionally these types of spam filters can count towards your total and alter your metrics. The most common example of this is the VAWP link at the top of our email being read by a spam filter. Ways you can differentiate actual views vs. these types of views:

Normally these occur almost immediately after the email was sent (rather than a separate time later in the day)
Many won't count as a view or click (because the full redirect link wasn't loaded - although this is not always the case)

Why is the Platform freezing or crashing when I'm in the Compose or Preview step?

There are a variety of possible explanations for a browser time-out when composing an email in the emfluence Marketing Platform. The most common reason is coded image has pasted into an email. This often results in a long, complex image URL, which can cause a server time-out. If your browser freezes or crashes, ask yourself these questions:

Did you paste an image/images? Try deleting those images, and follow these steps to add them to your email or landing page.
Did you copy/paste the email content directly from Word or another formatted source? HTML style tags do not play nicely with Word style tags! Be sure to use the Paste functions in the editor toolbar when pasting content from Word.
If you are in the Drag and Drop and clicking in to edit a section, excess clicks may lock up your screen. Slow down and double-click into a section, or single click and click the pencil to begin editing.

If these solutions don't work, please contact support@emfluence.com, and a programmer will take a look at your email to troubleshoot the problem.

Why do some inboxes in pre-flight show my message as spam?

Every provider is going to have slightly different spam settings which are going to be a mix of your domain's reputation and the content of your message. Showing up as spam in pre-flight may be a result of email content, domain reputation, default behavior of how some inboxes treat bulk sending, or some combination.

If content is the issue, there are items you may look for:

Keep an eye out for overtly sales or marketing language
Look for words that repeat
Stay away from words in ALL CAPS
Be mindful of exclamation points!
Remember that Alt Text counts towards your spam score

Some providers have started moving bulk email to spam by default (which is why you may see some show up as heading for the junk/spam folder). Your sending domain may also have a reputation at certain providers that may skew you to junk/spam. It's important to remember that pre-flight is only a guide. It doesn't take into account your history with a contact or whether or not they have you in their safe sender list or address book. Also remember that (just like in the renderings) you are unlikely to be sending to all spam filters that show up in pre-flight (ex: GMX Mail is a free German email service that, unless you send to the EU, is unlikely in your contact list).

Why is Outlook not using my custom font? Can I set a different font?

While emfluence provides the standard set of fonts which email clients prefer to render, you can set a default font on your template (including the use of Google Fonts - find more info here). However, Outlook will often refuse to display font stacks. There is a snippet of code you can add to help. Find more here. NOTE: This may not work for all Outlook clients.

How do I save a copy of my email?

You can download an HTML version of your email in the Preview tab. With HTML selected, click the download tab on the far right. If you want to create a PDF of your saved file, most browsers like Chrome will allow you to open the file and save as a PDF. To save on Chrome, open your saved file and right-click outside the content. Find the Print option and then choose Save as a PDF.

I'm trying to import a contact list, but I'm getting this error message: "Invalid Row Delimiter." Why?

When you import a new contact list to the emfluence Marketing Platform, you must select a valid Row Delimiter. Most of the time the default row delimiter {CR}{LF} will work, but you may need to choose either {CR} or {LF}, depending on your browser and how your file was saved.

Why is Gmail turning the text in my email purple?

If you have sent multiple proofs to Gmail, or several emails with similar titles and content that show up under the same thread, you may see the inbox start to treat the later copies differently. Gmail has started changing the default black text of those emails to purple to signify they are copies. Deleting all but a single copy of the email, or deleting all the copies and resending a new email proof will give you the actual rendering (without the Gmail edits).

Can I add a video to my email?

Using the Drag & Drop Editor you can add an Embedded Video element which will allow you to use video in your email. Understanding that not all inboxes will play video, the Embedded Video element does allow you to use a fallback image and link to a webpage where those contacts can watch. Also, because the video is playing within the email (which only a small number of devices support) you lose the ability to track those views which you would see on a webpage. Your video will need to be hosted on a site where it is publicly available and the raw video file can be linked to; emfluence does not allow hosting video on its servers. Another option is to take a screenshot of the video within the player, and overlay a Play button to emphasize that the video is clickable. Link this image to your video URL or to a page where it is embedded.

Why am I getting and error that my email/template is too large?

To make it into the inbox most providers suggest you don't go too far over 100KB in size. You can see a warning if the size of your email goes over this threshold. Also, when editing an email or template, if the size goes over 500KB (making it undeliverable in most inboxes) you will get a warning preventing your from saving the email or template. If you receive this error, take a look at the content of your email and see what might be causing the issue.

The most common cause for this error is a user attempting to add some Base 64 encoding in their template or email. While this may be valid code, it will massively ballon the size of your HTML (compare the number of lines of a template without Base 64 to one with it and you can see how much larger the HTML becomes). Removing the Base 64 encoding with drastically decrease the size of your email or template and allow you to send.

If you are not using Base 64 encoding and still get this error, check to see that you aren't using any plugins in your browser (such as grammarly and DuckDuckGo) which are notorious for injecting their own code in editors such as ours, again making the HTML far larger than necessary.

I'm trying to add a new Contact, but I'm getting an error message that the Contact already exists. Why can't I see it?

Every contact record in your emfluence Platform account is assigned an Owner. If your account has Restricted Users (i.e. users who can only view emails, groups, and contacts that they own or have been given permission to see), then they are unable to view contact records owned by another User. Check with your client admin if you believe you should have access to a contact as they have the ability to share a contact across multiple restricted users if needed. If you're an account administrator that is importing contacts on behalf of a Restricted User, be sure to select their username from the Ownership dropdown box during the Import process, and check the box to transfer ownership to this user:

Why is there an address at the bottom of my email template? Can I change or remove it?

A physical address is required by CAN-SPAM law to be in every marketing email. This is so that subscribers have the option to unubscribe to your mailings via mail, if they so choose. All senders in the emfluence Marketing Platform are required to be CAN-SPAM compliant, therefore the physical address cannot be removed from your email template. This can, however, be stylized or updated by an emfluence programmer. Please contact your account rep if you'd like to change the address in your email template. Note that as of 2008, PO Box addresses are acceptable.

Can I recall a Sent email?

Once an email has been sent it cannot be recalled from the recipients' inboxes. Contact your account representative for ideas on how to send an "oops" campaign, or how to target openers of the email for a resend.

How are email addresses validated when I import a list? What's allowed and what's not allowed?

Broken down by part, here are the criteria that are applied by the Platform when validating email addresses during import:

Username
- Alphanumeric characters plus any of the following: underscore, hyphen, dot, plus, apostrophe
@
Domain
- Alphanumeric plus any of the following: hyphen, dot
.
Top Level Domain (TLD): Alphanumeric (2-4 characters)

Is the emfluence Marketing Platform SOC compliant? What are your security protocols?

While most information we collect for our clients is non-sensitive, there is likely to be some personally identifiable information collected and stored.
We don’t host any production infrastructure at our corporate office. Like most offices, we're not designed for that level of data security.

We outsource hosting of product infrastructure to Arsalon/DataBank, that provide top-of-the-line facility that meets one of the most stringent audit requirements in the industry, PCI compliance. Our data host is certified SOC1, SOC2, PCI and HIPAA compliant. Read more about DataBank's security protocol here.

What is wrong with the formatting of my email?

Here are a few simple tips to help prevent formatting issues:

Don't ever paste directly from Microsoft Word. Word has its own formatting that doesn't always play nice with HTML. If you do need to paste content from a Word document remember to "Paste as Plain Text."
Be careful with the copy function when making copies of an email. Making copies of copies (and so on), in which you are continually making changes, increases the chances of bad or half-deleted code getting passed on to the point where it eventually breaks. By this point it might be so far removed from your original coded template it could be difficult to diagnose or fix.
When adding a link to text try to always select text using your mouse from left to right over only the text you wish to link. This limits the chance of your hyperlink breaking the span or desired area, which could possilby lead to further formatting issues later in your email.
Do you use Grammarly? Turn the plugin off, or use a different Internet browser. The emfluence Marketing Platform uses CKEditor. There is a known issue between the two that, to this point, neither is willing to fix. When in CKEditor (making a new email or changing an email template) Grammarly will inject its own code in CKEditor adding potentially thousands of extra lines of code bloating your email and/or template.

Why did my social media post fail?

Occasionally you may receive a notification that your social media message failed to post. Here are the common reasons why this might occur:

The most common reason for a social media post to fail is an authentication issue. The cookie tied to that social media account may have expired or the platform (Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn) may have done an update since the last time you verified your account and your cookie is missing a new required piece of information. To solve this simply go into the Options section > Manage Accounts, and click into the social media account and re-verify the account (Note: you may be required to log into that account on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to complete the process).
If you are sharing a photo, you want to be careful to follow certain guidelines both in our system and to the social media platform you are posting to. For example:
- Never post huge images over social media. Twitter caps all images they allow to be uploaded through their API at 3MB. If your image is 2000x1200, it's likely quite a deal larger. Either upload a smaller version of the image into emfluence, or use the resize option to create a smaller thumbnail version for the post. Note: Twitter also has specific limitations on animated GIFs and the number of pixels and frames it allows. You can find a full list of these here.
- If you are sharing a photo, make sure the filename doesn't include any non-standard characters (such as + or %). When your photo is converted into a link those characters can break a URL.

Can I link to a phone number in my email?

You can use a telephone number in your email. On some mobile inboxes this will allow your recipients to call the number directly when they click the link. You can add this type of link to an image, text, or a button. Rather than use a URL you will simply type 'tel': followed by the number. An example, using the emfluence phone number, would be - tel: 1-816-472-4455. NOTE: This is not supported on all devices and inboxes.

Why does MailScanner show emfluence links as spam?

MailScanner is free open-source security software (created primarily for Linux) which, by default, shows any links that use tracking as spam. In order to provide clients with reporting metrics, our links do need to have tracking. If you have an inbox that uses MailScanner there are two options they provide: 1) They recommend turning off the phising checks which result any false positives from all email marketing platforms OR 2) You can add emfluence domains (such as emfluence.com and emailer.emfluence.com) to the MailScanner phishing safe sites list.