Step by Step Details
1) Close Microsoft Outlook
It is HIGHLY recommended that you Close/Quit your active session of Outlook.
2) Locate Microsoft Outlook Signatures directory on the Local machine
This can be found at: “C:Documents and Settings%username%Application DataMicrosoftSignatures”
%username% — Is the name one uses to Login/Logon the local machine, WITHOUT the “%” signs.
3) Create desired BASE Signature file in HTML
Right click in the “Signatures” directory.
Select “New > Text Document“.
Rename the file to “LinkedIn-Icon.htm“.
The OS is going to ask you if you want to change the file type, click “Yes”
Open/Edit “LinkedIn-Icon.htm” with a Text Editor (like NotePad)
Right click the file; “Open With > Notepad”.
Copy the following basic HTML code into “LinkedIn-Icon.htm” and “Save“.
<!–DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN”>
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>MS Outlook eMail Signature</TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content=”text/html; charset=windows-1252″>
<STYLE>
P.HorBar {FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.Name {FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.Address {FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.Phone {FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.eMail {FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.WebSite {FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
</STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<P CLASS=HorBar ALIGN=left>_____________________________</P>
Firstname Lastname<P CLASS=Address>123 Main Street</P>
<P CLASS=Address>City, State Zip</P>
<P CLASS=Phone>MAIN: (123) 456-7890</P>
<P CLASS=Phone>CELL: (123) 456-7890</P>
<P CLASS=eMail>eMail: <A HREF=”mailto:UserName@domain.com”>UserName@domain.com</A></P>
<P CLASS=WebSite><A HREF=”http://www.domain.com/”>http://www.domain.com/</A></P>
<BR>
<!– Insert LinkedIn Icon Code Here –>
</BODY>
</HTML>
When “Personalized”, the previous code should look like (with a White Background (Silver):
4) Add LinkedIn Icon code
Login/Logon to your LinkedIn profile.
Click the “My Profile” tab in the Top navigational area.
Near the top section of “Profile” page, you will see a section called “Promote your profile with customized buttons“, click on the link.
Link (Need to be Logged In): Promote your profile!
On the “Promote your public profile” page, select the icon you want to be on your signature.
HINT: Keep it fairly small (160×25)
You can either copy/save the code to the right of the icon to a local file (using NotePad), or leave the window open.
Note: This is the code to be added to the HTML signature file
At the end of the HTML Comment “<!– Insert LinkedIn Icon Code Here –>“, Add a “Line Break” by pressing either the “Enter” or “Return” key)
On the new line “Paste” the contents of the LinkedIn code.
“Save” the current file.
The HTML code should look something like:
<!–DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN”>
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>MS Outlook eMail Signature</TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content=”text/html; charset=windows-1252″>
<STYLE>
P.HorBar {FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.Name {FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.Address {FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.Phone {FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.eMail {FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.WebSite {FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
</STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<P CLASS=HorBar ALIGN=left>_____________________________</P>
Firstname Lastname
<P CLASS=Address>123 Main Street</P>
<P CLASS=Address>City, State Zip</P>
<P CLASS=Phone>MAIN: (123) 456-7890</P>
<P CLASS=Phone>CELL: (123) 456-7890</P>
<P CLASS=eMail>eMail: <A HREF=”mailto:UserName@domain.com”>UserName@domain.com</A></P>
<P CLASS=WebSite><A HREF=”http://www.domain.com/”>http://www.domain.com/</A></P>
<BR>
<!– Insert LinkedIn Icon Code Here –>
<IMG SRC=”http://www.linkedin.com/img/webpromo/btn_viewmy_160x25.gif” WIDTH=”160″ HEIGHT=”25″ BORDER=”0″ ALT=”View Your Account’s profile on LinkedIn”>
</BODY>
</HTML>
When “Personalized”, the previous code should look like:
_____________________________
Firstname Lastname
123 Main Street
City, State Zip
MAIN: (123) 456-7890
CELL: (123) 456-7890
eMail:
UserName@domain.com
http://www.domain.com/
5) Open Outlook to generate New Code (rtf and txt files)
Open the MS Outlook application
Go to the “Tools” menu and select “Options“.
In the “Options” window, select the “Mail Format” tab.
In the “Mail Format” pane, near the bottom in the “Signatures” section, click on the “Signatures…” button.
In the “Create Signature” window, select the “LinkedIn-Icon” file, and click the “Edit…” button.
Note: There is NO “.htm” extension visible.
In the “Edit Signature – [LinkedIn-Icon]” window, use the slider to verify your signature code.
Click the “OK” button in the “Edit Signature – [LinkedIn-Icon]” window.
Click the “OK” button in the “Create Signature” window.
Click the “OK” button in the “Options” window.
The above actions will have cause MS Outlook to create two additional files:
“LinkedIn-Icon.rtf” and “LinkedIn-Icon.txt“.
To verify this, check:
“C:Documents and Settings%username%Application DataMicrosoftSignatures“
6) Edit txt signature file (Optional)
This is a completely Optional step, and mainly depends on your usage of Text based emails.
It is recommended that you completed this step for “Just-in-Case” situations.
With the “Signatures” directory open, “Right” click “LinkedIn-Icon.txt“, and select “Edit“.
“C:Documents and Settings%username%Application DataMicrosoftSignatures“
With the Text Editor open, you should see something like:
_____________________________
Firstname Lastname
123 Main Street
City, State Zip
MAIN: (123) 456-7890
CELL: (123) 456-7890
eMail: UserName@domain.com
http://www.domain.com/
View Your Account’s profile on LinkedIn
Remove the extra “Line Breaks” to shorten the signature.
_____________________________
Firstname Lastname
123 Main Street
City, State Zip
MAIN: (123) 456-7890
CELL: (123) 456-7890
eMail: UserName@domain.com
http://www.domain.com/
View Your Account’s profile on LinkedIn
And add your LinkedIn URL below the “View Your Account’s profile on LinkedIn” line.
You might also want to change the grammar of the line: i.e. “View my profile on LinkedIn.com”
_____________________________
Firstname Lastname
123 Main Street
City, State Zip
MAIN: (123) 456-7890
CELL: (123) 456-7890
eMail: UserName@domain.com
http://www.domain.com/
View my profile on LinkedIn.com
Save the changes, and exit/quit your Text Editor.
7) Test in MS Outlook
With MS Outlook open and active:
If you have made the “LinkedIn-Icon” signature your default, create a new email, and your LinkedIn signature should appear as you created it.
If you have another default signature, create a new email, and then “Right” click in the signature section.
A pop-up window should appear with signature selections.
Select “LinkedIn-Icon“, and your LinkedIn signature should appear as you created it.