Using your emails to link out to an upcoming calendar event is a great way to ensure that attendees don't forget to add the event to their calendar.

Below, you will find easy-to-follow instructions on how to link out to events created with Google, Apple and Outlook calendars in your Mail Designer 365 email designs.

Google Calendar

If you've created a Google Calendar event which you want to share with your email subscribers, you will need to create an event link to include in your email.

Here's how:

1. Set up your event in your Google Calendar.
2. Click on "Options" > "Publish Event"
3. Copy the event link to include in your email template. Important: Make sure your calendar is set to public to ensure all recipients will be able to view the event.

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Now you can insert the link into your Mail Designer 365 template; either as a text link, or attached to a call to action button:

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Apple and Outlook Calendar

For Apple and Outlook calendars, you will need to create an .ics file for the calendar event.

Simply set up your event in the calendar, then drag it on to your desktop to create the file:

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Now, upload the file to an online file hosting service (in this example, we will use Google Drive.) Right click the file to create a shareable link which you can insert into your email design:

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Remember to set the file to public if you are sharing it:

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You can now send a link to the calendar event to your subscribers, who can simply download the .ics file to add to their own calendar.

Tip: This tool is another great way of creating custom add to calendar links. Fill out your event's details and select the calendar service you wish to generate a link for (i.e. Google, Office 365, Outlook or Yahoo.) You can then copy the result to use in your Mail Designer 365 design.

Adding rounded corners to the background of a text area is not supported directly. However, to create this effect, drag a quadrilateral into an image area. You can find this shape under the "Basic Shapes" category.
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Adjust the size of the image area as well as the size of the shape to fit your needs. You can also change the color of the shape. On right side, you can adjust the corners by moving the corner radius slide.
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Then, drag a text object into the image area to create a text box effect. You can find text objects under "T" icon within the "Contents" tab. Feel free to position the text box and change its font style, font weight, font size, font color, etc. to fit your needs.
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Please refer to the following page for further information on how to create the effect of having rounded text box corners:

• Rounded Corners guide.

Whenever you want to forward your email newsletter, please make sure to use your mail client's "Forward as Attachment" or "Redirect" feature. This ensures that the email design is forwarded and not modified. Refrain from using the forward button that you typically use to forward emails. The normal forwarding can break the email template.

What happens when you use the normal forwarding button is that the mail client will need to modify the email newsletter, so you, the user, will be able to add your own content. This typical whenever you forward a message - the forward action will prompt the mail client to give you space to write an additional message to the person you are forwarding the email to. Unfortunately, with this process, most mail clients can break the email layout and there is nothing we can do to prevent that from happening. So when you want to forward your email template to someone, our best email design practice is to use your mail client's "Forward as Attachment" or "Redirect" feature.

Mailchimp have recently updated their image upload API, which has resulted in some compatibility issues when uploading email designs from third party services.

What can I do?
The latest Mail Designer 365 version includes support for the new image upload API. Templates uploaded using this version will not be affected.

What about older email templates?
If you need assistance with older designs that you've previously uploaded to Mailchimp and are now not working, please contact the Mailchimp team directly to report the problem. We generally suggest to re-upload the old template.

Older Mail Designer versions
Mailchimp no longer supports older versions of Mail Designer, such as Mail Designer 2 and Mail Designer Pro 2. For this reason, if you try exporting a design created using an older version of Mail Designer, you may notice that images are missing from your design.

To ensure compatibility with Mailchimp and other leading email service providers, you should consider upgrading to Mail Designer 365.

Generally speaking, you should only have to log in to Mail Designer 365 when you first install the app (to ensure this is the case, we would always recommend that you have downloaded the latest version of Mail Designer.)

However, despite this, it can sometimes be the case that your Mac doesn't store your login details in the Keychain. To manually fix this problem and stop the app prompting you to sign in every time you open it, please do the following:

• Quit the Mail Designer 365 app.
• Open the "Keychain Access.app"
• Search for "Mail Designer" using the search field in the upper right corner of the window.
• Here you should find the entry "Mail Designer account." Double click on this entry to get details.
• Go to the "Access Control" tab and check to see if Mail Designer 365 is located under the "Always allow access to these applications" list.
• If you cannot see Mail Designer 365 on the list, please press the "+" underneath the list, find Mail Designer 365, and add it.
• Restart the app and login if prompted.

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Your login details for Mail Designer 365 should now be stored on your Mac. If you are still experiencing problems, please send us your debug logs and let us know via support@maildesigner365.com.

In certain browsers - for example, Google Chrome - mixed http and https content is blocked by default. This can cause images to not be displayed.

At the moment, Mailchimp are serving the images exported from Mail Designer 365 over http. If your browser blocks mixed http and https content on web pages, this will explain why you are unable to see the images when you preview your templates via the Preview Mode.

We are aware of this issue and are currently working with the Mailchimp team to get it rectified.

Workaround
As a workaround, you can update your browser preferences to allow mixed content or switch to a different browser such as Safari, which by default allows mixed content.

If you're trying to set up your email account in Mail Designer 365 and your password is being rejected, you may need to set up an app-specific password.

What is an app-specific password for? Many email providers now require a separate password to be used in 3rd party apps, in order to increase your overall account security. This may be required, even if you do not use 2-factor authentication to sign in to your email.

This means that you may need to create a separate password and use that in Mail Designer 365 in order to send emails directly from Mail Designer 365.

Please refer to your email provider's security or account settings, or visit your email provider's help pages on how to set up a 3rd party email app.

Links for selected email providers

• Gmail
• GMX.de
• Outlook
• Telekom / T-Online
• Web.de
• Yahoo Mail
• Apple iCloud

iOS 15 introduced new privacy features, including one big change called 'Mail Privacy Protection'. When enabled, all images are loaded via Apple's proxy servers to mask the recipient's IP address.

In our testing, this has occasionally caused certain mail images to not load correctly at all (you should see a hint at the top of the Mail app):

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If you are unable to load the images in your email, try deactivating this feature and sending your email again.

To deactivate Mail Privacy Protection, open the Settings app on your iPhone, and choose Mail > Privacy Protection > Protect Mail Activity

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You are only allowed to add one link per image area.

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However, if you want to create the effect of having one image with multiple links, then check out our video tutorial:

Watch our video tutorial here:

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Also, please refer to the following page for a step-by-step guide on how to create the effect of having one image with multiple links:

• One image with multiple links guide

If you need to force quit your software for any reason (e.g. your screen has frozen or the app is not responding) please do one of the following:

• If the app you want to quit is in your dock, hold the "Option" (⌥) key and right-click on the app icon, then, select "Force Quit" from the menu.
• You can also hold down "Option" (⌥) + "Cmd" (⌘) + "Esc" which will trigger a window with a list of apps you have running. To force quit one or more of these apps, simply select it from the list and click the "Force Quit" button.

Quick summary of what to avoid when using Unsplash photos:

✘ people's faces are recognizable (unless you can get model release of those people)
✘ photos that show logos, trademarks, brands
✘ images that put people in a bad light
✘ photos of private property (e.g. private homes and buildings)

Is the Unsplash license the same as the CC0 license?

When it comes to using images that you did not take, create, or do not own, you should stay mindful of the laws and licensing types that guide images. Many image libraries are published under "CC0,” which means “no rights reserved." A CC0 license is also a way for photographers and artists to publish their work and give permission to the public to use their work for free.

Curators who publish their works under CC0 and waive copyright of their works place them for public use. An image that has CC0 that carries this designation has “No Rights Reserved” and is free of copyright restrictions, and likely other restrictions (i.e., moral, publicity, and privacy rights). This is a very broad designation and it is clearly understood within the Creative Commons community that no work carries this designation unless it is explicitly marked as a CC0 work. As a result, anyone can use them, edit them, etc. without restriction of copyright law.

Unsplash is similar to a CC0 license with one difference: the Unsplash license does not include the right to compile images from Unsplash and then use them to create a similar or competing service.

While the Unsplash license give people a lot of freedom, keep these exceptions in mind before using an image:

‣ Are people’s faces identifiable? If they are, you will require their individual consent – and not just the consent of the artist or photographer who took the picture. Only use these photos if you are able to get model release from each person whose face is showing on the image.

‣ Does the photo show people in a negative way or can be interpreted in a negative way? If yes, then avoid using these photos. Otherwise, you will need to get model release from each person whose face is showing on the image.

‣ Does the picture show other products, trademarks, or logos? Refrain from using these types of photos because they may suggest that the other brand or product is endorsing your product or service.

‣ Do you see landmarks, buildings, homes, automobiles, etc. that are actually private property within the photos? If yes, avoid these pictures unless you can acquire the permission of the owner of the private property. Make sure that the photos you use do not show valuable information about other people's property like the address, license plate, etc.

The Unsplash license and the CC0 license have these in common:

‣ They are both sub-licensable (so you can use them)
‣ They are non-revocable, which means that you are able to use them forever.
‣ They allow users to use the photos for free.
‣ They allow you to modify and/or distribute, perform the photos for free.
‣ They allow users to use the images for personal and commercial purposes.
‣ They do not require attribution, although it would be nice.

Although you are not legally obligated to follow the list below, these are still good practice suggestions:

‣ You can use Unsplash photos for commercial use. However, try to edit or add to the photo creatively through image editing or other methods.
‣ Unsplash photos are non-revocable. However, if a photographer decides to remove his or her photo, it is good practice that you respect the photographer's wishes and refrain from using the photo.

To get more detailed information, please make sure you read the terms and conditions of Unsplash here.

If you or other recipients are viewing your newsletter on a Retina Display (e.g. iPhone, Mac or iPad), it is possible that images which are not high-quality will appear blurred and out of focus.

For this reason, you may sometimes receive a warning message like this when inserting a low quality image into your design:

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In order to ensure that your images are displayed properly on all devices, you should always try to use images with high resolution. An alternative would be to resize lower-resolution images to be smaller so they remain crisp.

Like many other email clients today, AOL require app-specific passwords when setting up your AOL email address in another app or service.

If you want to use your AOL email account to send email designs via Mail Designer 365, you will need to generate a special password. Here's how:

1. Log in to your AOL account and go to your account settings
2. Go to the "Account Security" tab and choose "Manage app passwords."
3. From the dropdown menu, select "Other" and give the app a name (i.e. Mail Designer 365)
4. Click "Generate" to create a new password. This will appear on your screen

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This password you have just created is the password you will need to use to set up your AOL account in Mail Designer 365.

To send your first email campaign, you first need to set up your email address and domain, so it's ok for Mail Designer 365 Delivery Hub to send emails on your behalf.

There are a few technical steps involved during setup. These steps are crucial, as leading email service providers will check that DKIM, SPF and DMARC authentication are configured in order to prevent spam.

Rest assured we've done all we can to make the setup process as simple and fuss free as possible for you. We recommend that you add all three methods to your domain so that your emails reach all recipients. If you require assistance at any point, reach out to your IT admin or get in touch with our support team.

Ready? Let's get started!

Step 1: Add and Verify your Email Address

Before you start, make sure that you have already set up a Mail Designer team. (If you have not done so already, check out our easy team setup guide).

• Go to Mail Designer Delivery Hub > "From: addresses"
• Under "From: addresses for Campaigns", add a new sender by entering the "From Name" and email address your campaign will be sent from

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• You'll now receive a verification email. Click the link to confirm you own the email address:

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Step 2: To avoid to get marked as spam: Set up DKIM

For this you'll need to create a DNS entry for DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) (more details about DKIM and why it's essential. You should definitely set up DKIM if you want to avoid your mailings ending up in the spam folder.

• Stay in "From: addresses" and scroll down to "Domain verification". You will now see the domain for the email address you just set up
• Now it's time to determine the DNS provider for your domain. Most likely, our system has already identified the provider and displayed it as a "Potential Provider," along with a link to the provider's guide. Tip: We've also compiled a list of links to setup guides for common providers in this article.
• Click on the "DKIM" icon in the "Domain verified" column:

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• A DKIM record will be generated for your domain, along with the necessary type, name, and value of the record. Please use the exact information shown to set up the DNS record (including any special characters such as " or . ).

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• Depending on your DNS provider, it may take up to 48 hours for the changes to propagate. Delivery Hub will periodically perform automatic checks. Alternatively, click the refresh icon to update results in real time:

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• Once you've completed the setup, and the verification is successful, you'll see a green checkmark next to the DKIM icon:

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Step 3: To avoid to get marked as spam: Set up SPF

Now, let's ensure your emails are properly authenticated with SPF (Sender Policy Framework), which prevents email spoofing (more details on SPF).

• Go back to your domain under "Domain Verification" and click "SPF":

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• Next, go to your DNS provider and create an SPF record for your domain. The exact steps vary depending on your provider, so follow their guidelines.
• Note: If you or your company have already created an SPF record, our system will try to include the required part and display the full record value respecting your previous content. If you feel confident and know what you are doing, you can also manually edit your existing record and add the following part: include: spf.welovemails.com.
• Once the verification has successfully completed, you'll see a green checkmark next to the SPF icon:

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Step 4: Set up DMARC

Although not mandatory, setting up DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) is recommended to add an extra layer of security to your emails (more details on DMARC).

• Click on the "DMARC" icon under "Domain Verification":

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• Then, create a DMARC DNS record for your domain
• Feel free to use the suggested record, or your own values. If you're unsure, check your organization's policies or ask your IT team
• Just like with SPF and DKIM, once the DMARC verification has successfully completed, you'll see a green checkmark next to the DMARC icon:

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Congratulations! You've now set up and verified your from address and can start sending email campaigns to your audience.

Shopify offer a wide range of placeholder tags that you can use in your notification emails, which they refer to as liquid variables.

You can insert standard variables such as store name, customer email address, order number, etc. into a Mail Designer 365 text layout block to personalise your templates for Shopify.

Find a full list of Shopify's notification variables here.

Please note, for longer and more complex variables, such as discount properties which run over multiple lines, you may run into some difficulty with your layout.

For this reason, we advise avoiding these where possible. If you are confident with HTML, you can try to edit the exported code yourself, however, please be aware we cannot provide support for designs edited outside of Mail Designer 365.

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We have put together a list of the best known providers including a link to the corresponding DNS setup guide.

If you cannot find your provider in the list please do not hesitate to contact our support team for assistance.

In our online store we accept a variety of payment methods:

• Visa
• Mastercard
• American Express
• PayPal*
• Personal/Business Checks* (US Orders Only)
• Bank Transfers* (European Union Only)

* License will be emailed to you once your payment has cleared.

When paying my check or bank transfer, you will receive an email with additional payment details once you have placed your order. Bank Transfer and Check orders are currently not available for Mail Designer Purchases

Mail Designer 365 supports special characters, which you can add to your text to create icons for call-to-action buttons or as a way to simplify your messages.

To add special characters:

‣ Open your email template if it is not already opened.

‣ Choose “Edit" > "Emoji & Symbols”

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You have different options from different categories like emojis, arrows, bullet points, stars, currency symbols, latin alphabet, trademark symbols, other letterlike symbols, math symbols, parentheses, pictographs, and punctuations.

Please refer to the following page for more information on how to add emojis and special characters in Mail Designer 365:

• Emojis and special characters guide.

There are three main ways to take a screenshot on your Mac:

• Press "Shift" (⇧) + "Cmd" (⌘) + "4" then click and drag the mouse cursor to capture a specific area of your screen.
• Press "Shift" (⇧) + "Cmd" (⌘) + "4" and then the space bar to capture a specific window or element on your screen.
• Alternatively, press "Shift" (⇧) + "Cmd" (⌘) + "3" to capture your full screen.

When you send an email template, not every font that you choose may be available at the recipient's side. This is why you can specify a fallback font list, and we recommend that you use an email-safe font.
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Email-safe fonts are the basic fonts installed on everyone's devices. If you have selected a font that is available on macOS but not on iOS, there will be a visible difference on the corresponding devices. If both devices have the font installed, then the email template will look the same on both platforms. You can use Web Fonts which the recipient's e-mail client can downloaded on demand. Most e-mail clients except Outlook support Web Fonts.