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Custom E-Mail Signature (updated)
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There is a hack out that will allow you to change your email signature in Mail. We wrote about it before for older firmware but someone emailed us and asked why it doesn’t work with 2.x firmware. The main reason is the directory path has changed to mobile from root. I’m also updating the link to convert the file to XML. It’s not easy, so be ready to spend a few minutes on this one:
1. Make sure your signature is not the default one that only says, “Sent from my iPhone”. Changing it to anything else so it creates a custom file.
2. Backup existing config file for mail. It’s called com.apple.mobilemail.plist and it’s located in the /private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/ folder. Just SSH in and copy it to your computer somewhere in case you mess the file up 
3. Copy the same file, com.apple.mobilemail.plist, to your desktop so we can edit it.
4. Before we can edit it you must convert it from binary format to ascii/text format using this site: iappcat.com/plist/bin2xml. Just browse for the file we put on the desktop and click convert. It will then give you a file to download. You can just save over the one on the desktop since we made a backup of the original.
5. Open com.apple.mobilemail.plist with a text editor.
6. Find something like this between the
Sent from my iPhone.<div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>Learn how to use, hack and mod the iPhone at appleiphoneschool.com.</div>
We will be replacing the above code with our own custom code but we need to convert it from CSS and HTML to XML. To do this, customize the code below and then convert it with centricle.com. (Select Encode)
Your code will look like this after you convert it:
<div style="font: 10px 'Lucida Grande',Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif;
line-height: 18px;
color: #525252;
margin: 6px 0;
padding: 6px;
border-top: 1px #999999 solid;
border-bottom: 1px #999999 solid;
background: #fff">
<div style="padding: 2px 0 2px 70px; background: url('http://yourwebsite.com/yourimage.jpg">
<strong>John Doe</strong>
<br />
<a href="http://yourwebsite.com">yourwebsite.com</a>
<br />
sent from my new iPhone
</div>
</div>
7. Now save the file and upload it to your iPhone via SSH. You may notice that the image doesn’t show up when you go to compose an email. This is because mail doesn’t connect to the internet during composing so you won’t see the image. Also, many email providers block the image anyway. I have found that Gmail, Yahoo & Hotmail block this feature although sending to another iPhone works fine. A possible way around this is to covert the image to data URL. Again, this doesn’t work for most mail providers either. Here’s a site that will convert it for you: http://www.sveinbjorn.org/dataurlmaker. I suggest just using links and other simple coding.
Using the Data URL here’s what it should look like:
Mine doesn’t have the lines in it because I removed that code. And I’m also using the option of the Data URL that’s why you can see the image in Compose Mode. Here is a link to my exact file: com.apple.mobilemail.plist If you need help just email me at help@appleiphoneschool.com.
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Nicely done mate. Thanks
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I have been at it for an hour and no joy. I got it to work when it was my 2G but this 3G no joy. I have followed to the letter. John
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Brooke on September 26th, 2008 10:20 am:
Can you tell where you’re having troubles? Which step?
Hi Brooke it would appear the it does not like the picture added. I will give my head a break and try it again tomorrow. Thanks for the reply
John
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cant wait to try this!!!
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Ew thanks a bunch for this. Will give this a shot later today. Will post my results.
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It’s easier just to go to Settings > Mail > Signature and write there anything you want
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Brooke on September 26th, 2008 2:01 pm:
as far as I know you can’t enter clickable links, insert images or edit font color, bold etc.
alvareo on September 27th, 2008 12:05 pm:
@Cezex: if it was as simple as that, do you think they would make a guide like this???
Um the link in step #4 is not working at the moment: http://iappcat.com/plist/bin2xml
Any other ones I can use to convert the file.
Thanks.
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Brian on September 26th, 2008 1:25 pm:
Seems to be back up. My bad.
tonman23 on September 26th, 2008 2:56 pm:
still down
Douglas on September 26th, 2008 4:03 pm:
Yeah, it’s showing too many connections. If anyone else has a good site to convert from binary format to ascii/text format, feel free to share in the comments.
Critter on September 26th, 2008 4:33 pm:
http://www.motobit.com/util/base64-decoder-encoder.asp
hey guys,
when i open my .plist from my iPhone 3G it only shows this
bplist00Ý _LastAccountViewed_ShowToCCIndicators_PlayNewMailSound_FontSizeSetting[ReplyToSelf^TableOffsetKey_PlaySentMailSound_ ShowMessageDeleteConfirmation_ShowMessageHeaderDetails^LinesOfPreview\SignatureKey_UISuspendedSettings_DCFLastDirectoryNumber_$F4BF358D-C7E8-494B-8EC5-BDB57171EE7A R15" Q0oSent from my iPhone Ñ_UISuspendedDefaultPNGKeyWDefaultd#7L_q}Œ ÀÛê÷ &MNORSXYZ[]ˆ‹¦® °
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hmm just can’t get it sorted. Even if I take /your/ file and just replace the top account information… when I respring.. it just gives me a default file again…
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Critter on September 26th, 2008 5:32 pm:
Nevermind… I was finally able to sort it..
I glad someone else is having problems. I also default to default file, John
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Wow, that’s cool! i’M still on 1.14. Can iT be done with this firmware?
-sent from my iPhone
__________________
iGet enough exercise just pushin’ my luck!
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hey guys this is a great tutorial…i was able to figure out how to get the image to show on outlook, gmail and yahoo…the code to insert the image is below:
customize as needed and do not forget to encode…
thanks
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for some reason it does not allow me to post here but if someone needs it email me almanzarj@gmail.com
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sorry if i’m sounding like a complete dufus, but can you simplify the way this is supposed to be done……LOL
for instance, can i just copy & paste the info doug listed & add my name?
Also, how do i go about adding a photo like doug did in his signature mail.
Thanks for the assistance
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for some reason my file com.apple.mobilemail.plist seems to be different…when i convert it to text, it shows stuff of gmail and i erased my gmail account…i only have one email account (my jobs email) and is set to main account. I cant find where it says “Sent from my iPhone” so I dont know where to start from. Any ideas?
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[...] Apple iPhone School ha pubblicato un articolo molto interessante su come creare una firma personalizzata da inserire in tutti i messaggi di posta inviati dall’iPhone. Ovviamente, la personalizzazione va molto oltre la semplice modifica della firma testuale che si imposta da Impostazioni > Email, contatti, calendari > Firma. Vediamo nel dettaglio come si fa su firmware 2.1. [...]
Is there a way to add an image to a gmail signature???
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I can do it on 2.1 without jailbreaking the phone. But I won’t release the trick until Caissa Chess 2.1.1 is out. We do that for mailing chess games with out signature.
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[...] Apple iPhone School ha pubblicato un articolo molto interessante su come creare una firma personalizzata da inserire in tutti i messaggi di posta inviati dall’iPhone. Ovviamente, la personalizzazione va molto oltre la semplice modifica della firma testuale che si imposta da Impostazioni > Email, contatti, calendari > Firma. Vediamo nel dettaglio come si fa su firmware 2.1. [...]
Well, I can do what I want. After copying the modified .plist file to my iphone via ssh, restarting iPhone and opening a new mail, there again is the text…sent from iPhone….i hate it! What’s wrong with it? Anyone knows???? Please help….
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i cant get it done…it looks so pro…help me out brooke…doug?
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[...] Apple iPhone School ha pubblicato un articolo molto interessante su come creare una firma personalizzata da inserire in tutti i messaggi di posta inviati dall’iPhone. Ovviamente, la personalizzazione va molto oltre la semplice modifica della firma testuale che si imposta da Impostazioni > Email, contatti, calendari > Firma. Vediamo nel dettaglio come si fa su firmware 2.1. [...]
stack is available woot!
9/28/08
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This site has really taken a severe downfall. I used to be excited to sign on and see updates. Now its an update every 2 days. You would think having CYDIA and APP Store, there would be plenty of app reviews. Im afraid I will now go elsewhere to get my updates. Take care AIS.
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iName on September 28th, 2008 11:18 pm:
yeah seriously what happened to this place?
they must be busy..lets give em a break
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The link color changes back to default blue as soon as I send it. Is there any way that this can be changed?
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in my case, even after i ssh the com.apple.mobilemail.plist file in /var/mobile/Library/Preferences, and try to compose a mail, it displays my default (not the ‘Sent from my iPhone’ one) signature again and not the custom one. i checked the filesize thru ssh and it had returned to the original filesize.
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iLauncher on October 5th, 2008 10:39 am:
douglas, i hope u check my email i sent u at help@appleiphoneschool.com coz i have finally got the logo to appear in my signature but the text overlaps the logo. if i place the text between the two , the logo completely disappears in the signature. i hope i can solve this. thanx, in advance.
[...] nice email signature on your iphone, you’ll need to jailbreak it first. Here is the link http://www.appleiphoneschool.com/2008/09/26/custom-e-mail-signature-updated/. email, iPhone, [...]
These tips make sense, now I just have to try them, lol
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Hey, is there a section just for latest news
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