General FAQ’s
1. After installing the Add-in, how do I open the Dynasend taskpane?
In Outlook, click COMPOSE NEW MESSAGE. Then you can open the taskpane as shown here:
2. How can I tell if the Mac version of Outlook is “Classic” or the “Modern UI”?
Here’s more from Microsoft’s about the new Outlook UI for Mac.
3. Why does our security scanner display a warning when I go to login?
We use Auth0 for passwordless authentication. /login returns a redirect to Auth0 that may look suspicious to some security scanners. The solution is to whitelist the auth0.com domain.
4. Can Dynasend serve DoD and Federal contractors without being GCC High Compliant?
Our interpretation is yes, we can serve DoD and Federal contractors without being GCC High Compliant ourselves.
Why? GCC High Compliant has been created “to meet strict compliance requirements for small to medium-sized contractors as they control the flow of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).” Source: Summit 7 / 2023
What is Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)? Accorfing to the National Archives, Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI is):
Because Dynasend does not collect or store data rising to the level of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), and because Dynasend does not pull data directly from your O365 tenant, we believe that we can serve DoD and Federal contractors without being GCC High Compliant ourselves.
5. What does it mean to “claim” my signature and how do I do it?
“Claiming” your signature is just another word for authenticating yourself. It is necessary if you want to receive manager credentials.
There are three ways of claiming your signature:
- Filling out the data entry form for your signature profile, and then clicking “Save Signature”.
- (Opening the Dynasend taskpane) and clicking EDIT SIGNATURE. Once you reach your profile page, click “Save Signature” - that’s it, your signature has been claimed.
- Logging in here: (https://manage.dynasend.net/login), and navigating to the signature profile and clicking “Save Signature”. If your company does not yet have an email signature program set up by us, do not try to login in - it will not work.
We apologize for not being able to tell you exactly which of these methods to follow - they are dependent on a number of factors related to timing and sequencing, which varies from customer to customer. We can tell you this:
- You may have already executed #1 - if so, great, there is nothing more to do.
- Option #2 requires that you have the Dynasend add-in installed. This may or may not be the case - it’s up to your O365 administrator.
- For option #3, you must use your business email address when logging in - it has been “associated” with your company’s email signature program.
6. I get an “Invalid state” error during logon - what should I do?
Open your browser’s history and clear “active logins”. After clearing active logins you should be able to logon to Dynasend without receiving this “invalid state” error.
7. When is a logon required and what’s the logon process?
It is not necessary to be logged-in to use the email signatures - as a result, users will rarely have to login. Users will need to login to (claim their signature) and then again in the future if they need to edit their signature. Managers are likely to need to login more frequently.
We use Auth0 for passwordless authentication. The flow is as shown below:
The “logged-in” state lasts for two weeks, and the process must be repeated after this.
8. The Outlook Add-in is loading blank screen - what should I do?
If you’re on a Windows machine and running the Outlook Add-in in the Outlook Desktop app, you might encounter a blank screen when trying to load the Add-in.
If this happens, here are some things you can check:
Possible Problem #1 - Internet Explorer 11
Dynasend does not support Internet Explorer 11, and Microsoft will no longer support this browser beginning in August, 2021. To fix this issue, you’ll need to install WebKit2 from Microsoft. This will update your runtime environment to use Edge instead of Internet Explorer 11.
Possible Problem #2 - Script is being blocked
The Outlook Add-in might also be loading blank because of a script being blocked.
To resolve this, follow the steps outlined below:
- Select the Windows button > search for “Tools” and select “Internet options.”
- Once the window opens, select the “Security” tab and then select “Internet.”
- On that page, select “Custom level” and scroll down to the “Scripting” section. Select “Enable” under “Active Scripting.”
- Click “Ok” to close that window.
- Click “Ok” to close the Internet Options window.
- Run the Add-in to test and see if the issue continues.
For more information on this issue, visit Understanding the Office Add-ins runtime.
9. I’m seeing an ADD-IN ERROR saying,”The content is blocked…” - what should I do?
The content on the Taskpane is served from https://outlook-add-in.dynasend.net/ - the problem may be that your network is blocking access to non-whitelisted domains. The solution then is to whitelist dynasend.net
Note: Despite the appearance of this error, we do ALWAYS MAINTAIN A VALID SECURITY CERTIFICATE (unexpired) that is handled by AWS.
10. How do I install my signature on my iPhone?
Open the Dynasend task-pane:
and then click “Edit Signature”:
Once logged into the Dynasend portal, click the “SEND SIGNATURE” button:
You will then receive iPhone installation instructions, and a link to your signature, by email.
11. My personal signatures for pre-written messages don’t work anymore, what should I do?
Some people create pre-written email messages and save them as personal signatures, allowing them to quickly insert an entirely pre-composed message when responding to repetitive requests. With our 0365 add-in this is not possible, as it effectively overrides any user initiated email signature.
Fortunately, Outlook offers a different approach that allows for the same result - this is the use of “Quick Parts”. This Microsoft article explains how to create and use quick parts in Outlook.
12. After deploying the add-in to my Citrix environment it’s not showing up in Outlook - what could be wrong?
Check to see if you have a group policy in AD that’s preventing the plugin from working.
Also, Citrix environments are often firewalled - make sure *.dynasend.net (or manage.dynasend.net and cdn.dynasend.net) are whitelisted.
13. My signature suddenly stopped working - what should I do?
In most cases this can be resolved by running the “repair utility” on Office / Outlook. Microsoft’s instructions are available here.
If running the repair utility does not help, here are a couple of other recources published by Microsoft:
14. My signature usually appears, but sometimes it doesn’t. What might cause this?
1.) If you are replying to a message that was composed in “plain text” format, Dynasend will apply the plain-text version of your signature. This will be missing all graphics / colors, and so it may appear as if it is not working. However, this is how Outlook is designed to work.
2.) If you are suffering from a very slow internet connection, your signature simply may not appear. Outlook has to retrieve the signature in order for you to compose your message. If this retrieval process is taking too long, Outlook will just skip the signature so that you can get on with composing your email. This is by design - a Microsoft “best practice”.
15. How can I tell if I have the Dynasend add-in installed on my computer?
In Outlook, click COMPOSE NEW MESSAGE. Then, once the new message screen opens, look for the Dynasend add-in as shown here:
16. How can I set the signature’s behavior for shared mailboxes?
The Dynasend taskpane allows you to set the signature’s behavior for shared mailboxes:
Note: For non-shared mailboxes, either setting is fine as they both will accomplish the same result.
17. How do I edit my signature?
Open the Dynasend task-pane:
and then click “Edit Signature”:
Note: If you don’t see the “edit Signature” option it is most likely disabled for your company. In this case you will need to reach out to the person in your company who manages the email signatures and have them make the edits for you.
Once logged into the Dynasend portal, make any edit you need and click the “Save Signature” button:
That’s it, your signature is now updated.
18. I use a “Delayed Send Rule” and the signature gets duplicated when I re-open unsent messages. How do I fix this?
Currently the only solution to this problem is to manually delete the duplicate signatures before sending.
We are aware of this problem and are investigating potential solutions. (Note: a fix is not promised at this time.)
19. How does our data, and our Outlook, interact with Dynasend?
Our application is hosted on AWS and leverages Auth0 for authentication.
Within our application, we capture the user’s email, which triggers the generation of the email signature. Both the email address and metadata necessary for rendering the signature (title, phone, full name, etc.) are stored in our system.
Once the Outlook add-in is installed, each new email composition, or change in email recipients, prompts a request to our server for the most up-to-date version of the signature. Although signatures are cached and delivered via a CDN, we execute a rapid query to a dedicated endpoint on our server that redirects to the CDN. This ensures that users always receive the most current version of their signature.
In the event of a failure to fetch the signature, the add-in degrades gracefully, allowing email composition to proceed without a signature.
20. Is there a way to ensure that my signature is correct even if the O365 add-in fails?
When our add-in fails to load your signature for one reason or another, whatever signature you have set as your default in Outlook will be used instead.
In this case, it may be a good idea to have your Dynasend signature saved as your default in Outlook. Here are instructions for Windows users that can be followed to save your signature as a backup, so that it will still display if you are experiencing problems with the add-in.
Backup signature instructions for: Classic Outlook - Windows
Backup signature instructions for: New Outlook - Windows
**How to tell which version of Outlook you are using:** You’re using new Outlook if the icon in the task bar includes the words NEW, and your tab options on the ribbon are Home, View, and Help. You’re using classic Outlook if the app icon in the task bar doesn’t contain the words NEW, and File appears on the ribbon.
There are two things to note when following this procedure:
- Your backup signature will not auto update - it will remain static as of the time you installed it, so it may fall out of date over time.
- Our add-in will override this backup every time that it works successfully, so once you have this backup signature installed you can forget about it - the add-in will still work for you (when it can) but this backup copy is there for you if the add-in does not work.