iMailer Technical Support Center
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
If you don't see your question listed here, please call (978-635-9993) or email (imailer@datadesigns.com) us!
| TIL-#0002. Why am I getting the error message "The required [MP] component is missing or installed incorrectly, so iMailer will be closed"? |
| TIL-#0003. I'm on a PC, and just installed the iMailer software for the first time. Now, when I try to open the iMailer file, I get a warning message that "quicktime_authoring" is required. What does this mean? |
| TIL-#0004. Trying to REGISTER and activate my copy of iMailer, but I keep getting "Registration Failed" error message. |
| TIL-#0005. I have imported scripts from the iMailer Script Model templates, but they create iMail messages that always have a "US Letter" (8.5" x 11") page size. How do I get those scripts to use different page sizes? |
| TIL-#0006. I'd like to add text at the bottom of my iMail messages. Can I include hyperlinks to my website? |
| TIL-#0007. Can I use iMailer on a PC, running FileMaker 7.0v1? |
| TIL-#0008. I installed a new copy of the "iMailer" file onto a Mac OSX machine that is hosting my database. Then, using Open Remote from FileMaker on another workstation, I opened that hosted iMailer file (as a guest), but when I try to enter the required SETUP information, I get a warning that "this file is not modifiable". |
TIL-#0002. Why am I getting the error message "The required [MP] component is missing or installed incorrectly, so iMailer will be closed"?
This is telling you that one (or both) of the plugins used by iMailer is not loaded into the copy of FileMaker Pro (or Developer) that you are currently running. The iMailer installer includes those plugins. If you just ran the iMailer installer for the very first time ever on this computer, this condition may be caused by the following:
- FileMaker was running while the iMailer installer ran. You should always QUIT FileMaker before you try to install any plugins. Plugins are loaded when the FileMaker application itself is started up, and any plugins added/installed while FileMaker is running will not be recognized until you Quit that copy of the FileMaker application and restart it.
SUGGESTED REMEDY:
-Quit FileMaker, then restart it.
- You have more than one copy/version of FileMaker Pro (or Developer) on this computer, and for some unknown reason, our installer was unable to locate the copy/version that you are currently running. Our installer only scans the startup volume of your computer, as this is the default and recommended location for all of your applications/programs. On a PC, this is the C: drive. On a Mac, this is the drive containing your active System folder, usually the topmost icon in the upper right corner of your desktop, often called "Macintosh HD".
If you have located the FileMaker application on a volume OTHER than the startup volume, then you will need to follow the instructions (immediately below) for doing a "manual" install of the iMailer plugins.
SUGGESTED REMEDY:
-Quit FileMaker.
-Delete any installed iMailer folders.
-Run the iMailer installer again, using Custom Install Option 7.
-Open the just-installed "iMailer 1.5 folder". Carefully drag the 2 iMailer plugins to the appropriate folder inside your FileMaker Pro application folder. [Refer to the "READ ME FIRST! (#7)" for details.]
-Restart that copy of FileMaker.
- You had previously updated or upgraded the copy/version of FileMaker Pro (or Developer) you are trying to use on this computer, and when you ran the FileMaker updater/upgrader installer, you allowed the older version to be renamed "FileMaker Pro.old" or something similar. This may have also created a duplicate FileMaker Extensions (System, on PCs) Folder, saved with a similar name ("FileMaker Extensions folder.old") as the newer version. [We recommend that you NOT allow the saving or renaming of the older version of any FileMaker application that you update or upgrade, as it seldom serves any useful purpose, and often leads to confusion or malfunction later.]
SUGGESTED REMEDY:
If you have saved or renamed older FileMaker application(s) when updating or upgrading your FileMaker application(s), we recommend moving the older/renamed application and any older/renamed FileMaker sub-folders, to a volume OTHER than the startup volume, and/or deleting them altogether from your startup volume. Then restart the iMailer file, and verify that the no error message appears.
- You are using Macintosh OSX, and your Disk Permissions are in need of repair. Please note that whenever any system updates (even routine ones) or major application installs/upgrades are performed on OSX, your Disk Permissions will need repairing.
SUGGESTED REMEDY:
-Quit FileMaker.
-Delete any installed iMailer folders.
-Run your OSX "REPAIR DISK PERMISSIONS". Open your Startup drive (usually named "Macintosh HD"), open the "Applications" folder, open the "Utilities" folder, open the "Disk Utility". Select the "First Aid" tab, then click on your startup volume (listed on the upper left), then click on the "Repair Disk Permissions" button.
-Run the iMailer installer again, using the default install package "1. All-in-one".
- Unspecified system errors may also cause FileMaker to not load some plugins that are present in its Extensions folder.
SUGGESTED REMEDY:
-Launch the FileMaker application you wish to use (no FileMaker database files need to be open).
-FP5 users: Pull down the Edit Menu to Preferences, to Application, click on the "Plugins" tab.
-FP7 PC users: Pull down the Edit Menu to Preferences, click on the "Plugins" tab.
-FP7 MacOSX users: Pull down the FileMaker Pro (or FileMaker Developer) Menu to Preferences, click on the "Plugins" tab.
-All users: make sure that "InsideScan" and "SMTPit" are both listed, and not listed more than once, and checked ON.
- You are using a PC and have just updated your FileMaker (Pro or Developer) 7.0v2 (or 7.0v1) to 7.0v3, after you had previously installed and setup iMailer.
SUGGESTED REMEDY:
-FMP7 users: Open the FileMaker Pro 7 System folder located at "C:/Program Files/FileMaker/FileMaker Pro 7/Extensions", and manually delete the 2 plugins used by iMailer: "InsideScan.fmx" and "SMTPit_WIN.fmx".
-FMD7 users: Open the FileMaker Developer 7 System folder located at "C:/Program Files/FileMaker/FileMaker Developer 7/Extensions", and manually delete the 2 plugins used by iMailer: "InsideScan.fmx" and "SMTPit_WIN.fmx".
-FMP7 and FMD7 users: Run the iMailer installer again, using Custom Install Option 2.
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TIL-#0003. I'm on a PC, and just installed the iMailer software for the first time. Now, when I try to open the iMailer file, I get a warning message that "quicktime_authoring" is required. What does this mean?
iMailer requires QuickTime 4.0 or later, to be installed on any Mac or PC that wishes to create iMail messages, That message is telling you that some or all of the required QuickTime components are missing on this computer. Fortunately, QuickTime is free from Apple Computer, and installs quickly and easily.
HOW TO DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL THE FREE QUICKTIME SOFTWARE:- Quit all running applications on that PC.
- Open your web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer), and enter this URL: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
- Click on the radio button (located in the upper left of the page) for the version that matches your PC's system. The QuickTime download version for Windows 2000/XP also includes Apple's "iTunes" software, but you can skip the "iTunes" part of the installation, later.
- Follow all on-screen prompts, and you may un-check the "Sign Up" options which will exclude you from any future emails from Apple. You do not need to enter your name and email address if you have declined the "Sign Up" options. Click on the "Download QuickTime" button shown.
- The download will begin automatically, and PC users have the option to "Save" the installer to be run later, or "Run" it as it downloads (which does not create a saved installer on your PC).
- In either case, when the installer is eventually run, it should pause on a screen that gives you 3 choices of the QuickTime package to be installed. Always select the Recommended package to install.
- When you hit the "Next" button, the installer may pause on a screen with 3 blank fields (including name and Registration number), but none of those fields are required. Hit the "Next" button, and otherwise follow the remainder of the on-screen prompts until the QuickTime installation has been completed.
That is all you need to do. No further settings are required to the QuickTime software, and iMailer should now startup without any errors related to QuickTime.
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TIL-#0004. Trying to REGISTER and activate my copy of iMailer, but I keep getting "Registration Failed" error message.
When you register your copy of iMailer, you need to have a valid iMailer RegCode and 2 other pieces of information ready to enter into the iMailer SETUP page:
#1. Your default email FROM address. Start by using the email address you use the most with the current mail server. You can change this later, but some ISPs and mail servers may require a "sender" email address that matches details for your account (like your IP address).
#2. Your "smtp host" name, or "smtp host" IP address. This value can usually be copied from another email application that may be in use on the current workstation. This name can be the mail server provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), or any other mail server you have an account with. Some ISP's will only allow you to send (or relay) email using their own mail server, even if you have another remote mail service provider using your own mail domain name.
An SMTP Host name cannot include an "@" sign, and usually has at least 2 periods ("dots") in the complete name.
Examples of "smtp host" names are: "smtp.earthlink.net", "mail.charter.net", "www.mycompany.com", "10.398.02.03".
SMTP server authentication (if required) On the iMailer SETUP page, right below the "SMTP Host" field, there is a checkbox for "This SMTP server requires authentication", which is un-checked by default. Before you apply this setting (by checking the checkbox, or by hitting the "Authentication Settings" button), be sure your ISP or mail server requires it. Using smtp authentication when it is not required is likely to cause a connect error, while NOT using smtp authentication when it is required will cause a "Relaying Denied" error from your mail server or ISP. As with the "smtp host" name (see #2, above), you can often copy this setting from another email application that may be in use on the current workstation. If you are not sure, first try to Register iMailer without authentication. If it fails, check the iMailer DIAGNOSTIC page, and look at the bottom of the diagnostics data field. If you see anything about a "relaying" error, then authentication is required, and you should read the next section.
CHECK YOUR ISP
We recommend checking with your ISP (or in-house mail server administrator) to learn the following:- What is the exact "smtp host" name for my service account?
- Do I need to use smtp account authentication on outgoing messages? Many ISPs do not require authentication if the sender's email address includes the ISP's domain name. But when the sender's email address includes a different domain than the ISP's, authentication is often required of the sender who wishes to "relay" outgoing messages through the ISP's server.
For example, if your FROM (sender) address is "bob@xyzinternet.net" and your "smtp host" is "mail.xyzinternet.net", then authentication may not be required.
On the other hand, if your FROM (sender) address is "bob@bobscompany.com" and your "smtp host" is "mail.xyzinternet.net", then that is a "relaying" situation, and authentication may be required.
- What form does the sender's authentication take? Most service providers that require smtp authentication use a "Login" type, and the account name is usually just the first part of the email address (the "bob" part of "bob@xyzinternet.net"). Some service providers require the complete email address to be entered as the account name (for example, "bob@xyzinternet.net"). Then, enter the required password for that account name.
USE THE iMailer DIAGNOSTIC
After an unsuccessful attempt to Register iMailer, you should always check the iMailer Diagnostics page. At the bottom of the diagnostic data field, the last line of the report is the most important. If you see something about a "Connect Action" failure, this could be due to your internet service being unavailable (temporarily or otherwise) or your network connection is not working correctly. Using a web browser on the same workstation, try to open a webpage that is new or that refreshes itself often. Webpages that show the current date and time are ideal for testing your internet connection. Hit the Refresh button to make sure you are not viewing a "cached" page from a previous time.
If the iMailer Diagnostic report ends with an Error text that includes anything about "Relaying Denied", then you need to be using smtp server authentication (see above).
If the iMailer Diagnostic report ends with an Error text that includes anything about "Authentication not supported", then you need to un-check the authentication setting (see above).
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TIL-#0005. I have imported scripts from the iMailer Script Model templates, but they create iMail messages that always have a "US Letter" (8.5" x 11") page size. How do I get those scripts to use different page sizes?
All of the iMailer Script Model templates are shipped with a "saved" Print Setup (Page Setup on Macs) based on the "US Letter, portrait" page size of 8.5" x 11". However, iMailer will work with any Print Setup you wish, and you can permanently save any Print Setup with any iMailer script.
When you import a script (like you usually do with the iMailer scripts), you inherit the Print Setup (Page Setup) that was saved in the "source" file's script. In our case, our Script Model templates all contain US Letter (8.5" x 11") Print Setups. The "US Letter" settings are not permanent, and can be overwritten by you.
To use some other Print Setup in your iMailer scripts, you can EITHER:
A. Edit the saved Print Setup parameters in the source file (our template) before you import the script
OR
B. Edit the imported script after it arrives in your file.
In any case, be sure your script has the Print Setup (Page Setup on Macs) step looking this way: <> Print Setup [Restore, No Dialog]
Never un-check those "restore" and "no dialog" options. Once properly "memorized", the Print Setup will never require your attention again.
HERE IS HOW TO RE-MEMORIZE A SCRIPT'S SAVED PRINT SETUP:- Pull down your FileMaker File Menu to "Print Setup..." ("Page Setup..." on Macs)
- Select the appropriate Print Setup settings, such as the "A4" page size, or "Landscape" orientation. Hit OK.
- Go into ScriptMaker and open the iMailer script. You may follow "A" or "B" from above.
- Close the script (no changes are necessary).
- As you exit, a FileMaker dialog box will ask you if you would like to "KEEP/REPLACE" 5 different settings. The top choice is for the Print Setup (it may also be called "Page Setup"). Hit the REPLACE radio button for Print Setup (Page Setup), and then hit OK.
That script should now feature (and permanently remember) the Print Setup (Page Setup) that you just set (by manually pulling down the File Menu to Print Setup in steps 1 and 2 above).
[Repeat steps 3-5 for all other iMailer scripts in use in that same file. For other files, all 5 steps need to be followed the first time you edit a Print Setup, then just repeat steps 3-5 for other scripts in that same file that will use the same newer Print Setup.]
If you later decide to run other Print Setups from the File Menu (manually), your scripted Print Setups with "Restore, No Dialog" will not be affected.
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TIL-#0006. I'd like to add text at the bottom of my iMail messages. Can I include hyperlinks to my website?
Yes, you can do this. Page 36 of the iMailer Manual explains the overall message architecture, and where you can use links in your iMail messages.
The iMailer SETUP page has a field called Default Footer, which can include text that is "semi-coded" as HTML (see example below), so it will be read in the message -- below the iMail image(s) -- with hyperlinks or MailTo links.
Below is a sample of the "raw" semi-coded HTML text for a footer (also known as a "sig") that could be used by the iMailer Default Footer field, that includes live links.
Note that the HTML coding (shown in blue and red text, above) of the sample is just like any HTML used on a webpage, with one small difference: the HTML you compose for this purpose should not have the typical leading and trailing "document" html tags. Web page documents usually begin with <HTML>, and then <BODY> tags, and often a <P> tag. And, every good webpage should be "balanced" to include the corresponding </HTML>, </BODY> and </P> tags at the end. For this particular usage, you can skip those, as the sample (above) illustrates.
To create your own footer with live links, start by carefully typing the text exactly as shown in the sample (above), using NotePad, TextEdit, BBEdit, SimpleText or similar text editor, then preview it by dropping the saved text file onto a web browser's application icon (Internet Explorer works well for this).
It should render as a "clean" webpage (with no visible HTML tags), as shown below:
The hyperlinks should appear as in the above screenshot. As you preview your HTML in your browser, click on the links to see that they do as expected.
Once you have it looking and acting (linking) as you wish, then you can copy that entire text block (from your NotePad file) to the clipboard. Then open the "iMailer" file to the SETUP page, and click on the "Default Footer" field header (the text to the left of the "Default Footer" field itself is actually a button). That will paste-in the clipboard text, so that copy of iMailer will now include that footer/sig on every message it sends, featuring any live links you included.
SPECIAL NOTE: You can also use similarly "semi-coded" HTML text in the 4th field of the "iMailer fields" array (the so-called "MessageText" field), which allows HTML formatted text and images (with or without live links) to be inserted above the iMail images. Unlike the Default Footer text, which is the same for all messages sent, the "MessageText" can be set by your script for each separate message, allowing for a different/personalized text for each message (with or without live links).
If you are unfamiliar with HTML coding, but would like to include some HTML formatted text, images, or live links in your footer or "message text", contact us and we'll compose it for you. Footer HTML text builds are free, but other jobs would be subject to our standard consulting rate of $100.00/hr.
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TIL-#0007. Can I use iMailer on a PC, running FileMaker 7.0v1?
FileMaker (Pro or Dev) 7.0v1 was the first version released of FileMaker 7. While iMailer should function correctly with FileMaker 7.0v1, we strongly recommend updating to at least FileMaker 7.0v2. The 7.0v1 release had a noticeably bad text rendering bug, which was fixed in the v2 update. This improvement in the appearance of all layout text is quite dramatic, and will translate into much better looking iMail messages being sent from FileMaker 7.0v2, versus 7.0v1.
Click here to see a screenshot showing the difference in text rendering between FileMaker 6.0v4, FileMaker 7.0v1 and FileMaker 7.0v2, using the same layout. We think the difference is obvious, and necessitates applying the 7.0v2 (or 7.0v3) update to your PC's FileMaker 7 (Pro and Dev) application.
You can download the latest FileMaker application updates from the FileMaker Website. You may need to have your original FileMaker Install CD in the CD drive of your PC when running the FileMaker updater.
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TIL-#0008. I installed a new copy of the "iMailer" file onto a Mac OSX machine that is hosting my database. Then, using Open Remote from FileMaker on another workstation, I opened that hosted iMailer file (as a guest), but when I try to enter the required SETUP information, I get a warning that "this file is not modifiable".
Most of the time, after you install the iMailer file on a Mac OSX machine that will be hosting your database, you should be able to open the hosted iMailer file as a guest with full Read/Write privileges. However, in certain cases, the file permissions of the host may cause any newly installed files to be in "Read Only" mode.
SUGGESTED REMEDY:
You may need to change the file permissions for the newly installed copy of the "iMailer" file, as follows:- If you host your FileMaker database with FileMaker Server, stop hosting the iMailer file, using the FM Server Admin tool. Otherwise, be sure the iMailer file is closed.
- Switch to the Finder, and locate the iMailer file
- Select the iMailer file, and pull down the Finder's File Menu, to Get Info
- In the Ownership & Permissions section, change the Others setting from "Read Only" to "Read & Write"
We also recommend routinely running the OSX Disk Utilty, and repairing your disk permissions. OSX Disk Permissions can frequently become "un-repaired" through everyday use, and a faulty OSX disk permission profile can cause a variety of access problems.
HOW TO REPAIR OSX DISK PERMISSIONS:
Open your Startup drive (usually named "Macintosh HD"), open the "Applications" folder, open the "Utilities" folder, open the "Disk Utility". Select the "First Aid" tab, then click on your startup volume (listed on the upper left), then click on the "Repair Disk Permissions" button.
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Data Designs iMailer Tech Support FAQ last updated: March 2, 2005