Create your first template

A template is one HTML signature that SignatureCat personalizes per user with data from your Google Directory. You create templates on the Signatures page, and you can safely test the result on your own mailbox before rolling anything out.

Create the template

1. Open Signatures and click New template.
2. Pick a starting point:
   • Default - Directory photo plus contact details.
   • With company logo - your logo (115x115 px) instead of the personal photo, consistent across the company.
   • With banner - the signature plus a campaign banner (450x100 px) below it.
3. For the logo or banner starters, pick an image from your library or upload one - or skip and a placeholder is used until you choose one. See Banners and logos.

The editor opens immediately. Everything from the starter can be adjusted later - either directly in the HTML, or on the visual editor canvas with no HTML at all, where text, variable chips, columns, dividers and images from your library or from any https:// address are blocks you arrange (switch to the Visual tab; the one-time conversion is described on that page).

Personalize with variables

Insert {{variable}} tokens with the Insert variable menu - for example {{firstname}}, {{jobtitle}} or {{phone}}. In the visual editor they appear as solid chips you can drag, format and delete like objects. At apply time each token resolves from the user's Google Directory record, so one template produces a personal signature for everyone.

Wrap optional lines in conditional tags so signatures stay clean when data is missing:

• {{del}} ... {{/del}} removes the wrapped block only when all variables inside are empty.
• {{delete}} ... {{/delete}} removes the block when any variable inside is empty.

The complete list of variables, where each value comes from and the exact conditional rules are in the Template variables reference.

Preview as a real user

The preview pane renders the resolved signature live as you type. Use the Render as control to substitute any real user's Directory record - by default it renders against your own. The preview tells you exactly which record it used: "Rendered against {email}'s Directory record."

Test it on your own mailbox

Click Set me a test signature in the editor toolbar. SignatureCat renders the template against your own Directory record and writes it to your own Gmail signature - no one else is affected. Send yourself an email or check Gmail settings to see the real result.

SignatureCat then reads the signature back from your mailbox. If Gmail rewrote it while saving, an amber notice appears: "Applied, but Gmail stored a trimmed copy of this signature." (or "Applied, but Gmail stored an empty signature."). Open Technical details for the dropped elements and the character counts before and after. This is the fastest way to find the construct Gmail refuses to keep - see When Gmail trims your signature.

When you are happy with the template, continue to Assign templates.