Formatting Email Signature

• You should be able to use any HTML in your signature, though your email client may have some limitations. Basics that you may want to consider include bolding for things such as your name or your business name: "<b>Your Name</b>" or "<strong>Your Name</strong>." You can also use "<i>Text</i>" or "<em>Text</em>" to italicize text. Create a link back to your website using "<a href="/links/?u=http://www.yourdomain.com">www.yourdomain.com</a>." If you feel the need to change the color of your signature, you can use "<font color="#FFFFCC">Colored Text</font>." If you choose to include an image, the code is "<img src="http://www.yourdomain.com/image.jpg" />."
  
  

Formatting Forum Signature

• Forums often use a coding called BB Code in place of HTML; the biggest difference is in the use of square brackets. Bolding, italics and underlining all use the same code and syntax: "[b]Bold[/b]," "[i]Italics[/i]" and "[u]Underline[/u]." You can change font size using "[size=+1]Slightly Larger Text[/size]." Change your URL to a hyperlink by using "[URL]http://www.yourdomain.com[/URL]," or "[URL=http://www.yourdomain.com]Your Site Name[/URL]." Similarly, you can include your email address with "[email]name@yourdomain.com[/email]" or "[email=name@yourdomain.com]Your name[/email]." It is more common to include images in your forum signature, though it's best to avoid large images or too many images in one signature; code to include an image is "[img]http://www.yourdomain.com/image.jpg[/img]."
  
  

Information to Include

• For your business email signature, you will want to include your name, your website and your phone number. Certain industries have requirements for email signatures, especially lawyers or other major corporations; if your email is related to your company, check to see if there are any standard additions required for your email signature.
  
  

Basic Signature Etiquette

• Signature etiquette varies depending on whether your message is personal or for business, and even then there are very few formalized rules. It's generally best to avoid overly large signatures with huge images or too much information -- you do not need to include your favorite quotes, though some users will include a business slogan or tagline.
  
  

Things to Avoid

• When crafting a signature for your email, avoid images or long blocks of text. There's no need to include your email address, since the recipient of your email will already have your address in the "From" field. You do not need to include your address, or any other information that can be conveyed to recipients of your email once rather than every time you send a message, including your Twitter username, Facebook URL or instant message usernames.