Using and setting up SMTP emails in Printer's Plan Follow
This article will explain how to set up the email functionality within Printer's Plan as well as how to configure your email templates.
SMTP Client Guide
To enable the Printer’s Plan SMTP client go to the Settings tab, open the General Settings folder, and
select SMTP Settings.
To use the Printer’s Plan SMTP email client, in this SMTP Settings window you will need to enter your
email account information. Check with your email hosting provider to get the information to fill in these
fields. The settings in this window are computer specific, each computer that runs Printer’s Plan can use
different email settings.
Enable SMTP:
Check-in the Enable SMTP option. This option has to be enabled to use the Printer’s Plan SMTP
client. If this option is not checked, Printer’s Plan will use the computer’s default email client.
Login Information:
- Email: Enter your email address.
- Password: Enter the password OR App-password associated with your email account.
Server Information:
In the SMTP Server field enter the address of your email server and enter the Outgoing Mail
Port number.
To save emails sent from Printer’s Plan to your Sent Items folder, some email hosting providers
require that you enter an IMAP Server address and IMAP Port number.
Other Options:
Printer’s Plan can automatically send a copy of the email to a specific address. To enable this
option, enter the address in the Send Copy To field.
Note: If your email account requires two-step verification you will need to create an App Password.
This app password would then be entered Password field of the Printer’s Plan SMTP Settings
window.
SMTP Example - Office365
Added SMTP Features
In the 2020.05 update of Printer's Plan, new features to expand the SMTP settings were added.
- Now multiple email addresses can be sent to if the addresses are separated by the character ';'
- There is a Send Folder customization to assist with proper IMAP configurations for those who previously had issues. The default is typically INBOX.Sent
- There is now a 'Default HTML Mode' to allow switching between preconfigured preview mode or an 'Edit' mode.
Once the SMTP client is set up properly, emails should be generated from within Printer's Plan using the templates that are available in the Printer's Plan files. These files are typically found in the Printer's Plan folder with a folder labeled 'Email'.
Locating Printer's Plan Email Templates
The standard installation location on a Windows PC is 'C:\Printers Plan'. This is for local installation. You may also access Printer's Plan through a network, in which case the Printer's Plan files may be located in a shared network folder.
If using Cloud-Hosted Printer's Plan the Printer's Plan files will be located on the cloud-hosted machine that was configured for the company to use.
In order to check to see if these files exist locally, check the 'C:\Printer's Plan' folder on the machine being used to configure SMTP. If there is a folder called Email then these are the files that need to be updated before using.
If there are no files in this folder, then this workstation may be accessing a networked location. Look within Printer's Plan under the Home tab and select 'My Database'. On this page, there will be a file path ending with the file 'plandata.mdb'. This is where the workstation's database is being stored and the Email folder is likely in the same location.
Once the proper 'Email' folder has been located, the email template files within can be customized.
Customizing Email Templates
Within the Printer's Plan 'Email' folder there are many text file templates as well as HTML-based templates. Each of these files needs to be updated or customized before using the templates.
On each text template, there is unique information that needs to be updated or removed. This example will show the 'Quote' text template.
- The top of the template has a subject line that contains a single variable. This information is underlined in ORANGE above.
- The templates contain variables that pull job information. These are underlined in RED.
- The signature of the template contains 'Success Press' as the company and an example phone number. Both of these need to be updated with company information.
Each template will need to be updated to suit the company's needs and reflect the correct information. Attached to this guide is a file called 'Email Help' that is also found in the Email folder by default.
If you prefer we also have an article available explaining the Available Email Template Fields.
Updating HTML Email Templates
HTML templates are a relatively new feature that was implemented in 2019 Printer's Plan. Please use the guide below to update your HTML templates.
Using, Creating, And Editing HTML Templates
Sending Emails Using Printer's Plan
Once the email provider's information has been entered into the SMTP Settings menu, check the 'Enable SMTP' box to begin sending emails using this configuration.
There are 2 ways to send emails from Printer's Plan:
- Using the Print Window to Send Email: Select a job or quote and use the 'Email' button at the top of Printer's Plan to send a form letter. Once selected a prompt to choose a template will appear.
This gives more freedom to select what template you want to use based on why you are emailing the customer on this job.
- Using the Email button: Select and open a quote or invoice and choose 'Print'.
- In the print window settings, there is an option for 'Email PDF' which will default to using the template associated with the type of attachment being sent. If sending an invoice then the invoice template will be selected automatically.
Historically this feature would open up the email client used by the workstation such as Outlook or Thunderbird and pull the template information into the client as well as automatically attach the document.
In this window you can edit/update the information in the To:, Cc:, Bcc:, Subject, and Text fields. If you
are sending to more than one email address enter a comma to separate these addresses.
If there is a file attached to the email, the path of the file is listed at the bottom of the screen. If you click
the Preview button the attached file will be opened on the computer. If you click the Add button you can attach a file to the email.
Troubleshooting Email Failures
If the email that is sent fails to send the program may not give detailed information on why there was a failure. This is where the 'SMTP Logs' come in to play. By reviewing the logs, more information can be learned about why the email failed.
Typical reasons for failure to send:
- Incorrect email password
- 'App password' is required based on the user's email security settings.
- Incorrect SMTP port mapping
The logs for any email failures can be found in the Printer's Plan directory in the 'Logs' folder. In this location, there will be a new folder created called 'SMTPLogs' and within that folder will be a file labeled 'Smtp_Errors_Log'.
This log file is somewhat difficult to read but some information can be found. Look for any instances of the words 'error' or 'failed' and look for references of what the error is and why it failed.
Below is an example of how the logs represent failures and reasons.
Further assistance is offered by our support team.