Hack 25. Use an Auto Signature

Customize your signature and have it automatically appear at the end of each message you send.

When you first started using your BlackBerry, you probably noticed that with each message you sent from it, some text was appended to the end of your message. When you originally set up your BlackBerry, the default text is something similar to "Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld."

While this is certainly convenient as a Research In Motion marketing tool, it would be nice to be able to change it to whatever you like. It turns out you can.

2.5.1. Non-BWC Users

If you are using a BlackBerry Enterprise Server or the Desktop Redirector for your mail delivery, you can adjust your auto signature in Desktop Manager. Double-click on Redirector Settings in Desktop Manager to bring up the properties. Under the Auto signature section of the General tab, customize your signature to whatever you like (see Figure 2-6).

Figure 2-6. Customizing your auto signature for BES and Desktop Redirector clients

2.5.2. BWC Users

If you use the BlackBerry Web Client for email redirection to your device, you need to go through the link for your provider's BWC web interface. Once you've logged into the site, click on the Options link at the top of the page. This brings you to a page, shown in Figure 2-7, which looks very similar to the property page for BES users. BlackBerry Web Client users also get to use the "Include auto signature in outgoing messages" option to toggle this feature on and off.

Figure 2-7. Customizing your auto signature in the BlackBerry Web Client

2.5.3. Hack the Hack

If you've used the multiple mail hack [Hack #31] and you're using the BlackBerry Web Client service in addition to a BlackBerry Enterprise Server, you can use a different auto signature for each service you use. Just configure your auto signature in both places, and mail you send through each service will be appended with its appropriate signature. This is helpful if you use an official, company-mandated auto signature for company mail sent through a BES, but you want to let it all hang out with your fancy ASCII-art personal signature when you send emails from your personal account.

You can also use AutoText [Hack #7] to insert custom signatures on the fly.