Does your team need to send emails from Claris FileMaker? There are three methods you can use to send emails from FileMaker. Some are free and simple, while more advanced options require paid third-party products.
Let’s dive into the best ways to send plain text emails, format HTML, and send HTML emails through FileMaker.
Sending a plain text email from FileMaker
The good news is that, if you want to send very basic plain text emails from FileMaker, it’s easy for a developer to set this up in your solution by adding some email fields to a layout, a button, and the “Send Mail” script step.
This will send a plain text, no-frills email to your recipients. It’s great for simple notifications or internal messages, but it isn’t necessarily conducive to elegant marketing messages. For that, you need HTML emails.
Use the Rich Text Editor to format HTML emails
Fortunately, FileMaker 19 gives you the ability to allow users to modify and stylize the text. This means you can prepare nicely formatted emails in FileMaker. When you use the Rich Text Editor add-on, you can bold, italicize, underline, embed photos, and much more.
Your team doesn’t need to know how to code, either; this text editor makes it easy for employees to format their emails with HTML.
To do this, you’ll need to use the Rich Text Editor add-on in FileMaker 19 or newer.
It’s a valuable tool, but there’s just one problem: FileMaker doesn’t support HTML by default. This means that, when you send an HTML email, it comes across as a bunch of code and gibberish. That’s why you need a tool that allows you to send emails in the correct format.
Learn how to use the Rich Text Editor FileMaker add-on.
Sending HTML emails from FileMaker
Out of the box, FileMaker doesn’t send HTML-formatted emails. You need to use either a third-party plugin or an API to work around this.
Productive Computing's plug-in, Outlook Manipulator, is one of many third-party plug-ins you can use to send HTML emails from FileMaker. It does require a plug-in subscription, as well as intermediate or advanced FileMaker Pro developer skills to implement.
Outlook Manipulator lets you connect FileMaker with Outlook and Microsoft 365 to push and pull emails, contacts, and calendar events. You can choose between client-side for desktops or server-side for automated, team-wide processes. Here's a few things it can do:
- Centralize contacts and build a searchable email archive in FileMaker
- Send emails (HTML/RTF/text) with attachments, manage meetings, and move messages to folders
- Automate background processes with FileMaker Server to keep information current
Start sending emails from FileMaker
As you can see, FileMaker allows for plain text emails, but HTML messages require a different and more complex setup. We recommend using Outlook Manipulator to give your team the most flexibility within FileMaker.
If you don’t have internal development resources, don’t worry. Our certified FileMaker developers are always available to help you set up an automated email system.
If you do have an internal developer and want to get them up to speed with sending emails through FileMaker, check out Productive Computing University’s free course, Connect FileMaker To Outlook.
This next video that reviews the different ways to send emails from Claris FileMaker.
- Part One, teaches you how to create a new file in FileMaker and set it up to send a plain text email.
- The video then shows how to write a one-line script to send the email.
- Part Two, focuses on the Rich Text add-on to construct the body of an email with HTML formatting.
- Part Three shows how to take that HTML text and send an email using the Outlook Manipulator Plug-in.
Additional Resources and Training
- Explore the Outlook Manipulator Demo: our fully unlocked FileMaker demo file for sample scripts and schema (free 30-day trial).
- Sign up for our Free Training Course: Connect FileMaker to Outlook at Productive Computing University.
- Try Core CRM Pro: Use our free FileMaker CRM starter template with built-in Outlook integration scripts.
- Subscribe to our newsletter for industry and product updates.
- Check out Productive Computing University for in-depth training courses covering advanced FileMaker technologies.
