Add logo and style to all email templates

[Alpha1]

Our email provider (AWS SES) requires us to add the site logo and recognizable styling to all emails. The reason is logical: members should easily recognize that the email comes from us, because otherwise they will mark it as spam. If too many members will mark our email as spam then this will cause email reputation damage or even blacklisting.

XenForo only adds the logo to some email templates. This seems strange. I don't know if this on purpose or if this is an oversight. if this is an oversight, then please move this thread to the bug reports forum.
Please add the logo and site colours to all email templates to improve deliverability and avoid email blacklisting.

 

[CedricV]

Agreed.

I did a template change a while ago but if baffles me this isn’t built in.

How to add an email logo in XenForo

Jan 1, 2025

Simple but effective.

• CedricV
• XenForo tips & guides [2.x]

 

[Wildcat Media]

Our email provider (AWS SES) requires us to add the site logo and recognizable styling to all emails.

I've never had any notification from AWS that this was needed. Did their messages end up in my spam folder (and would long ago have been deleted), or is this a newer policy? Just want to know, as I don't need forum email interrupted for an AWS notification I never saw.

 

[Alpha1]

Its newer policy. I was quite surprised after years of use without issue. They paused my account until email sending comply with a number of requirements. One of the requirements is to have all emails clearly branded and identifiable as a message from us. AWS support staff explained that this refers to Logo, styling and Footer. With footer they gave the example of adding links to socials and to privacy page to the footer.

They also sent me this text:

It's important that the sender of the email is clear and that your recipients know who is sending them email. If the email is not clearly branded and identifiable as being from the entity that the recipient signed up to get email from, recipients are likely to ignore your mail or mark it as spam. While reviewing your email-sending practices, we noticed that it is hard to tell who your mail is from. It is also recommended to include a disclaimer in your email which provides clarity to the recipients on why they are receiving these mails. SES requires that you clearly align the emails you send with your organization by following the best practices. For more information, see the following post on the AWS Messaging and Targeting blog:

https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/messaging-and-targeting/do-your-recipients-know-who-you-are/

This page states:

The email itself should clearly be branded as a message from example.com. Small text in a footer is not sufficient. A good example of branding is to prominently display the logo of example.com in the email.

 

[Wildcat Media]

@Alpha1 Thanks for the heads-up. We have a relatively low volume of email compared to other forums, but I'm going to have to check it nonetheless.

If I get time, I might try to generate all the possible forum emails (new thread, new post, password reset, etc.) and see if I can make a list of messages where we don't display a logo or clear identification of the site. I'm guessing it was probably an oversite on XF's end. I'm sure if AWS requires this, other mail providers will do so in the future.