Cult of Mac reader, Scott, asks this week:
“I would like to find out how to create a hyperlink in my Sig using my iPad. Example: Find me on twitter ( with twitter being a hyperlink taking them to my home page.”
I’ve shown you how to use Emoji in your signature, taking advantage of the rich text abilities of iOS 5 and up, but iOS 6 adds HTML support for signatures. Now you can put any rendered HTML into your signature on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Here’s how.
The easy way to do this is to download an app to your iOS device: Nitro HTML. It’s a decent little HTML editor for the iPad or iPhone/iPod touch, and it’s free, so you can’t lose.
The app comes with an example HTML “page,” but you can start from scratch. First, launch the app and tap on the More button in the upper right. Tap on New Page to get a basic HTML page to start with. Give it a name, and confirm with a tap. The app will give you a basic page with “Hello World!” in it. The Split view shows the HTML code on the top, and the rendered web page on the bottom.
Now all you need to do is delete the words, “Hello World!” and type in your name there. Then move the cursor to the other side of the rightmost </b> tag. You might want to tap on the </> HTML button at the top for more easy selection and cursor movement. Once you have the cursor at the end of the line, tap the Insert button at the top of the screen, and choose Horizontal Line. Then tap Insert again and choose “Hyperlink.”
Put your URL in between the quotation marks, right after the <a href= area. So, for this website, you’d type <a href="https://cultofmac.com">. Then, delete the placeholder text that says Hyperlinked Text and replace with the name of your link (Cult of Mac). Now the code should read:
<b>Your Name</b><hr />
<a href="https://cultofmac.com"
>Cult of Mac</a>
You can use any HTML you want here, of course, so if you have fancy HTML skills, feel free to type it in. Once you’ve finished your HTML coding, tap on the Page button at the top of the screen to render it out. Tap and hold on the screen to highlight the web page. Tap on Copy at the bottom of the screen, and then launch your Settings app.
Navigate to Mail, Contacts, Calendars, then scroll down to the Signature area. Tap there to bring up the signatures for all your accounts. Tap into the field under the account you want to put the HTML signature in, and tap, hold, and paste.
Boom! You’re HTML signature-ified. For reals!
Thanks, Brad!
Got an iOS 6 or Mail tip of your own? Need help troubleshooting your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad ? <a href=”mailto:roblef+CoM@gmail.com“>Drop me a line</a> or leave a comment below.
