17 Forward Email
17.1 Overview ¶
The Forward Email task sends the incoming message to one or more additional recipients. In contrast to the Auto Reply task, forwarding is directed to third parties - the original message (often with attachments) is delivered to the new recipients with an optional introductory note in the preamble.
Profile settings, Forward Email task: recipient list, sending account, additional text and attachment options
17.2 Configuration fields ¶
17.2.1 Forward to ¶
List of recipient addresses. Multiple addresses can be entered comma-separated or line by line:
accounting@company.com
purchasing@company.com
archive@company.com
Placeholders are allowed here as well - for example <SenderAddress> or an address resolved via a mapping table per supplier.
17.2.2 Subject prefix ¶
Is prepended to the original subject. Often “Fwd:” or “FW:”. If the field stays empty, the subject is carried over unchanged.
17.2.3 Prepend message text ¶
Optional text inserted before the forwarded original message - e.g. an accompanying note: “Please forward to accounting for processing.”
If the text is entered as a complete HTML document, the program detects this and adjusts the layout accordingly. A note then appears in the editor.
17.3 Message format ¶
| Option |
Description |
| Force HTML format |
Sends the forward in HTML format even if the original message was plain text |
| Remove original message text |
Sends only the prepended text and the attachments - the body of the original mail is not quoted |
Use case for “Remove original message text”: You want to forward the attachment but hide the mail content from further recipients - for example if it contains internal notes.
17.4 Email account for sending ¶
Selection of the sending account from the accounts configured under Program Options -> Email Accounts. If no account is selected explicitly, the multi-stage account resolution applies as with the Auto Reply task (see chapter 13.5).
Note: A prerequisite is an account with SMTP sending. POP3 accounts alone cannot send.
17.5 Attachment options ¶
17.5.1 Forward stored message file ¶
Additionally attaches to the forward the file(s) that were previously written by a Save Message task in the same profile - in the format chosen there (PDF, EML, MSG, HTML, or TXT). This way, an already prepared case file (e.g. PDF with Outlook header and embedded attachments) can be passed on without the recipient having to do the preparation step themselves.
Prerequisite: The Save Message task must be in the same profile and must come before the forward in the order. If it is placed after the forward (or is missing entirely), the forward task is flagged as an error at runtime. The profile editor already blocks this constellation when saving; imported profiles are automatically reordered correctly on load.
Multiple save tasks in the same profile result in multiple attachments - e.g. once as a PDF case file for accounting and once as an EML original for the archive mailbox.
17.5.2 Forward attachments ¶
If enabled, the attachments of the original message are forwarded as well. Otherwise, the forward proceeds without attachments.
| Sub-option |
Description |
| Include offloaded attachments |
If a previous profile has replaced attachments with links (see chapter 24), the original files are loaded from the offload path and re-attached to the forward as real attachments |
17.5.3 File name filter ¶
When Forward attachments is active, you can filter which attachments are included - analogous to the attachment filter of the Save Attachments task:
| Field |
Example |
| Filter contains |
Invoice |
| Filter does not contain |
Ad |
| Respect leading and trailing spaces |
Enabled/disabled |
17.5.4 Forward ZIP content ¶
If the original message contains a ZIP, its individual files can be extracted and attached to the forward - instead of the ZIP. Optionally, a password for encrypted ZIPs can be specified.
17.5.5 PDF conversion ¶
Office and image attachments can be converted to PDF before forwarding - analogous to the Save Attachments task (see chapter 9.6):
- Word documents
- RTF documents
- Excel documents
- Images
Use case: Recipients without an Office license receive attachments uniformly as PDF.
17.6 Use case ¶
Accounting forward
Recipient: accounting@company.com. Subject prefix: “Fwd:”. Message text: “For processing. Kind regards, Secretariat.” Forward attachments enabled. Filter: PDF only with “Invoice” in the name.
17.7 Tip ¶
- Avoid infinite loops: if the forwarding address itself is monitored by a profile, a mail can run through multiple times. Filter out forwarded messages based on the subject prefix