How to send email to contacts using Gmail inside of Act!?

Question: How can I use Gmail to send email to my contacts from directly within Act!?
 
Product: 
Product Family:  Act!
Product:  Act! Pro, Act! Premium
Version: 2013 and later
 
Environment:
Third Party:  Google
 

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Answer: 
 
Note: This information is provided as a convenience. Swiftpage does not provide support for customizations. For additional assistance with customizing Act!, it is recommended that you contact an Act! Certified Consultant.
 
Gmail does not allow use of the ports required to configure an email address for use with Act! Internet mail, however a custom link can be added to the Web Info Tab, allowing the Web Info tab to be used to automatically pull up a new message draft with the contact’s email address pre-populated directly within Act!. This will allow you to write and send your email without the need to open a new browser window, navigate to your Gmail inbox, open a new message, and manually enter the contact’s email address.
 
 
Setting up the custom link
 

1. Open Internet Explorer and log into your Gmail account, ensuring that the option to stay signed in is checked
    
   Note: It is important to enable the option to stay signed in to keep from being prompted to log in later when you try to write emails to your contacts.
    
2. In Act!, Open the Contact Detail View, then click the Web Info Tab
3. In the Web Info tab, on the top left, click Edit Links
4. Click Add
5. Under the Site Name, enter New Gmail Message, or any other name you may feel is suitable
6. Copy and paste the following link for the URL: https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to={E-mail}
7. Click OK to save.

 
Note: The URL above is only applicable for the default E-mail field. If you wish to regularly send email using an address from an alternate email address field, you will need to create another custom link, replacing the {E-mail} part of the URL above with the name of the field you wish to use. For example, if you wish to use the Personal E-mail field, you would use the following URL:
 
https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to={Personal E-mail}
 
 
Using the custom link
 

1. Navigate to the Contact you wish to send an email to
2. Click the Web Info tab
3. Click the custom link you created for sending Gmail messages
4. Type up the email as you normally would, then click Send when you’re done

 
Note: If desired, you can click the Open Browser option to open a larger browser window where you will compose and send your message.
 
 
Recording email history into Act! (Optional)
 
In Act! versions 2013 and later, it is possible to create history for emails sent through Gmail, however additional configuration is necessary. For more information, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
 
How to set preferences for Google and Gmail Integration in Act!
Answer ID How to set preferences for Google and Gmail Integration in Act! 2013 through v20.0