What is happening?
If you are noticing `/A0` or `\A0` characters appearing in your emails—but not inside the editor—you are experiencing the result of faulty email rewriting by a third-party security program. This is a feature offered by Outlook 365, Proofpoint, and other software, in which URLs are rewritten for security purposes.
When they fail to rewrite code correctly, it causes ` ` (non-breaking spaces) to be translated as `/A0` or `\A0`, depending on your operating system. This is a known behavior with these programs.
How to resolve
Third-party behavior is beyond our control, but there are actions you can take. Look for the option to disable link or email rewriting/replacing for emails from your sending domain or set up an exception for your WordFly emails. We’ve verified the solutions below with Outlook 365 and Proofpoint. If you are using a different security program, we recommend searching for a similar solution there.
To resolve the issue in Proofpoint
You will need to create a URL Defense exception so that your WordFly emails are not affected. Possible options are “Exclude re-writing emails that are sent by specified senders” or “Exclude URLs that contain specified domains/IP addresses.”
To resolve the issue in Outlook 365
You will need to create an exception for your safe links policy. Below are a series of steps you can follow to approach this exception using the WordFly tracked URL as a base. This is the URL we use for tracked links. Any links in your campaign which are tracked would fall under this exception, fixing the problem.
-
Log into your Office 365 Admin Center by clicking on Admin > Exchange
-
Click on advanced threats, then safe links
-
Click on the name of the Link Policy that you created (may be "default")
-
Click Edit policy or create a new policy by clicking the Create button
-
Click Settings
-
Inside Do not rewrite the following URLs, write *e.wordfly.com/*
Ensure your design renders well
Whenever you are encountering a rendering issue, you can use our testing tools to verify if these issues are local or general. The issue covered in this article would be considered local, since it doesn’t happen for every Outlook user. A general issue is that Outlook PC doesn’t support background images very well.
Use the Inbox Preview tool to verify how your emails are rendering multiple email environments, without any corruption from outside programs. This can help you save time when deciding where to place your efforts: Do I need to resolve a design problem? Or, do I need to resolve a security problem?