Below are some answers to questions we're commonly asked about LiveTimers. For help with something we haven't addressed, please contact our support team.
Why does my background image look stretched in Outlook for Desktop?
Because the background image dimensions for your LiveTimer do not match the exact dimensions set inside the LiveTimer wizard. When this happens, this may result in your background image being stretched or shrunk to fit your set dimensions and affects how the LiveTimer looks in Outlook for Desktop.
Why does my LiveTimer take a long time to render in Gmail?
Gmail does not allow redirects to files, so Liveclicker serves the LiveTimer file directly. To do this, we download and cache the file in memory before it gets served. This could be why in testing, it may seem like a long time for your LiveTimer to render in your email (2-3 seconds). This issue goes away during peak campaign send times when you have a lot of opens at once because Liveclicker automatically starts caching future minutes.
How does a LiveTimer render in email?
Liveclicker uses a responsive algorithm for creating LiveTimer images. The system waits for an actual request for the LiveTimer from an email open before it generates anything:
When the system receives a request, it generates several future images in anticipation of future traffic.
If the traffic stops coming, the system will stop generating images ahead of time.
What this means is that the first few people who open an email with a LiveTimer in it might have a very small delay before the LiveTimer appears. Once there is a steady stream of requests, the pre-generation of LiveTimers works better and better, and the response time of the LiveTimer is immediate.
The timer animations are generated in 5-minute sections of time loops. Liveclicker creates one 5-minute animation per minute. Since the animation generated is a 5-minute loop, you may experience some of the following situations:
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I'm opening my timer in two different email clients, and although I open the second email 20 seconds after the first one, they start with the same time left.
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My timer was counting down correctly then I noticed it suddenly added 5 minutes to the countdown.
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When I open my timer, it always starts counting down from 59 seconds.
Different email clients cache images in different ways, so sometimes, openers can be served a cached version of the timer animation. Due to this image caching functionality of some email clients, you may find the timer is out of synch when it's opened in two different email clients or devices during testing.
Do countdown timers work in all email clients?
Yes, though some email clients will display a static version instead of an animation. Outlook 2007-2019 does not support animated GIFs, so the first image within the GIF will still be served, showing the exact time remaining until the timer expires.
How can I customize the time labels?
The time labels should be included as part of the background image, like so:
Am I able to make the timer restart every day?
Yes. You can set a countdown timer up so that it expires at the same time each day or each week by following the instructions set out in this article.
What if i want to count down from more than 99 days?
Currently, all of our default background images are configured for showing 99 days or less. If you are setting your timer to expire more than 99 days away, you will need to make a custom timer. You can change your background image or lower the font size of the units to give more space for when the day unit shows more than 2 digits.
