HTML Email Guide

Question

I am not new to HTML / CSS, although I had never written an HTML letter before.

• Are There Any Good Online Resources I Can Learn To Learn?

• What do I need to do? consideration when it comes to email clients?

• Do they render HTML / CSS content in different ways, like browsers? (IE problems, etc.)

I'm not even sure where HTML / CSS should be inserted!

Answer 1

2008 HTML Email Distribution Guide is here . Some email templates can be found here . And a really old site that mentions why HTML posts are bad is here . Anyway, if you add an option for HTML emails, add it for text ones too. I feel like I'm not the only one who prefers plain text.

Answer 2

Due to security vulnerabilities and because most email web clients do not want you to mess up the layout of the client itself, the html and the css that they will display vary greatly.

Campaign Monitor has a summary of some features available / not available for use in emails;

http://www.campaignmonitor.com/css/

Answer 3

The Acid Blog Email contains some really useful tips / tricks for developing HTML emails. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Online Resources for Learning HTML Email:

• Beginner's Email Techniques: http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/html-css-techniques/20-email-design-best-practices-and-resources-for-beginners/

What to consider when it comes to email clients

• HTML emails are displayed differently for almost every major email client. That's why:
  • There are still no standards for markup HTML in a letter (unlike the standards that currently exist for the Internet).
  • Both on the Internet and in email, people can define their own settings on their computers so that they display text (i.e. make it larger or change the font).
  • The subscriber may have “image blocking” enabled in their email software. This means that they will only see text (and without images).
  • This video describes the differences in how email software provides email: http://litmusapp.com/resources/desktop-email-clients
  • Best email clients for rendering: Apple Mail, Outlook 2000, Outlook 2003, and Thunderbird.
  • The worst email clients for rendering are: Outlook 2007, Lotus Notes, and Gmail.

Malicious Risks

It should also be mentioned that the risks associated with the malware mentioned above are overestimated. ESP (e.g. Campaign Monitor or Mailchimp) does not send HTML email attachments (images, documents, etc.) Linked, not attached). Modern email clients scan malware and will not do anything before the user's first request.

The biggest security risk is spoofing. However, this should not be a problem for those who receive HTML email from a select list.