Forum Moderators: phranque
Here is the situation, i've got a client e-mail list of around 5000 people (they've all agreed to receive emails). What i want to do is setup a mass multipart email that will show up in most (hopefully all) email clients.
I've been looking at different software and provider options. Such as anconia.com and SilverPOP. The third option is writting something custom in ASP.
I'm just wondering what risk is involved in creating a custom solution, or the advantages of going with software (other than it's all done for you). I know there are big issues with AOL and HTML emails.
The only real way of tracking is with images that are loaded. So making it simple plain text isn't an option. Would making it multipart eliminate that ability?
If i just made the email multipart would it resolve most issues? Does anybody have any experience with any software? Any recommendations? I'm just looking for any advice on this in general.
[edited by: heini at 6:59 pm (utc) on April 24, 2003]
[edit reason] consolidated duplicates [/edit]
I see no one has responded so let me welcome you.
I don't have an answer on your question and I think the moderator for this forum is on a flight to the PubCon meeting. If you don't get a knowledgable response in a couple of days I suggest you repost the question. (The board is really quiet as a lot of the regulars are on their way to Boston.)
Again welcome,
Shane
Good luck.
Almost all e-mail readers, including the last 2 or 3 versions of AOL, can read standard HTML e-mail.
I changed from multipart alternative to straight HTML e-mails last Fall and the occasional complaints about weird looking e-mail have, now that I think about it, stopped completely. What a relief!
Actually, upon further reflection I remembered that I do get people who can't read my HTML e-mails. They are often people who are using old versions of AOL and they don't want to upgrade. Afraid they may break the computer, I guess.
internet.com has a text link at the top of each newsletter that goes to a web page version of the newsletter. That way, if the e-mail's garbled, they can click over to a clean web page.
I also put this comment at the top of every e-mail (before the <!DOCTYPE HTML... )
<!--
If you see this message, it means your e-mail
software doesn't handle our HTML e-mails.
You should be fine if you upgrade to the latest
version of your e-mail software, especially AOL
users.
Or, you can subscribe with a different e-mail
account. Most free e-mail accounts like Hotmail
and Yahoo Mail have no problem with these reports.
The problems we sometimes face are with work
accounts where e-mail is over-filtered.
Call me if you have questions or comments.
John....
To UNSUBSCRIBE send....
-->
The problems we sometimes face are with work accounts where e-mail is over-filtered.
That will only become a bigger problem, unfortunately. It is amazing that we get an apparently unfiltered stream of offers to enlarge certain body parts but some of my clients can't recieve their own promotional mails because of over-zealous filtering.
The only problem is it doesn't track the date, but i think i can get around that but writting something for the database to record date modified of entry.
So is the consensus on HTML email that it's best to just go with a straight HTML emailer? What html issues are there around AOL anyway? From what i've been reading it only supports basic RTF tags, can newer versions handle a bit more HTML?
So is the consensus on HTML email that it's best to just go with a straight HTML emailer?
What html issues are there around AOL anyway?
All versions of AOL since 6.0 can handle HTML.
As for Anconia, I visited their web site and thoght it was awful enough (the web site, that is) to not bother downloading the software to try it out. Windows Media Player movie files where screenshots would suffice...anyway, that's just my personal crotchitiness (is that a word?) but there are lots of other options out there, whether you want to go hosted or on your desktop. I would try out more than one - you may not know what you're missing.
But I wouldn't use anything that doesn't provide a multi-part option. More and more IT administrators are checking the "Read all mail in plain text" box in Outlook Express - probably the most widely used program out there. It is only going to get harder to get HTML mail in front of people...
I think we definatley want to go with the software solution on this one.
[edited by: heini at 4:51 pm (utc) on April 25, 2003]
[edit reason] delinked [/edit]
For hosted solutions (probably a better option with 5,000 names on your list) Vertical Response has a good and inexpensive solution (you pay by the mailing, probably about $50 for 5,000). I use them for larger mailings and have been pleased, and their customer service is very good. Other providers include E-Mail Labs, Internet Mail Manager, Constant Contact, BCentral and Lyris (quite pricey) to name a few.
The hosted solutions offer great speed; the tradeoff is in flexibility and the fact that some of the hosted providers will be blacklisted on Internet spam lists. Getting past blacklists and filters seems tougher every month.
