HTML for email clients

The Newsletter Monthly

[Lobo]

Has anyone any tips or advice on making HTML email client compliant ..

I think I'm doing ok .. hotmail is fine yahoo etc .. not tested for AOL yet and Gmail is just a blow out? well it kind of formats the CSS when in basic html mode ..

Oh! before the thread gets pulled in to " use plain text " hijack ;) it's not the point :)

The point being making HTML work cross platform ..

The client wants it, the users want it, and I'd just love to hear about anyone elses struggle with the damn thing ..

[tedster]

As you are seeing, there are many more mail clients to be concerned with than there are browsers if you were just doing cross-browser testing. To begin with the difference between web-based mail and desktop clients can be frustrating.

The guidelines that have worked for me:

1. Keep it as simple as possible
2. CSS should be inline, not external
3. CSS positioning is not ready for prime time in email - use table structures
4. Images should be called from the server, not attached. This helps you get into more corporate environments

[encyclo]

There is a great diversity in email clients, many of which use out-dated or flawed HTML parsers. As Ted said, the simpler, the better.

For the last few email newsletters I have done I more or less dispensed with CSS altogether - font tags tend to do the job more consistently, and becasue if you use CSS you need to keep it inline, the font tags tend to be less verbose anyway. Also, don't use a doctype, or even a head section when sending out from email clients such as Outlook Express. Finally, as many modern clients block attached and external images, make sure your newsletter makes perfect sense without graphics.