Plain Text Emails

I have designed an HTML version

[mumford]

Hi

I have recently designed an HTML newsletter, using graphics, inline styles etc.

Now they have asked for a plain text version of it. What do I have to do different?

Could someone tell me how I go about doing this.

I am using Dreamweaver.

Please help, running out of time.

[MatthewHSE]

This is for a client, I assume? If so, just type out the text of the message in your text-editor and send that to them. You may want to format it into sections by putting in ========= dividers here and there where it makes sense. Manually enter line breaks at about sixty characters.

[mumford]

So i should use something like Textpad or Notepad, when you say line breaks, do you mean just hit return not <br>?

thnaks

[glamdring]

I tend to use Notepad for mine, but don't forget about the carriage returns or it looks cr*p.

Just type it in, no formatting (except for the odd *, ., -, or = etc here and there, and off you go.

Or, type it up in Dreamweaver and save it as a .txt file.

EDIT - yes just line breaks, not <br>. There can't be any HTML in it whatsoever. Even hyperlinks will have to have the full path rather than www.yourwebsite.com

[mumford]

Thanks for that, is there anyway in notepad or textpad, where you can display the character numbers?

[mumford]

Sorry to be a pain, do you also have any examples, on how I can make it more appealing, what characters I can use to sepaerate or empahise items, etc?

Thanks again

[Beagle]

...what characters I can use to sepaerate or empahise items, etc?

You don't need, or even want, to add too much. This might sound weird, but try not to think visually. Depending on your audience, it's not unlikely that a lot of people requesting a text-only version will be using a text reader.

You can use the normal email ways of showing emphasis:

_underline_ or _italic_

*bold*

There might be more...?

========== is good for separating, as already mentioned. I've seen ********* used, but that can be confusing since the * is also used for emphasis.

Things like tabs or bullets will probably get unformatted, so it's best not to rely on them. If you need to show a list, you can put -- in front of each item and a return after it. Instead of indenting paragraphs, use extra line breaks between them.