Styling email with HTML and CSS can be good and bad.
Tuesday July 31, 2007
HTML and CSS in Email
HTML email is very widespread. Most email clients use it and it makes email a lot easier to read and understand the messages. But HTML email can have drawbacks. If you use HTML to write or format messages you should be aware of the issues and make an informed decision. Read the below article to see 16 pros and cons about the benefits and drawbacks to HTML email.
Comments
Actually, CSS is quite well supported by most e-mail clients (Outlook 2007 is one of the exceptions). Just make sure you use inline style codes instead of referring to CSS in the head of your HTML document.
When testing your e-mail designs, make sure you test in Gmail, as it is a star at forcing it’s own style sheets upon e-mails. If you can make your e-mail look the way it’s supposed to in Gmail, it will most likely look good in most e-mail clients.
Mischa: 2 thoughts: 1. Outlook 2007 is one of the most popular email clients today. So if it doesn’t support CSS well, then you’ve lost a large part of your audience right there.
2. most email clients that do support CSS don’t support CSS for layout well if at all - mostly because you do have to use a separate style sheet. That’s why in the article I point out that it generally works for basic styles on text, but not so well for layout - and that designers should use tables for layout in HTML email.
That’s a great point about Gmail - and it re-iterates my point about testing. Just setting up an email account on all the free mailers available would be tedious, but important if your email message is going to be seen by a large audience.
Personally I wouldn’t rely on CSS for layout in HTML email. I use tables but find that putting the styles in the header mostly works OK for Outlook and can even be made to work for Lotus Notes (my clients are business-to-business and there are still Notes users out there!).
As you say, it’s a question of testing your messages in the relevant email clients before sending and making adjustments accordingly. I think what MS have done in OL2007 is massively retrograde, but - accepting that you can no longer do really basic things like using background images - it’s still possible to design attractive emails that won’t break for OL2007 users.
As for HTML vs. plain text; some people will NEVER accept the former. I use Gammadyne Mailer for distribution because it allows me to bundle a separately-formatted plain text message along with any HTML, and so cater for people whose server, email client or personal preference doesn’t permit them to receive HTML messages.