Email is one of the most popular Internet tools these days, but it can be very boring and ugly. After all, it's just text, right? But what if you could use HTML to create email that looks nice, includes images and links, and makes your email exciting.
Once you start using HTML email, your email will take on the feeling of a newsletter instead of just simple notes to your friends and family. You can even set up templates to send your email in a special format depending upon what you want to write.
What Do You Need to Send HTML Email?
To send HTML email, you need an email account that supports standard email protocols like POP, IMAP, and SMTP. Your email account should also support MIME types. Nearly all Internet email accounts work with POP or IMAP and use SMTP to send mail.
You'll need an email client or Web based email program that supports sending and receiving HTML email. Thunderbird is a good free email client, or you can use a Web-based client like Gmail or Hotmail to send and receive your HTML email.
Setting up Your Email
The easiest way to send your HTML email is to write your letter in the HTML editor in your mail client. Most modern mail clients now support embedding images, changing fonts, and adding colors and so on.
You should think of the email message as an extension of your Web site. Post the
images on your Web site, and then when you link to them in your email message
point to your Web site for the image source. e.g.
<img src="http://webdesign.about.com/library/graphics/jenn3.jpg">
Be sure to use absolute paths. For both images and links. Remember, your readers are going to be at all different locations, so you need to use absolute paths in an HTML email to ensure that the images display and the links work.
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