Hey guys
I'm creating/upgrading the newsletter generator on my website which is dynamically generated in vbscript by gathering the news articles and such. I offer a free newsletter and a full newsletter which contains various extras. However lately i have noticed my newsletter gets classed as spam, i have reviewed it and found a few of the causes. Whilst actually looking at the code, i realised how bad it was.
The newsletter is mainly written in HTML 4.0 sloppy code with very small embedded CSS. It was tested years ago and at the time it worked on all e-mail platforms. Times have changed and i've decided to do some research on this subject and i was suprised to find very little has changed over the years. I've read many articles on how to form the best html e-mails for maximum viewing. It's all very intresting.
I'm having a dilema about which html standard to stick to. Idealy i would like to move to xHTML 1.0, however i have the feeling this is a bad idea if i want to get the maximum compatibility. I've decided to stick with HTML 4.0 (good idea?). Should i go with strict or transitional? Normally i go for transitional, but i'm thinking 50/50 on it. I know with strict i will have problems with target links, example leading web mail users to new browser window. Also lack of common atributes.
Fortunately my newsletters are very basic and i'm going to stick to the design as that's whats made it so successful. Also it keeps a minimum on use of resources! Whilst doing my research i have learned many things i previously didn't realise before.
I have been giving this a read: http://www.sitepoint.com/article/code-html-email-newsletters
It doesn't go into massive detail, but it is useful and as such i have been refered to other articles with more in depth.
What's everyone elses experiances with html e-mails? What standards do you stick to, if any at all. It's amazing how many people ignore, or not assume the limitations of html in e-mails.
I think i will go with transitional 4.0 html, embedded in css in the tags (no style elements). It might not look pretty, but atleast it will validate and i'll be getting good coverage. I shall be using faithful tables too
- long live table design techniques!
What's your comments everybody?
I'm creating/upgrading the newsletter generator on my website which is dynamically generated in vbscript by gathering the news articles and such. I offer a free newsletter and a full newsletter which contains various extras. However lately i have noticed my newsletter gets classed as spam, i have reviewed it and found a few of the causes. Whilst actually looking at the code, i realised how bad it was.
The newsletter is mainly written in HTML 4.0 sloppy code with very small embedded CSS. It was tested years ago and at the time it worked on all e-mail platforms. Times have changed and i've decided to do some research on this subject and i was suprised to find very little has changed over the years. I've read many articles on how to form the best html e-mails for maximum viewing. It's all very intresting.
I'm having a dilema about which html standard to stick to. Idealy i would like to move to xHTML 1.0, however i have the feeling this is a bad idea if i want to get the maximum compatibility. I've decided to stick with HTML 4.0 (good idea?). Should i go with strict or transitional? Normally i go for transitional, but i'm thinking 50/50 on it. I know with strict i will have problems with target links, example leading web mail users to new browser window. Also lack of common atributes.
Fortunately my newsletters are very basic and i'm going to stick to the design as that's whats made it so successful. Also it keeps a minimum on use of resources! Whilst doing my research i have learned many things i previously didn't realise before.
I have been giving this a read: http://www.sitepoint.com/article/code-html-email-newsletters
It doesn't go into massive detail, but it is useful and as such i have been refered to other articles with more in depth.
What's everyone elses experiances with html e-mails? What standards do you stick to, if any at all. It's amazing how many people ignore, or not assume the limitations of html in e-mails.
I think i will go with transitional 4.0 html, embedded in css in the tags (no style elements). It might not look pretty, but atleast it will validate and i'll be getting good coverage. I shall be using faithful tables too

What's your comments everybody?