Rules of thumb for formatting email?

[lord patton]

I'm putting this in Design, even though it's about email, 'cause I need Designer's opinions.
Does anyone know where I could find (or would care to suggest) come good usage rules on formatting email.
I've shied away from doing this, because I don't know how uniform the display would be on the recipient's end. But perhaps there's wide coverage (95%) of some programs/features.
I guess I'm looking for something in the vain of Robin Williams' non-designer series or the better CSS advice out there. You know, what what works, looks good, and is simple.

 

[wordmunger]

My personal feeling is the less formatting, the better. Don't expect readers to see bold, italic, fonts, etc. Just simple text works best. Unless you're sending an HTML e-mail, you really have very little control over what the recipient will see.

 

[cube]

Plain text.

 

[lord patton]

so then about sending html

Don't expect readers to see bold, italic, fonts, etc. Just simple text works best.

so lots of folks won't see colors, or sizes, either? That leaves...
(

...sending an HTML e-mail

Is this considered rude? Are there size quidelines? Does the display consistency parallel that of different browsers?

I'm thinking now of not everyday messages, but an occasional newsletter (one page or so) to my clients. Would I be better off just attaching a pdf?

thanks

 

[plinden]

I'm thinking now of not everyday messages, but an occasional newsletter (one page or so) to my clients. Would I be better off just attaching a pdf?

thanks

Attachments are worse than HTML mail - you can never tell if the email really came from you or if the attachment contains a virus.

I suppose for one-off monthly newsletters, HTML mail is fine. But like many people, I have image display off on my email client, so HTML mail looks pretty crap.

What about a quick plain text notification? "Our montly newsletter is now available at: <url here>", with extracts from the newsletter.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Plain text! I think any other format for e-mail is just "plain" rude.

 

[lord patton]

thanks

What about a quick plain text notification? "Our montly newsletter is now available at: <url here>", with extracts from the newsletter.

good idea, thanks.

 

[wordmunger]

What about a quick plain text notification? "Our montly newsletter is now available at: <url here>", with extracts from the newsletter.

I don't know. My tendency--even with my kids' school newsletter, is to not bother with the links. If you really want people to read it, I think you need the text in the newsletter. What about sending out two versions, and giving recipients the options of getting the plain-text version? If you did this, I'd suggest starting by sending HTML mail, with a convenient link for subscribing to the plain-text version instead.