5 ms·

Please don't send HTML email, there is almost never a scenario when it is necessary. All it does is create larger emails, have redundant information (most HTML

Please don't send HTML email, there is almost never a scenario when it is necessary. All it does is create larger emails, have redundant information (most HTML emails also send a plain text counterpart), make reading email more difficult (especially if you are using a terminal mail client or are visually impaired), and allow for obnoxious email styling. HTML Email, just say NO.

alain94040 15y ago
That boat sailed a long time ago. I do like pleasant stuff. Please, if you want me to read your email, don't send me plain text emails.
- ItsTrueYouKnow 15y ago
  If you care more about how the email looks than the content, then odds are that the people who you are sending the email to do not want to receive it. It's only when I don't know you and you're trying to sell me something that you need to make the email visually appealing.
  - iambot 15y ago
    which while i understand and concur with your hatred of unsolicited sales emails, is the point of them :) much the same as ads on TV, i don't want to see then but if im going to be forced to, at least don't make them offend my eyes, (not much can be said for badly designed marketing messages though)
    - ItsTrueYouKnow 15y ago
      If communication that you actually wanted to receive was sent in plain text then you could easily filter HTML email and be rid of it. Spammers aren't going to stop sending HTML mail because it is so useful for what they do, but no one else needs it.
      - joshuacc 15y ago
        This is incorrect. Just because spammers use HTML email doesn't mean HTML email is evil. To give a very practical example, I sign up for newsletters from FontShop so I can be updated about new fonts. The email includes images to show how the fonts look. The utility of these emails would be drastically reduced if they were to use plain text. Reference: http://www.fontshop.com/blog/newsletters/june2011a/ http://www.fontshop.com/blog/newsletters/june2011a/
  - courtewing 15y ago
    That's a false dichotomy. In no way does the appearance of an email impact the quality of its content or vice versa. You obviously do not care about the appearance of emails (or rather, you prefer the appearance of plaintext emails), but others, like myself, do. Fortunately, any decent email system will provide the content to suit both of our preferences.
ssharp 15y ago
Is a scenario where you actually want your emails to convert to sales not necessary?
- ItsTrueYouKnow 15y ago
  No. It's called spam and there is a special circle of hell reserved for people who send it. Keep that shit out of my inbox.
  - ssharp 15y ago
    Do you have an issue with opt-in HTML emails? I don't think this site is advocating spamming at all, nor do services designed to facilitate sending HTML emails (MailChimp, Campaign Monitor, etc.)
systemtrigger 15y ago
Your argument is valid for standard correspondence. It is not valid for commercial marketing. A well-designed HTML email will look stunning in the vast majority of email clients. If marketing ROI is the goal, it is best to ignore the edge cases you mention.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- ItsTrueYouKnow 15y ago
  If you're sending spam and marketing ROI is the goal, then you're part of the problem. Email was once useful for communicating with people but as the tide shifts from correspondence to commercialism it has completely lost its point. Nowadays an email address is little more than a way for people who got it to shove advertising down your throat.
- mseebach 15y ago
  I very frequently write and receive standard correspondence that benefit massively from employing appropriate use of bold, italics and bullet points. I'm against over-using formatting, but just because some websites are ugly it doesn't mean that the web in general doesn't benefit from being marked up for presentation. This plain-text only crusade is a sad remnant from a time when the individual bandwidth consumed by each message actually mattered and/or there was a real risk that some people for valid reasons had an e-mail client incapable of displaying HTML emails. Neither is valid any more, and what's more, there's a rich selection of quality e-mail clients available that will happily only show you the plain text version of the e-mail you're looking at: Be liberal in what you accept and conservative in what you send.
encoderer 15y ago
Every one of your posts in this thread -- every single reply -- seems entirely shortsighted. It's very obvious you've never used an opt-in email list to build and grow a commercial business. You think Groupon (and the ilk), or Newegg, etc, would see the huge returns from email they do if they were sending out plaintext? The only thing that really bothers me about your posts, though, is that you try to say things with such a tone of authority. But you just don't know what you're talking about.
brlewis 15y ago
Anything other than HTML email is rude if you're sending people your latest pictures.
biot 15y ago
I prefer HTML emails as they take me seconds to visually scan to see if anything is of interest. If the emails were a big wall of text, I would have to spend several minutes reading everything which is a huge waste of my time. There's a reason why in the real world, brochures and flyers aren't done up on a typewriter. People are visual creatures and if you're running a startup and marketing products or services and you're not using HTML email, you're doing a disservice to your investors, shareholders, prospects, and customers because the vast majority of people would rather opt-in to receive emails that look good.

alain94040 15y ago

That boat sailed a long time ago. I do like pleasant stuff. Please, if you want me to read your email, don't send me plain text emails.

ItsTrueYouKnow 15y ago
If you care more about how the email looks than the content, then odds are that the people who you are sending the email to do not want to receive it. It's only when I don't know you and you're trying to sell me something that you need to make the email visually appealing.
- iambot 15y ago
  which while i understand and concur with your hatred of unsolicited sales emails, is the point of them :) much the same as ads on TV, i don't want to see then but if im going to be forced to, at least don't make them offend my eyes, (not much can be said for badly designed marketing messages though)
  - ItsTrueYouKnow 15y ago
    If communication that you actually wanted to receive was sent in plain text then you could easily filter HTML email and be rid of it. Spammers aren't going to stop sending HTML mail because it is so useful for what they do, but no one else needs it.
    - joshuacc 15y ago
      This is incorrect. Just because spammers use HTML email doesn't mean HTML email is evil. To give a very practical example, I sign up for newsletters from FontShop so I can be updated about new fonts. The email includes images to show how the fonts look. The utility of these emails would be drastically reduced if they were to use plain text. Reference: http://www.fontshop.com/blog/newsletters/june2011a/ http://www.fontshop.com/blog/newsletters/june2011a/
- courtewing 15y ago
  That's a false dichotomy. In no way does the appearance of an email impact the quality of its content or vice versa. You obviously do not care about the appearance of emails (or rather, you prefer the appearance of plaintext emails), but others, like myself, do. Fortunately, any decent email system will provide the content to suit both of our preferences.

ssharp 15y ago

Is a scenario where you actually want your emails to convert to sales not necessary?

ItsTrueYouKnow 15y ago
No. It's called spam and there is a special circle of hell reserved for people who send it. Keep that shit out of my inbox.
- ssharp 15y ago
  Do you have an issue with opt-in HTML emails? I don't think this site is advocating spamming at all, nor do services designed to facilitate sending HTML emails (MailChimp, Campaign Monitor, etc.)

systemtrigger 15y ago

Your argument is valid for standard correspondence. It is not valid for commercial marketing. A well-designed HTML email will look stunning in the vast majority of email clients. If marketing ROI is the goal, it is best to ignore the edge cases you mention.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
ItsTrueYouKnow 15y ago
If you're sending spam and marketing ROI is the goal, then you're part of the problem. Email was once useful for communicating with people but as the tide shifts from correspondence to commercialism it has completely lost its point. Nowadays an email address is little more than a way for people who got it to shove advertising down your throat.
mseebach 15y ago
I very frequently write and receive standard correspondence that benefit massively from employing appropriate use of bold, italics and bullet points. I'm against over-using formatting, but just because some websites are ugly it doesn't mean that the web in general doesn't benefit from being marked up for presentation. This plain-text only crusade is a sad remnant from a time when the individual bandwidth consumed by each message actually mattered and/or there was a real risk that some people for valid reasons had an e-mail client incapable of displaying HTML emails. Neither is valid any more, and what's more, there's a rich selection of quality e-mail clients available that will happily only show you the plain text version of the e-mail you're looking at: Be liberal in what you accept and conservative in what you send.

encoderer 15y ago

Every one of your posts in this thread -- every single reply -- seems entirely shortsighted. It's very obvious you've never used an opt-in email list to build and grow a commercial business. You think Groupon (and the ilk), or Newegg, etc, would see the huge returns from email they do if they were sending out plaintext? The only thing that really bothers me about your posts, though, is that you try to say things with such a tone of authority. But you just don't know what you're talking about.

brlewis 15y ago

Anything other than HTML email is rude if you're sending people your latest pictures.

biot 15y ago

I prefer HTML emails as they take me seconds to visually scan to see if anything is of interest. If the emails were a big wall of text, I would have to spend several minutes reading everything which is a huge waste of my time. There's a reason why in the real world, brochures and flyers aren't done up on a typewriter. People are visual creatures and if you're running a startup and marketing products or services and you're not using HTML email, you're doing a disservice to your investors, shareholders, prospects, and customers because the vast majority of people would rather opt-in to receive emails that look good.