What key considerations should be made when creating HTML email templates?

Question

What key considerations should be made when creating HTML email templates?

When working on an HTML template to be included in email messages, there are certain aspects to keep in mind. One common issue is that most email clients block automatic image downloads. How can this obstacle be overcome? Are there any other CSS/HTML features that may not be supported?

html css email html-email

Answer 1

Answer №1

When it comes to coding HTML emails, the golden rule is to embrace the retro vibes of the 90s. Think table layouts all the way!

Encase everything in a Table width

border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"

While some mail clients support CSS, others completely filter it out. It's safest to stick with inline-styles, utilizing <font> tags for text formatting and the old-school bgcolor attribute. When it comes to padding and margins, opt for empty table cells with transparent gifs rather than CSS properties. Ensure height is applied to not just the img tag, but also the td and even the tr tag.

Gmail has made strides by allowing media queries for responsiveness, but widespread adoption is still pending.

In light of inconsistent media query support and the prevalence of mobile devices, taking a "mobile-first" approach and using media queries for larger screens can be beneficial. For Outlook users, conditional comments can help achieve similar results:

<!--[if mso]>
<style>/* style block will only be used in MSO */</style>
<![endif]-->

You can target specific versions of Outlook, like Windows 10 Mail app being mso 16, using the likes of lte/gte/gt/lt. Additionally, MSO-specific styles such as mso-line-height-alt:0; can aid in controlling line heights and removing unwanted spaces.

Avoid using float for column layouts; instead, use align="left" on each table representing a column (excluding the last table in a row to prevent layout issues). Thunderbird specifically struggles with floating tables.

Building an email template entails a cycle of creation, testing across various clients, troubleshooting, delving into client-specific quirks, experimenting with solutions, and repeating the testing process.

Answer 2

When it comes to coding HTML emails, the golden rule is to embrace the retro vibes of the 90s. Think table layouts all the way!

Encase everything in a Table width

border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"

While some mail clients support CSS, others completely filter it out. It's safest to stick with inline-styles, utilizing <font> tags for text formatting and the old-school bgcolor attribute. When it comes to padding and margins, opt for empty table cells with transparent gifs rather than CSS properties. Ensure height is applied to not just the img tag, but also the td and even the tr tag.

Gmail has made strides by allowing media queries for responsiveness, but widespread adoption is still pending.

In light of inconsistent media query support and the prevalence of mobile devices, taking a "mobile-first" approach and using media queries for larger screens can be beneficial. For Outlook users, conditional comments can help achieve similar results:

<!--[if mso]>
<style>/* style block will only be used in MSO */</style>
<![endif]-->

You can target specific versions of Outlook, like Windows 10 Mail app being mso 16, using the likes of lte/gte/gt/lt. Additionally, MSO-specific styles such as mso-line-height-alt:0; can aid in controlling line heights and removing unwanted spaces.

Avoid using float for column layouts; instead, use align="left" on each table representing a column (excluding the last table in a row to prevent layout issues). Thunderbird specifically struggles with floating tables.

Building an email template entails a cycle of creation, testing across various clients, troubleshooting, delving into client-specific quirks, experimenting with solutions, and repeating the testing process.

Answer 3

Answer №2

Email clients and how they render emails Different email clients use various rendering engines to display HTML emails:

For example, Apple Mail, Outlook for Mac, Android Mail, and iOS Mail utilize WebKit.

On the other hand, Outlook 2000/02/03 rely on Internet Explorer for rendering.

Meanwhile, Outlook 2007/10/13 surprisingly use Microsoft Word as their rendering engine!

When it comes to web clients, they use the browser's engine - Safari uses WebKit and Chrome uses Blink.

An exciting development in November 2016 was Google's announcement of support for embedded CSS and media queries in Gmail. This marks a major advancement for the email development industry, making template creation much easier for Gmail users.

If you're interested in staying updated on the latest trends, Litmus has a great website dedicated to tracking email client market share based on their own data from sending over a billion emails.

For further reading on building HTML emails, I recommend checking out this resource:

Some tools that might be beneficial for your email development include:

https://github.com/TedGoas/Cerberus

I hope you find this information helpful.

Answer 4