Whats the best way to send a HTML email in Outlook?

[Towner]

Whats the best way to send a HTML email in Outlook?

 

[cwdjrxyz]

Whats the best way to send a HTML email in Outlook?

Why bother with Outlook?. Just get a free Yahoo mail account. It is
very easy to send an html attachment with it. How many people will open
such an attachment is uncertain. I usually will not, unless I am
expecting it and it comes from a very reliable source and it is first
virus scanned before it is downloaded. If you use Yahoo mail or pop
other mail there, it will automatically virus scan all attachments
before it will open them. Likely other mail services can do much the
same.

 

[Nico Schuyt]

Whats the best way to send a HTML email in Outlook?

Create a webpage and place the URL as a link in the e-mail. More guarantee
that your information is shown as intended and less irritation on the side
of the receiver.

 

[dorayme]

Create a webpage and place the URL as a link in the e-mail. More guarantee
that your information is shown as intended and less irritation on the side
of the receiver.

Yes, for many purposes this is very sound advice.

I guess, though, some companies like to send all their emails
with their logos and other banners... a not unreasonable thing to
want?

 

[Nico Schuyt]

Yes, for many purposes this is very sound advice.

I guess, though, some companies like to send all their emails
with their logos and other banners... a not unreasonable thing to
want?

I agree on that. I send HTML-mailings every month
Of course only to subscribers and with a proper text-equivalent and embedded
images to avoid the warnings in Outlook.
Never heard anyone complain and no one seems to filter on HTML email

 

[Jukka K. Korpela]

Scripsit Nico Schuyt:

I agree on that. I send HTML-mailings every month

Surely customers just love logos and banners, especially when using, say, a
slow connection like GSM. They can't wait to see the fancy images and kewl
formatting, which helps them to ignore the (excuse for) content.

Of course only to subscribers and with a proper text-equivalent and
embedded images to avoid the warnings in Outlook.

If you had a case where it would be reasonable to send HTML email, then you
should not include any "proper text-equivalent", since a user would get HTML
email if and only if he explicitly asked for it when, say, subscribing to a
newsletter.

Never heard anyone complain and no one seems to filter on HTML email

Irony has become impossible, so I won't even ask whether you wrote
ironically or not. The emoticon "" currently means just "I'm laughing at
my own joke, or at something, or someone".

 

[Nico Schuyt]

Scripsit Nico Schuyt:

Surely customers just love logos and banners, especially when using,
say, a slow connection like GSM. They can't wait to see the fancy
images and kewl formatting, which helps them to ignore the (excuse
for) content.

If you had a case where it would be reasonable to send HTML email,
then you should not include any "proper text-equivalent", since a
user would get HTML email if and only if he explicitly asked for it
when, say, subscribing to a newsletter.

The user is not informed that the newsletter will be in HTML. With a
text-equivalent there's no problem I think for those who don't like
HTML-mail (except for a tiny little bit of bandwidth)

Irony has become impossible,

No irony from my side. Maybe amused.

so I won't even ask whether you wrote
ironically or not. The emoticon "" currently means just "I'm
laughing at my own joke, or at something, or someone".

At least two of the options are appropriate. Smiling however, not laughing.

The smiley stands for: Almost everyone in this groups advices against
HTML-mail (that's why my suggestion to the OP was to use a link to a web
page). In real life the disadvantages seem to be less dramatic. (But I feel
guilty every time I press the send button

 

[cwdjrxyz]

I agree on that. I send HTML-mailings every month
Of course only to subscribers and with a proper text-equivalent and embedded
images to avoid the warnings in Outlook.
Never heard anyone complain and no one seems to filter on HTML email

I receive the New York Times free email news edition everyday. You
first have to sign up to receive this. Then you have to select for a
text or html version. I selected the html version, because of some of
the pictures that add to some news stories, and I have an about 6 Mbps
download connection. Some on dialup would want the text version, as
this is a large download even without pictures. The key here is that
emails are sent only to those who ask for them and you are given a
choice of text or html. There is even a link on the html version to
select the text version for an individuual email if you have trouble.
Several other responsible news sources and such for which pictures can
sometimes be of benefit use this method.

 

[Nico Schuyt]

I receive the New York Times free email news edition everyday. You
first have to sign up to receive this. Then you have to select for a
text or html version.

Problem is maybe that most people don't know what the difference is between
HTML- and text email.

I selected the html version, because of some of
the pictures that add to some news stories, and I have an about 6 Mbps
download connection. Some on dialup would want the text version, as
this is a large download even without pictures. The key here is that
emails are sent only to those who ask for them and you are given a
choice of text or html. There is even a link on the html version to
select the text version for an individuual email if you have trouble.
Several other responsible news sources and such for which pictures can
sometimes be of benefit use this method.

In situations like this (lots of text and images), I should only supply a
link to a page on a website.

 

[cwdjrxyz]

Problem is maybe that most people don't know what the difference is between
HTML- and text email.


In situations like this (lots of text and images), I should only supply a
link to a page on a website.

The NY Times has a general web page at http://www.nytimes.com/ .
However you can click the "My Times" at the top of the page to log in.
If not registered, you click "register now".
Then you can register to receive a news email every day. You can select
the types of news you wish to receive so that you do not have to
download a lot of stories of no interest to you and to keep the
bandwidth down. On this page you select either text or html. If you
happen to select html and have a slow dialup connection, the individual
emails have a link to select text instead if the download time becomes
too excessive for you. In effect, a custom newspaper is designed for
your interest. Of course sites that do not have tons of new material
every day would not need all of this elaboration.

 

[Ed Seedhouse]

Yes, for many purposes this is very sound advice.

I guess, though, some companies like to send all their emails
with their logos and other banners... a not unreasonable thing to
want?

On the contrary it is extremely unreasonable. Email is *not* the web.
Email, like usenet, should always and only be plain text,

Unfortunately some email programmers started their programs supporting
html after a fashion (and a bloody poor fashion at that), and that
started the downhill slide.

Alas.

 

[dorayme]

Scripsit Nico Schuyt:


Surely customers just love logos and banners, especially when using, say, a
slow connection like GSM. They can't wait to see the fancy images and kewl
formatting, which helps them to ignore the (excuse for) content.

OK. I was influenced to say this about companies from a personal
experience from last week in which I was asked to help out on the
HTML part. The experience may be informative to others so i will
describe it briefly.

This particular company wanted its logo on its emails and were
unhappy with its look and operation (I won't describe all). I
know little about HTML email and said so but asked them to send
the html they were using. I basically approached it on the
assumption it should be good HTML and CSS and tested it in
browsers and returned it and hoped for the best. Yup, they were
very pleased! I was rather surprised because I did not know how
such things are slotted in to email programs on this issue and
thought there would be "issues".

What was good about it? If I may say: I tossed the MS word
generated HTML and replaced with something two orders of mag at
least less. A proper doctype and structure. And very simple CSS.
Got hold of the rather big logo and grabbed the pictorial part
and reduced it to under 4k and provided for the textual rest in
straight out HTML with some CSS styling. In other words, HTML
emails need not be overblown overkill any more than normal
webpages.

(Hey Sid, I know, I am only allowed to boast every 5 years but
cut me a bit of slack will you please...)

 

[dorayme]

On the contrary it is extremely unreasonable. Email is *not* the web.
Email, like usenet, should always and only be plain text,

Ed... it's ok mate... I have heard you are earmarked for
promotion to the priesthood in this church... no need to fly the
flag too much. It's guaranteed mate!

 

[Blinky the Shark]

Never heard anyone complain and no one seems to filter on HTML email

I do: HTML mail goes directly to folder "spam".

 

[Nico Schuyt]

Nico Schuyt wrote:

I do: HTML mail goes directly to folder "spam".

No problem, you're not on our mailing list

 

[Blinky the Shark]

No problem, you're not on our mailing list

I didn't read "no one seem to fiter on HTML email" as being limited to
your mailing list.

 

[Nico Schuyt]

I didn't read "no one seem to fiter on HTML email" as being limited to
your mailing list.

I wrote "I send HTML-mailings every month" in my original message.
The mailings concerned have about 1600 different receivers and, like I said,
no one complains. Fot about half of them the information is of great
importance. If it was filtered out we surely should be informed. Also I sent
thousands of e-mail per year to family, friends and customers and none of
them has problems. Only very few of them use plain text; no one has a
configuration that drops HTML mail into a spam box.

 

[Blinky the Shark]

I wrote "I send HTML-mailings every month" in my original message.

Oh, I know. I just didn't make that connection when I read the claim I
responded to.

 

[Vince Morgan]

Whats the best way to send a HTML email in Outlook?

I find the 'Send' button works for me almost every time
Vince Morgan