On 28 Dec 98, Jason Epstein wrote:
> I was wondering if anyone has had experience with sending
> out HTML formatted emails and could give some advice as to how many users I
> can expect to be unable to read the HTML formatted message (do you use a
> HTML-capable email client? do most users even know what a HTML-capable
> client means?) and how I might avoid pissing them off with HTML versions.
The short answer is basically, "Don't do it". With some qualifications...
HTML-formatted e-mail is far from universally accessible; though I have no
hard figures, I would guestimate that no more than, say, 25% of all users
on the net can (or want to) transparently and painlessly view such mail.
I know I sure don't like it. My client (Pegasus) handles it OK, especially
the most recent release, but it's still annoying -- takes too long to render,
and is a little disconcerting when I'm skimming through a pile of mail, to
see fancy formatting jumping out at me unexpectedly.
An e-mail client isn't a browser, so even the best of them can only
manage fairly basic HTML formatting -- which really just means you're
sending out mail with gratuitous bolding, colors and so on. Waste of
everyone's time.
I see two solutions: send out regular e-mail, with a link to a Web version
of the same document prominent in it; or do as Netscape and some others
do, and maintain two versions of the newsletter, one formatted and one
not.
I subscribe to several newsletters which gave me the choice when I
signed on: do you want to receive the HTML version, or the plain ASCII
version? Thereafter it's the responsibility of the list software to send the
right one, I suppose.
-----------
Brent Eades, Almonte, Ontario
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web: http://www.almonte.com/
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