HTML Emails | Available Tutorials on coding like it's 1999

When I started coding I skipped over tables and we开发者_如何转开发nt directly to CSS/div based layouts, it had just started and I didn't see the need to learn something (ie tables layout) that was on it's way out. I do use tables for tabular data, so I understand the way tables work.

My current company sends an amazing amount of HTML emails that I have to design, build and send through Emma, or several other similar companies. This is my first regular experience with HTML emails, though I have built websites full time for several years.

My questions are: Is there a good reference for designing & building HTML rules? I do know the general basics (learned through research, trial and error over the last few months). Or are the rules simple enough to list here? Are there accessibility standards for email like for the web? Are they the same?

As a side question, does anyone think that HTML emails are more of a headache than they are worth?

Not sure what your story regarding tables has to do with sending HTML emails since you're not confined to using tables in HTML emails, but anyways. I'm not saying that these are official guidelines, but off the top of my head, I personally always consider them:

• Keep it simple - When you're sending more style than actual content, you're doing it wrong.
• Try not to use images - Stick to basic in-line styling like borders, background color, text color and such. The objective is to make the email look good, not to create a stand-alone website.
• Always provide a plain text alternative for the email clients that don't support HTML emails.

As for the side question, I don't really see anything bad in using HTML to make your emails prettier and it shouldn't cause any headaches when done right (i.e. see the first two points on my list).

Hope these help.

Campaign Monitor and Mail Chimp have a spectacular amount of resources on these topics. You should check out the "Why Email?" guide to answer any question on if email's a good idea. Also have look over the titles of mailchimp guides, some of them relate to sending out emails (not just help with their system).

If you're chucking out loads of image based images and you don't want to keep chopping them up you should check out Mailrox (https://www.mailrox.com/). It lets you chop-up images in the browser and does all the stuff for you.

Q: As a side question, does anyone think that HTML emails are more of a headache than they are worth?

Quick Answer: No, I've found sending out good emails to people who want them really helps conversion / sales, but they have to be right.

Email on Acid's blog has some really good tips/tricks for designing HTML emails. Designing HTML emails is one of the most tedious and frustrating things I have to do at my job. Email on Acid helps limit the frustration level. Hope this helps.