Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
Matt,
I sorted an automatic email notification system just recently on
ukfree.tvand I think I might be able to give you a few pointers. The
site uses PHP,
so my examples will be in that. If you can't follow it, then let me know.
(You can subscribe/unsubscribe by visiting http://www.ukfree.tv/ and using
the box in the 'my settings' item at the top left.
To send an HTML email, as you have already found out I guess, you need to
ensure you have the right headers:
*function sendHTMLemail($strEmail, $strHTML, $strSubject)
{
// To send HTML mail, the Content-type header must be set
$strHeaders = 'MIME-Version: 1.0' . \r\n;
$strHeaders .= 'Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1' . \r\n;
// Additional headers
$strHeaders .= To: $strEmail $strEmail\r\n;
$strHeaders .= From: --- updates [EMAIL PROTECTED]\r\n;
// Mail it
mail($strEmail, $strSubject, $strHTML, $strHeaders);
}
*
As you have found out, the level of CSS support in HTML email message is
limited. For example, you can't use the class operator to format items.
I have used this rather basic function to translate my class items to the
more basic style items:
*function translaterhsbox($strTitle, $strContent, $strDummy1, $strDummy2)
{
return h2 style=\font-size: 12pt\$strTitle/h2 .
strtr($strContent,array(class=\lyrOffsite\=style=\font-size:
8pt;\)) . hr color=#ffde5a;
}*
Basically you need to ensure that you format everything with styles, for
example:
*div style='width:516px; font-size: 9pt'*
But you can still use graphics from your web-site. However many email
programmes will block the graphics until you agree to download them.
*img src=\
http://www.ukfree.tv/2k8_graphic.php?a=a2t=UK%20Free%20TV%20email%20update\
*
If you have written your document in using CSS, someone can probably write a
bit of code to automatically expand the raw HTML to convert all the
'class'es to 'styles'.
You might like to know that the other constraints (java, scripting, flash)
are to protect email users from viral abuse, not a lack of will to implement
it.
Hope this helps
2008/6/4 [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
Hello there,
I'm a journalist working for BBC East in Norwich and I've joined this
mailing list to get advice and guidance - and possibly some ideas - about a
project I've been working on for the last 6 months.
With the backing of my bosses at Look East and BBC English regions, I've
designed, developed and launched a new graphics-rich e-mail newsletter which
we now send out each day to about 2000 or so subscribers.
This newsletter is hard to describe, but what it does is to aggregate links
- complete with headlines and thumbnail images - to the latest video news
items which appear on the main Look East website, a 'blog' section promoting
that evening's programmes with nested links expanding on the stories being
discussed, drop down menus featuring linking to BBC East regional weather,
news and sport sites and an occasional text ticker which promotes whatever
we fancy - often our local radio stations.
It's conceived primarily as a content delivery vehicle first, then a
promotional tool, a way of combining all the services offered by the BBC in
my region into one tidy package and also a way of elaborating on the stories
we're working on.
To subscribe -temporarily if you want, I won't mind :-) - go here :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lookeast/newsletter/subscription.shtml
Now the thing is, is that I'm a relative novice who is learning as I go
along. What I've learned is that e-mail can only support very basic html
and that there are limits to what features we can incorporate into this
newsletter. However, I'm determined to max out the potential and capacity
of this rather unusual way of delivering BBC content. Any html tricks,
ideas, criticisms, improvements, widgets or whatever anyone on this mailing
list can offer in the way of developing this newsletter concept, I'd be
hugely grateful. Several other English regions are toying with the idea of
adopting it, so I'm keen on adding new features, but my technical knowledge
is still quite limited.
this whole experience has been really positive for me and I've become quite
an evangelist for e-mail broadcasting, which I want to develop, though the
inherent limitations of e-mail do constrain thigs somewhat (no scripting,
flash, java etc).
This is my baby and I'm throwing it open to y'all to see if some new ideas
emerge.
Cheers
Matt Precey
--
Miss your Messenger buddies when on-the-go? Get Messenger on your
Mobile!http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/msnnkmgl001001ukm/direct/01/
--
Brian Butterworth
http://www.ukfree.tv - independent digital television and switchover advice,
since 2002
RE: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
Brian,
For example, you can't use the class operator to format items. I
have used this rather basic function to translate my class items to
the
more basic style items:
Actually, CSS stylesheets are fully supported by Outlook, Outlook
Express, and Thunderbird at least, and I am using CSS to generate
size-efficient HTML emails that use the stylesheets from the website
(though obviously, the path to the css file needs to be a full absolute
URL) - do you still have an email client that doesn't support CSS, if
so, what is it?
Adam
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brian Butterworth
Sent: 05 June 2008 07:55
To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk
Subject: Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
Matt,
I sorted an automatic email notification system just recently on
ukfree.tv and I think I might be able to give you a few pointers. The
site uses PHP, so my examples will be in that. If you can't follow it,
then let me know.
(You can subscribe/unsubscribe by visiting http://www.ukfree.tv/ and
using the box in the 'my settings' item at the top left.
To send an HTML email, as you have already found out I guess, you need
to ensure you have the right headers:
function sendHTMLemail($strEmail, $strHTML, $strSubject)
{
// To send HTML mail, the Content-type header must be set
$strHeaders = 'MIME-Version: 1.0' . \r\n;
$strHeaders .= 'Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1' . \r\n;
// Additional headers
$strHeaders .= To: $strEmail $strEmail\r\n;
$strHeaders .= From: --- updates [EMAIL PROTECTED]\r\n;
// Mail it
mail($strEmail, $strSubject, $strHTML, $strHeaders);
}
As you have found out, the level of CSS support in HTML email message is
limited. For example, you can't use the class operator to format
items. I have used this rather basic function to translate my class
items to the more basic style items:
function translaterhsbox($strTitle, $strContent, $strDummy1, $strDummy2)
{
return h2 style=\font-size: 12pt\$strTitle/h2 .
strtr($strContent,array(class=\lyrOffsite\=style=\font-size:
8pt;\)) . hr color=#ffde5a;
}
Basically you need to ensure that you format everything with styles, for
example:
div style='width:516px; font-size: 9pt'
But you can still use graphics from your web-site. However many email
programmes will block the graphics until you agree to download them.
img
src=\http://www.ukfree.tv/2k8_graphic.php?a=a2t=UK%20Free%20TV%20email
%20update\
If you have written your document in using CSS, someone can probably
write a bit of code to automatically expand the raw HTML to convert
all the 'class'es to 'styles'.
You might like to know that the other constraints (java, scripting,
flash) are to protect email users from viral abuse, not a lack of will
to implement it.
Hope this helps
2008/6/4 [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
Hello there,
I'm a journalist working for BBC East in Norwich and I've joined this
mailing list to get advice and guidance - and possibly some ideas -
about a project I've been working on for the last 6 months.
With the backing of my bosses at Look East and BBC English regions, I've
designed, developed and launched a new graphics-rich e-mail newsletter
which we now send out each day to about 2000 or so subscribers.
This newsletter is hard to describe, but what it does is to aggregate
links - complete with headlines and thumbnail images - to the latest
video news items which appear on the main Look East website, a 'blog'
section promoting that evening's programmes with nested links expanding
on the stories being discussed, drop down menus featuring linking to BBC
East regional weather, news and sport sites and an occasional text
ticker which promotes whatever we fancy - often our local radio
stations.
It's conceived primarily as a content delivery vehicle first, then a
promotional tool, a way of combining all the services offered by the BBC
in my region into one tidy package and also a way of elaborating on the
stories we're working on.
To subscribe -temporarily if you want, I won't mind :-) - go here :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lookeast/newsletter/subscription.shtml
Now the thing is, is that I'm a relative novice who is learning as I go
along. What I've learned is that e-mail can only support very basic
html and that there are limits to what features we can incorporate into
this newsletter. However, I'm determined to max out the potential and
capacity of this rather unusual way of delivering BBC content. Any html
tricks, ideas, criticisms, improvements, widgets or whatever anyone on
this mailing list can offer in the way of developing this newsletter
concept, I'd be hugely grateful. Several other English regions are
toying with the idea of adopting it, so I'm keen on adding new features,
but my technical knowledge is still quite limited.
this whole experience has been really positive for me and I've become
quite an evangelist for e-mail broadcasting, which I want to develop
Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
Hello there, I'm a journalist working for BBC East in Norwich and I've joined this mailing list to get advice and guidance - and possibly some ideas - about a project I've been working on for the last 6 months. With the backing of my bosses at Look East and BBC English regions, I've designed, developed and launched a new graphics-rich e-mail newsletter which we now send out each day to about 2000 or so subscribers. Yeh sure I'll sign up and take a look, this is a cool idea to generate a more dynamic and 'live' newsletter.
Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
Adam,
However many mail clients don't support the automatic (or even manual)
loading for CSS files. As you cannot know the client being used, you have
to go for the common set of features.
It's a common error to assume that everyone uses a particular client.
2008/6/5 Adam Hatia [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
Brian,
For example, you can't use the class operator to format items. I have
used this rather basic function to translate my class items to the
more basic style items:
Actually, CSS stylesheets are fully supported by Outlook, Outlook Express,
and Thunderbird at least, and I am using CSS to generate size-efficient HTML
emails that use the stylesheets from the website (though obviously, the path
to the css file needs to be a full absolute URL) – do you still have an
email client that doesn't support CSS, if so, what is it?
Adam
--
*From:* [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] *On Behalf Of *Brian Butterworth
*Sent:* 05 June 2008 07:55
*To:* backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk
*Subject:* Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
Matt,
I sorted an automatic email notification system just recently on ukfree.tvand
I think I might be able to give you a few pointers. The site uses PHP,
so my examples will be in that. If you can't follow it, then let me know.
(You can subscribe/unsubscribe by visiting http://www.ukfree.tv/ and using
the box in the 'my settings' item at the top left.
To send an HTML email, as you have already found out I guess, you need to
ensure you have the right headers:
*function sendHTMLemail($strEmail, $strHTML, $strSubject)
{
// To send HTML mail, the Content-type header must be set
$strHeaders = 'MIME-Version: 1.0' . \r\n;
$strHeaders .= 'Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1' . \r\n;
// Additional headers
$strHeaders .= To: $strEmail $strEmail\r\n;
$strHeaders .= From: --- updates [EMAIL PROTECTED]\r\n;
// Mail it
mail($strEmail, $strSubject, $strHTML, $strHeaders);
}
*
As you have found out, the level of CSS support in HTML email message is
limited. For example, you can't use the class operator to format items.
I have used this rather basic function to translate my class items to the
more basic style items:
*function translaterhsbox($strTitle, $strContent, $strDummy1, $strDummy2)
{
return h2 style=\font-size: 12pt\$strTitle/h2 .
strtr($strContent,array(class=\lyrOffsite\=style=\font-size:
8pt;\)) . hr color=#ffde5a;
}*
Basically you need to ensure that you format everything with styles, for
example:
*div style='width:516px; font-size: 9pt'*
But you can still use graphics from your web-site. However many email
programmes will block the graphics until you agree to download them.
*img src=\
http://www.ukfree.tv/2k8_graphic.php?a=a2t=UK%20Free%20TV%20email%20update\http://www.ukfree.tv/2k8_graphic.php?a=a2t=UK%20Free%20TV%20email%20update%5C
*
If you have written your document in using CSS, someone can probably write
a bit of code to automatically expand the raw HTML to convert all the
'class'es to 'styles'.
You might like to know that the other constraints (java, scripting, flash)
are to protect email users from viral abuse, not a lack of will to implement
it.
Hope this helps
2008/6/4 [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
Hello there,
I'm a journalist working for BBC East in Norwich and I've joined this
mailing list to get advice and guidance - and possibly some ideas - about a
project I've been working on for the last 6 months.
With the backing of my bosses at Look East and BBC English regions, I've
designed, developed and launched a new graphics-rich e-mail newsletter which
we now send out each day to about 2000 or so subscribers.
This newsletter is hard to describe, but what it does is to aggregate links
- complete with headlines and thumbnail images - to the latest video news
items which appear on the main Look East website, a 'blog' section promoting
that evening's programmes with nested links expanding on the stories being
discussed, drop down menus featuring linking to BBC East regional weather,
news and sport sites and an occasional text ticker which promotes whatever
we fancy - often our local radio stations.
It's conceived primarily as a content delivery vehicle first, then a
promotional tool, a way of combining all the services offered by the BBC in
my region into one tidy package and also a way of elaborating on the stories
we're working on.
To subscribe -temporarily if you want, I won't mind :-) - go here :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lookeast/newsletter/subscription.shtml
Now the thing is, is that I'm a relative novice who is learning as I go
along. What I've learned is that e-mail can only support very basic html
and that there are limits to what features we can incorporate into this
newsletter. However, I'm determined to max out the potential and capacity
of this rather unusual way of delivering BBC content. Any html tricks
RE: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
Jeez, you should see what some of the emails we get in Outlook 2000 look
like!
Still a very popular email client for some corporates.
Campaign Monitor (who we use to send mail out), have some great tips on how
to format/design emails:
http://www.campaignmonitor.com/help/category.aspx?c=7
http://www.campaignmonitor.com/help/category.aspx?c=7
Outa interest, anyone else here use Campaign Monitor?
- Gav
Gavin Pearce | Junior Web Developer | TBS
The Columbia Centre, Market Street, Bracknell, RG12 1JG, United Kingdom
Direct: +44 (0) 1344 403488 | Office: +44 (0) 1344 306011 | Fax: +44 (0)
1344 427138
MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Yahoo: pearce.gavin | Skype: tbs.gavin
www.tbs.uk.com http://www.tbs.uk.com/ http://www.tbs.uk.com/
TBS is a trading name of Technology Services International Limited.
Registered in England, company number 2079459.
-Original Message-
From: Brian Butterworth [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: 05 June 2008 09:07
To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk
Subject: Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
Adam,
However many mail clients don't support the automatic (or even manual)
loading for CSS files. As you cannot know the client being used, you have
to go for the common set of features.
It's a common error to assume that everyone uses a particular client.
2008/6/5 Adam Hatia [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] :
Brian,
For example, you can't use the class operator to format items. I have
used this rather basic function to translate my class items to the
more basic style items:
Actually, CSS stylesheets are fully supported by Outlook, Outlook Express,
and Thunderbird at least, and I am using CSS to generate size-efficient HTML
emails that use the stylesheets from the website (though obviously, the path
to the css file needs to be a full absolute URL) – do you still have an
email client that doesn't support CSS, if so, what is it?
Adam
_
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ]
On Behalf Of Brian Butterworth
Sent: 05 June 2008 07:55
To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk mailto:backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk
Subject: Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
Matt,
I sorted an automatic email notification system just recently on ukfree.tv
http://ukfree.tv and I think I might be able to give you a few pointers.
The site uses PHP, so my examples will be in that. If you can't follow it,
then let me know.
(You can subscribe/unsubscribe by visiting http://www.ukfree.tv/
http://www.ukfree.tv/ and using the box in the 'my settings' item at the
top left.
To send an HTML email, as you have already found out I guess, you need to
ensure you have the right headers:
function sendHTMLemail($strEmail, $strHTML, $strSubject)
{
// To send HTML mail, the Content-type header must be set
$strHeaders = 'MIME-Version: 1.0' . \r\n;
$strHeaders .= 'Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1' . \r\n;
// Additional headers
$strHeaders .= To: $strEmail $strEmail\r\n;
$strHeaders .= From: --- updates [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
\r\n;
// Mail it
mail($strEmail, $strSubject, $strHTML, $strHeaders);
}
As you have found out, the level of CSS support in HTML email message is
limited. For example, you can't use the class operator to format items.
I have used this rather basic function to translate my class items to the
more basic style items:
function translaterhsbox($strTitle, $strContent, $strDummy1, $strDummy2)
{
return h2 style=\font-size: 12pt\$strTitle/h2 .
strtr($strContent,array(class=\lyrOffsite\=style=\font-size:
8pt;\)) . hr color=#ffde5a;
}
Basically you need to ensure that you format everything with styles, for
example:
div style='width:516px; font-size: 9pt'
But you can still use graphics from your web-site. However many email
programmes will block the graphics until you agree to download them.
img src=\ http://www.ukfree.tv/2k8_graphic.php?a=a2
http://www.ukfree.tv/2k8_graphic.php?a=a2t=UK%20Free%20TV%20email%20update
%5C t=UK%20Free%20TV%20email%20update\
If you have written your document in using CSS, someone can probably write a
bit of code to automatically expand the raw HTML to convert all the
'class'es to 'styles'.
You might like to know that the other constraints (java, scripting, flash)
are to protect email users from viral abuse, not a lack of will to implement
it.
Hope this helps
2008/6/4 [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] :
Hello there,
I'm a journalist working for BBC East in Norwich and I've joined this
mailing list to get advice and guidance - and possibly some ideas - about a
project I've been working on for the last 6 months.
With the backing of my bosses at Look East and BBC English regions, I've
designed, developed and launched a new graphics-rich e-mail newsletter which
we now send out each day to about 2000 or so subscribers.
This newsletter is hard to describe, but what it does is to aggregate links
- complete
RE: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
Anyone wishing to understand fully the extent of CSS support in all the
commonly used email clients might like to read this:
http://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/archives/2007/04/a_guide_to_css_supp
ort_in_emai_2.html - it's an invaluable resource!
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brian Butterworth
Sent: 05 June 2008 09:07
To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk
Subject: Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
Adam,
However many mail clients don't support the automatic (or even manual)
loading for CSS files. As you cannot know the client being used, you
have to go for the common set of features.
It's a common error to assume that everyone uses a particular client.
2008/6/5 Adam Hatia [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
Brian,
For example, you can't use the class operator to format items. I
have used this rather basic function to translate my class items to
the
more basic style items:
Actually, CSS stylesheets are fully supported by Outlook, Outlook
Express, and Thunderbird at least, and I am using CSS to generate
size-efficient HTML emails that use the stylesheets from the website
(though obviously, the path to the css file needs to be a full absolute
URL) - do you still have an email client that doesn't support CSS, if
so, what is it?
Adam
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brian Butterworth
Sent: 05 June 2008 07:55
To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk
Subject: Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
Matt,
I sorted an automatic email notification system just recently on
ukfree.tv and I think I might be able to give you a few pointers. The
site uses PHP, so my examples will be in that. If you can't follow it,
then let me know.
(You can subscribe/unsubscribe by visiting http://www.ukfree.tv/ and
using the box in the 'my settings' item at the top left.
To send an HTML email, as you have already found out I guess, you need
to ensure you have the right headers:
function sendHTMLemail($strEmail, $strHTML, $strSubject)
{
// To send HTML mail, the Content-type header must be set
$strHeaders = 'MIME-Version: 1.0' . \r\n;
$strHeaders .= 'Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1' . \r\n;
// Additional headers
$strHeaders .= To: $strEmail $strEmail\r\n;
$strHeaders .= From: --- updates [EMAIL PROTECTED]\r\n;
// Mail it
mail($strEmail, $strSubject, $strHTML, $strHeaders);
}
As you have found out, the level of CSS support in HTML email message is
limited. For example, you can't use the class operator to format
items. I have used this rather basic function to translate my class
items to the more basic style items:
function translaterhsbox($strTitle, $strContent, $strDummy1, $strDummy2)
{
return h2 style=\font-size: 12pt\$strTitle/h2 .
strtr($strContent,array(class=\lyrOffsite\=style=\font-size:
8pt;\)) . hr color=#ffde5a;
}
Basically you need to ensure that you format everything with styles, for
example:
div style='width:516px; font-size: 9pt'
But you can still use graphics from your web-site. However many email
programmes will block the graphics until you agree to download them.
img
src=\http://www.ukfree.tv/2k8_graphic.php?a=a2t=UK%20Free%20TV%20email
%20update\
http://www.ukfree.tv/2k8_graphic.php?a=a2t=UK%20Free%20TV%20email%20up
date%5C
If you have written your document in using CSS, someone can probably
write a bit of code to automatically expand the raw HTML to convert
all the 'class'es to 'styles'.
You might like to know that the other constraints (java, scripting,
flash) are to protect email users from viral abuse, not a lack of will
to implement it.
Hope this helps
2008/6/4 [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
Hello there,
I'm a journalist working for BBC East in Norwich and I've joined this
mailing list to get advice and guidance - and possibly some ideas -
about a project I've been working on for the last 6 months.
With the backing of my bosses at Look East and BBC English regions, I've
designed, developed and launched a new graphics-rich e-mail newsletter
which we now send out each day to about 2000 or so subscribers.
This newsletter is hard to describe, but what it does is to aggregate
links - complete with headlines and thumbnail images - to the latest
video news items which appear on the main Look East website, a 'blog'
section promoting that evening's programmes with nested links expanding
on the stories being discussed, drop down menus featuring linking to BBC
East regional weather, news and sport sites and an occasional text
ticker which promotes whatever we fancy - often our local radio
stations.
It's conceived primarily as a content delivery vehicle first, then a
promotional tool, a way of combining all the services offered by the BBC
in my region into one tidy package and also a way of elaborating on the
stories we're working on.
To subscribe -temporarily if you want, I won't mind :-) - go here :
http://www.bbc.co.uk
Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 9:39 AM, Sean DALY [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: If I may add my 2 cents, I think e-mail newsletters should always have a text-only option with a link to the graphics-rich version. I am subscribed to fairly vast number of newsletters and I generally don't read them, I search them for keywords (filters or manually). Plain text are ideal as a lowest common denominator for portable gadgets; easy to forward plain text newsletters to my work or personal e-mail accounts and read the graphics-rich versions on comfortable screens. And, for the security-conscious (I am thinking of my aging personal Windows box but also Google mail which scrubs images by default), plain text offers a far more secure way to receive a flood of mail with the rich version just an extra click away. Sean, I agree with this because I too like to read over quick information and then go further if a story interests me, usually to the website directly. But also it's important in my opinion to consider pushing this forward a little to take advantage of the faster connections and computers around now, to enhance experience and to provide newer, if not more effective - at least more interesting and engaging - content. Maybe the newsletter format isn't for this, as you say, text works really well on portables, they're cross compatible with everyone and importantly more secure. For me, newsletters offer a decent bridge between the inbox (where I pay a lot of attention) and the site's content. There's a fine line between interesting (click and visit the site), and slow, irrelevant and cumbersome (ignore and delete). Too much rich content can cross this line - but a little well used rich content can also work in favour too. This is why criticism is important I reckon especially in the early stages.
Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
Actually, CSS stylesheets are fully supported by Outlook, Outlook Express, and Thunderbird at least, and I am using CSS to generate size-efficient HTML emails that use the stylesheets from the website (though obviously, the path to the css file needs to be a full absolute URL) - do you still have an email client that doesn't support CSS, if so, what is it? I've many colleagues who use pure text based email clients for a range of convenience reasons eg. keeping everything on the server, and access being *super* speedy being a purely textual interface. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_(e-mail_client) Also, I suspect, many people get irritated by when html/css email is done poorly or abused (I've seen email sigs cut-pasted straight from MS Word filling several screenfuls of poorly coded rubbish) On an accessibility front, does anyone know how email clients fare with dealing with CSS for the blind, or users with poor vision? many bits of bbc.co.uk provide an 'accessible' mode, though I'm not sure if this is done by applying an alternative stylesheet or something more complex: http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/index.shtml?myway_sub http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/index.shtml?hiviz In Opera browser (and in the built in mail client) you can turn off or override stylesheets; but I've not seen this feature in many other places. Matt -- | Matt Hammond | Research Engineer, FMT, BBC, Kingswood Warren, Tadworth, Surrey, UK | http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/ - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
RE: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
The only problem with sending an entirely plain text email is when you get into the world of stats. Bounce rates can be tracked, and you can also do links unique for each user, however stats like comparing click through rates compared to opening rates and which parts of an email were click on most, wouldn't work with plain text. Not so important for smaller websites, but when you're emailing out to 10,000+ people, you want to make sure things are targeted properly, to be able to re-invest and re-target, next time around. - Gav Gavin Pearce | Junior Web Developer | TBS The Columbia Centre, Market Street, Bracknell, RG12 1JG, United Kingdom Direct: +44 (0) 1344 403488 | Office: +44 (0) 1344 306011 | Fax: +44 (0) 1344 427138 MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Yahoo: pearce.gavin | Skype: tbs.gavin www.tbs.uk.com http://www.tbs.uk.com/ TBS is a trading name of Technology Services International Limited. Registered in England, company number 2079459. -Original Message- From: Sean DALY [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 05 June 2008 09:40 To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk Subject: Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter If I may add my 2 cents, I think e-mail newsletters should always have a text-only option with a link to the graphics-rich version. I am subscribed to fairly vast number of newsletters and I generally don't read them, I search them for keywords (filters or manually). Plain text are ideal as a lowest common denominator for portable gadgets; easy to forward plain text newsletters to my work or personal e-mail accounts and read the graphics-rich versions on comfortable screens. And, for the security-conscious (I am thinking of my aging personal Windows box but also Google mail which scrubs images by default), plain text offers a far more secure way to receive a flood of mail with the rich version just an extra click away. Sean. - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/ This message has been scanned for viruses by Viatel MailControl - http://viatel.mailcontrol.com/ - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
On Thu, Jun 05, 2008 at 08:33:27AM +0100, Adam Hatia wrote: Brian, For example, you can't use the class operator to format items. I have used this rather basic function to translate my class items to the more basic style items: Actually, CSS stylesheets are fully supported by Outlook, Outlook Express, and Thunderbird at least, and I am using CSS to generate size-efficient HTML emails that use the stylesheets from the website (though obviously, the path to the css file needs to be a full absolute URL) - do you still have an email client that doesn't support CSS, if so, what is it? As I read email using mutt on Linux it doesn't even support html let alone css. -- Andy Leighton = [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Lord is my shepherd, but we still lost the sheep dog trials - Robert Rankin, _They Came And Ate Us_ - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
RE: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
I agree that offering your audience the option of viewing either a text-only or html version is ideal. This can partly be achieved (email client support permitting) by including both the HTML version and the text-only version as alternate MIME parts. At least that way anyone who actually prefers to view the rich content (as I do simply because I find it quicker to see what an email is about than read the entire text) can do so... From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Matt Barber Sent: 05 June 2008 10:01 To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk Subject: Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 9:39 AM, Sean DALY [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: If I may add my 2 cents, I think e-mail newsletters should always have a text-only option with a link to the graphics-rich version. I am subscribed to fairly vast number of newsletters and I generally don't read them, I search them for keywords (filters or manually). Plain text are ideal as a lowest common denominator for portable gadgets; easy to forward plain text newsletters to my work or personal e-mail accounts and read the graphics-rich versions on comfortable screens. And, for the security-conscious (I am thinking of my aging personal Windows box but also Google mail which scrubs images by default), plain text offers a far more secure way to receive a flood of mail with the rich version just an extra click away. Sean, I agree with this because I too like to read over quick information and then go further if a story interests me, usually to the website directly. But also it's important in my opinion to consider pushing this forward a little to take advantage of the faster connections and computers around now, to enhance experience and to provide newer, if not more effective - at least more interesting and engaging - content. Maybe the newsletter format isn't for this, as you say, text works really well on portables, they're cross compatible with everyone and importantly more secure. For me, newsletters offer a decent bridge between the inbox (where I pay a lot of attention) and the site's content. There's a fine line between interesting (click and visit the site), and slow, irrelevant and cumbersome (ignore and delete). Too much rich content can cross this line - but a little well used rich content can also work in favour too. This is why criticism is important I reckon especially in the early stages. - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
The only problem with sending an entirely plain text email is when you get into the world of stats. Well, that's a marketer's problem, and as an end user I don't care, I want information in a way I can use it. For the past eight years, the FNAC in France has cheerfully sent me a fat rich HTML newsletter every week which I can't read, and their so-called feedback doesn't function; every year I ask them for a plaintext version, every year I get no response. I'd like to see their data report that shows a loyal customer having spent over 22K roros these past fifteen years (including online purchases with plain text e-mail communication option) who doesn't bounce their marketing e-mails, yet never reads them nor clicks on them. I'm sure such a report doesn't include the messages I take the time to type send them. I work for a big company and in the past managed hosting for a few dozen websites which included e-mail marketing. Invariably, low clickthrough rates were related to unreadable messages. We sent lots of plain text e-mails with click here for rich version URLs, occasionally personalized. Although there was lots of talk about targeting and personalization, we had the most success when we merely concentrated on getting people to the site, then analysed the site visit data. Nontechnical anecdotal studies (focus groups) found that many e-mails were forwarded to friends family, which of course would render any analysis of personalized URLs useless. On the other hand, watching generally which portions of the site had high visit rates immediately following e-mail campaigns was fruitful and far simpler to compile report communicate internally. Product launches had TVC, print, OOH, and POS support too, so really all we had to do was to try to find a correlation between a newsletter and increased traffic. One of my successors told me about a curious case: a visit spike which correlated to an e-mail, but coming from another country; it turned out an influential blogger had gotten the e-mail and cut pasted an e-mail link onto her blog. Sean. - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
On Thu Jun 5 10:13:22 2008, Andy Leighton wrote: On Thu, Jun 05, 2008 at 08:33:27AM +0100, Adam Hatia wrote: Brian, For example, you can't use the class operator to format items. I have used this rather basic function to translate my class items to the more basic style items: Actually, CSS stylesheets are fully supported by Outlook, Outlook Express, and Thunderbird at least, and I am using CSS to generate size-efficient HTML emails that use the stylesheets from the website (though obviously, the path to the css file needs to be a full absolute URL) - do you still have an email client that doesn't support CSS, if so, what is it? As I read email using mutt on Linux it doesn't even support html let alone css. Which is why you should pipe it through links(1) first :) pgpITTN5Ovy78.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: [backstage] BBC Look East HTML rich newsletter
Matt, Just received an edition of your newsletter, thought I'd give you some quick feedback on it from first impressions. I tried to jump in and write now because first impressions for me are what stick and are important, so just straight from looking at it (I will be picky but thats what you want right?): * Nice layout with the title and blurb, dropdown links on the right are a nice touch - I would reduce the amount of whitespace between the 'Weather in your area' and the dropdown, and so on for the other dropdowns. May make it too cluttered however, give it a try and see. * Good placement of the 08457 number advert, captures my eye well and sets the scene for the video content - makes me think it's new and updated quickly. * I would give 2px or so space between the right edge of the thumbnail for the video and the descriptive text. This was rendered in gMail. I have Thunderbird installed so will check that out later to see if anything changes. Hope that was constructive! --Matt
