HTML emails

[bearpooch]

I am in the process of creating a HTML newsletter for my customers as a marketing tool....but I've scared myself now by googling for hints. I've done a HTML course and can write bits for my web-site WHICH WORK (phew!) but there's nothing in any of my manuals about linking images in EMAILS. Do I insert a link to the image file in the same way as for the web-site? Or am I missing something? Any light anyone can shed on this would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.

[trevHCS]

You can do, just use the <img> type image tag, but remember to use a full URL of the image, eg: http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/image.gif

Only thing is, why do you want to send HTML e-mails? A lot of people can't read them, they spark security warnings and a lot of spamblockers will delete them. Best to write a plain e-mail and point them to the web site for more details.

[stevie21]

I receive loads of html emails - at worst the people that you send it to might have HTML turned off in their email prog in which case just have a bit at the bottom saying

"If you can't view this properly, either allow images or click here" then provide a link to a webpage which has that week's/month's newsletter.

As mentioned, you just need to use the img tag and the full URL of the image.

[rojash]

I agree completely with the previous two answers. I have 11 email accounts (for various business interests) and use The Bat email client as a a way of managing them. Although I accept html e-mails - I don't allow links to remote files, so unless they offer a way to view the content of the e-mail on-line, they are useless to me.

[bearpooch]

I thought HTML would protect the formating...originally it was created in Word but didn't always open correctly. Admittedly only 2 out 10 sent to friends as a test looked crap - assuming the friends are being honest and not just saying 'Ooo, that looks nice'!. I'm trying to show pictures of our new products - 8 on one page - but maybe I'm being over-ambitious...

[stevie21]

I'd call using Word to generate HTML lots of things but ambitious isn't one of them.
Also, if you send me an email then HTML is disabled by default so no remote images will show (until I allow it - some sender's emails I've got to display them, others are set not to. I like the fact that I can pick and choose some senders rather than have a blanket "on/off" policy). Only the text will show if images aren't allowed.

With gmail, I get "enable images once" or "enable always" and in emails where images are already enabled,
"Images from this sender are always displayed, Do not display from now on."

[bearpooch]

Ah Stevie21, now you've lost me. There I was thinking I'd cracked it and now you've gone all techno on me... Are you saying if my customers have not 'enabled' images to show then it doesn't matter how I send them, they won't get seen?
In which case does this mean the word document (which was just typed up and the images cut and pasted into it - no html used) would have the same problem?

[stevie21]

Yes, yes, and using Word to generate HTML is an abomination!!

[bearpooch]

Im not!! I didn't and I wouldn't!! I used the notepad to do the HTML. That's not word is it? The word document was created before I even thought about doing it in HTML... I was just trying to be clever and fix the formatting. Wish I hadn't mentioned the whole 'word' document thing...think it just confused the issue. I'll get my coat.