HTML and CSS in emails

Each email client and webmail service treats HTML and CSS differently. These articles show you how to code your emails to ensure they display as you want them to.

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42 HTML email design resources
A roundup of the best articles, tools, references and websites for those designing emails in anything other than plain text.

Outlook 2010: Bad news for HTML email design, but...
Discusses the news about Outlook 2010's rendering idiosyncracies and draws out an important lesson for marketers and designers.

Outlook 2007 and HTML email design: a summary
A run down of the problems with Outlook 2007 and its display of HTML emails. Includes an analysis of the arguments the problems have caused, plus recommendations on the practical implications for email marketers.

Email Standards Project: the big interview
The project's founder talks about the goals, activities and success chances of the initiative to ensure consistency in the way email clients and webmail services handle HTML email.

Email design insights from David Greiner
Lots of practical tips on coding errors, HTML tips and the proper use of CSS in email design.

p or br?
A sheepish admission of email design failures elicits numerous comments with advice on formatting paragraphs so they're rendered properly.

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CSS Support in Email
A comprehensive guide to CSS in email, detailing the level of CSS support in different email clients and email reading environments.

Tables in email
Explains how column widths are handled in different display environments when you have padding, nested tables etc.

Anti-HTML email post from Jeffrey Zeldman
Response from Campaign Monitor
Follow-up from Zeldman
Extensive arguments for and against HTML email as opposed to text-only emails. Includes advice on how to do the HTML version better.

Background images and colors
How best to combine images, CSS and table backgrounds to ensure the right color appears wherever your email is displayed.

More issues with Outlook 2007
See the bottom of the article for a few extra issues that aren't often mentioned.

How not to make good use of the preview pane
Nice analysis of a marketing email that doesn't look so good in the preview pane.

The last word on Outlook 2007 (for now)
Various experts weigh in with views on the impacts of the new software on email design and then suggestions for how you should adapt.

Blocked images and preview panes
Uses screenshots to point out the implications of both for how you design your emails.

Outlook 2007 not so bad after all
Explains how serious (or not) the issues are with Outlook and HTML email, and throws out a couple of tips on how to alter your email design to cope.

Windows Live Mail and Yahoo Mail Beta
A detailed review of how these two webmail services handle CSS in email.

More HTML/CSS links...