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html-mail-vs-plain-text [2018-06-28 21:25] – + Hanno Böck: [Efail: HTML Mails have no Security Concept and are to blame] andreas | html-mail-vs-plain-text [2019-12-09 12:15] (current) – minor clarification andreas | ||
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+ | Notes on Plain Text vs. HTML Mail | ||
+ | ================================= | ||
+ | |||
+ | ## Contra HTML mail | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Ecologically expensive due to increased size of messages | ||
+ | * High complexity | ||
+ | * Harder to develop, hence more expensive | ||
+ | * Handling more likely to break (e.g. | ||
+ | [Kaputte Zitate im Plain-Text von Gmail]) | ||
+ | * Less transparent; | ||
+ | * Higher hurdle for first time users (e.g. for composing newsletters) | ||
+ | * Security hazards (cf. security bug fixes of main mail programs such | ||
+ | as [Security Advisories for Thunderbird]; | ||
+ | * Privacy hazards (e.g. HTML is used to track users) | ||
+ | * Some automated systems (e.g. mailing lists) do not accept HTML and will | ||
+ | reject messages, or use only the alternative plain text part, or convert | ||
+ | the HTML potentially causing formatting issues. | ||
+ | * Requires HTML aware software | ||
+ | * Double effort (HTML _and_ text need to be formatted and checked) | ||
+ | * Little guarantee that HTML will be shown as intended | ||
+ | * More distractions when writing (e.g. font selectors, emoji buttons) | ||
+ | * Harder to write (formatting takes more time) | ||
+ | * " | ||
+ | color and different size. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ## Pro HTML mail | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Ability to format and style the message content | ||
+ | * Ability to create " | ||
+ | * Ability to use semantic markup (e.g. to mark text as preformatted) | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ## Contra plain text mail | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Text wrapping issues if lines are hard-wrapped (not format=flowed) | ||
+ | (e.g. on mobile devices with small screens) | ||
+ | * Text formatted for fixed width fonts might get distorted | ||
+ | * Some content is better sent as attachment (e.g. illustrations) | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ## Pro plain text mail | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Easy, small, ecologically friendly (compared to HTML mail) | ||
+ | * Text is shown by all devices and programs | ||
+ | * Accessibility as good as it gets | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ## Criteria to consider | ||
+ | |||
+ | * False positive spam: It is unclear whether HTML mails are more likely to be falsely categorized as spam. | ||
+ | * Accessibility: | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ## References | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Wikipedia: | ||
+ | [HTML email](https:// | ||
+ | * Hanno Böck: [Efail: HTML Mails have no Security Concept and are to blame] | ||
+ | * Jason Rodriguez: [HTML Email and Accessibility | CSS-Tricks](https:// | ||
+ | * LUGA.at thread "Plain Text vs. HTML-Mails" | ||
+ | [October](http:// | ||
+ | [November](http:// | ||
+ | * Niti Shah (HubSpot Marketing): | ||
+ | [Plain Text vs. HTML Emails: Which Is Better? [New Data]](https:// | ||
+ | Originally published 2015-07-27, updated 2017-10-29. | ||
+ | * Jonathan Corbet (LWN.net): | ||
+ | [The trouble with text-only email](https:// | ||
+ | Published 2017-10-12. With many interesting [comments](https:// | ||
+ | * Bratus S, Shubina A: | ||
+ | [The only safe email is text-only email](https:// | ||
+ | The Conversation, | ||
+ | [Scientific American](https:// | ||
+ | * mkln.org: | ||
+ | [Wie man E-Mails schreibt](https:// | ||
+ | Published 2017-02-24. | ||
+ | * Greg Kogan: | ||
+ | [Don't Design Your Emails](https:// | ||
+ | Published 2016-06-28. | ||
+ | * AWeber Email Marketing: | ||
+ | [Plain Text vs HTML Email: What Reaches the Inbox in 2014? | ||
+ | Published 2014-04-22. | ||
+ | * For historical reference: | ||
+ | * [Discussion about HTML in e-mail](https:// | ||
+ | Last revision 1998-05-22. | ||
+ | * [The Ascii Ribbon Campaign official homepage](http:// | ||
+ | from around 2000 or even earlier | ||
+ | |||
+ | [Kaputte Zitate im Plain-Text von Gmail]: http:// | ||
+ | [Security Advisories for Thunderbird]: | ||
+ | [Angry fruit salad]: https:// | ||
+ | [Efail: HTML Mails have no Security Concept and are to blame]: https:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | </ | ||