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How you prepare your newsletter to send depends on whether your newsletter will be plain text or HTML. When you send an email as HTML, you basically build a web page that shows up in your recipient's email program. The problem is that there are still some email clients (programs) out there that don't interpret the HTML and may only show the code, with the text mixed in. And, then there are people and companies who choose to turn off the HTML capabilities of their email clients because they don't want to look at the obnoxious images that can get past the spam filters.
Always remember that an email client is a different program than your web broswer; so, it is very likely that it may interpret your code differently than a browser. The key is to figure out what you have to do differently in your newsletter from your web pages. Many newsletter systems allows you to send both ways; so, you really have to get both a text version and an HTML version ready.
Preparing the Text Version
Formatting options for the text version of your newsletter are even more limited than your old-fashioned typewriter because the only choice for the text is using all caps. However, you can draw lines by holding the Shift key and the hyphen, which is handy for dividing sections of your newsletter. So, if your newsletter contains a greeting, an article and an ad, or information about your company, a line helps the reader identify the content.
An issue that comes up with text-based newsletters is line breaks. If you start your newsletter in Microsoft Word and move it to another program, such as your email program or newsletter system, you may find that your line spacing is a mess everywhere or just in a few places. And, you may not find it out until after you send your newsletter because the problems may not show up until it's sent. This happens because there are different codes for a "return," and one program may use one return code while another uses a different one.
Example of a text version newsletter. This one accompanies an HTML version.
Preparing the HTML Version
The HTML version of your newsletter may be a coding headache, until you are familiar with how the newsletter system is different from a webpage. On a website, you get used to the fact that you can access images and css files with a relative address. That is, an address that does not need the http://domainname.domain. When your email goes to an email program, that program doesn't intuitively have access to your web server. Each link and image address has to start with the fully qualified domain name (http://domainname.domain) or the email program can't find it to show it.
And, the email server doesn't know anything about your CSS styles. Instead of the external style sheet you have worked so hard to build, you have to use inline styles. You will get a real appreciation for your CSS files when you have to add the styles to your newsletter with internal style coding. Your newsletter program may have a WYSIWIG editor to allow you to highlight and click the formatting for your newsletter, but the options may not give you what you originally planned for your newsletter design. Many newsletter systems have a code view that you can use, as well. Or, you can create the newsletter in Dreamweaver, or some other program, and copy and paste the code into the newsletter system. If you use Dreamweaver, double check all the code for references to styles or anything else that the emailed newsletter might not be able to access.
If you have access to a program, like Dreamweaver, you can set up a template for your newsletter. The optimal width for an emailed newsletter is 600 pixels, which is much smaller than the average web page. If you also put your newsletter on your website (which you should do,) you will need a template for the emailed version and a template for the website version. However, with the template, you will only have to worry about formatting the body of the newsletter. And, if you copy and paste the titles and body areas separately, you may be able to preserve the formattting from one newsletter issue to the next.
After your newsletter is ready, always send a test newsletter to a few addresses before you send it to your whole list. If you have a few people with different email programs, even better. Then you can ask them to check the newsletter before you send it. Click each link to be sure that it goes where you want. Be sure that every image is the correct version. And, check the text for formatting.
This article is based on a discussion topic from the Social Networking for Business course
at Dickinson Lifelong Learning Center in Missoula, Montana
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© 2009, Nora McDougall