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Zurb Ink: Responsive HTML Email Framework

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Re: Zurb Ink: Responsive HTML Email Framework

#11

Post by splatzone »

dntrkv wrote: post #9
splatzone wrote: post #6

Lovely framework, but can someone explain why HTML email is so stuck in the past? Why can't email clients just abide by proper web standards?

I think it was around Outlook 2007 Microsoft decided that instead of using Internet Explorer to render their emails, they would use Microsoft Word. That's right. Word. And now whenever you try to use even the most basic CSS rules, Outlook fucks it up very badly. Then there is that abomination called Lotus Notes (mainly Outlook 2007 makes IE6 look like the best browser in the world.

Thank you for the explanation, that's insane.

Re: Zurb Ink: Responsive HTML Email Framework

#13

Post by buckbova »

crisnoble wrote: post #2

Anyone brave enough to bring a semblance of sanity to the world of HTML emails deserves major kudos. For kids like me who did not grow up making table layouts, coding emails is a nightmare. Oh the 's. I am so glad Zurb is lending their knowledge building of excellent frameworks to this widely underserved market.

I never needed to get into table hell. I used an image map every time. One image. Define some areas with different links. Bingo.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/ma...

Re: Zurb Ink: Responsive HTML Email Framework

#14

Post by biftek »

dmix wrote: post #7
splatzone wrote: post #6

Lovely framework, but can someone explain why HTML email is so stuck in the past? Why can't email clients just abide by proper web standards?

I prefer succinct plain-textish emails linking to HTML websites over HTML-heavy emails in most situations. I've personally found plain-text often also converts better than most HTML-heavy newsletters. Most HTML is pigeonholed into email where it doesn't fit well, for example the variety of unpredictable clients and devices. I'd rather serve that via the browser where full CSS/HTML is supported. Mobile is helping by s…

We’ve seen similar results at our company. Plain text emails always get more click throughs in A/B tests.

And personally I prefer them. If I must use html, I only stick to the basic styling elements with no css.

Re: Zurb Ink: Responsive HTML Email Framework

#15

Post by M4N14C »

djjose wrote: post #3
crisnoble wrote: post #2

Anyone brave enough to bring a semblance of sanity to the world of HTML emails deserves major kudos. For kids like me who did not grow up making table layouts, coding emails is a nightmare. Oh the 's. I am so glad Zurb is lending their knowledge building of excellent frameworks to this widely underserved market.

Honestly, even for someone that started his career making table HTML layouts with inline styling it's a major PITA to code up emails that look respectable on all clients. I can't wait to try this out.

Inline your styles with this https://github.com/craigmcnamara/sexxy-emails

Re: Zurb Ink: Responsive HTML Email Framework

#17

Post by andybak »

splatzone wrote: post #11
dntrkv wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it was around Outlook 2007 Microsoft decided that instead of using Internet Explorer to render their emails, they would use Microsoft Word. That's right. Word. And now whenever you try to use even the most basic CSS rules, Outlook fucks it up very badly. Then there is that abomination called Lotus Notes (mainly Outlook 2007 makes IE6 look like the best browser in the world.

Thank you for the explanation, that's insane.

If I recall correctly - they did it for security reasons. i.e. Internet Explorer was so full of holes they thought the Word HTML rendered would be easier to keep secure.

In the sense that it did a lot less and thus presented a smaller attack surface, they were right.

Re: Zurb Ink: Responsive HTML Email Framework

#18

Post by tn13 »

buckbova wrote: post #13
crisnoble wrote: post #2

Anyone brave enough to bring a semblance of sanity to the world of HTML emails deserves major kudos. For kids like me who did not grow up making table layouts, coding emails is a nightmare. Oh the 's. I am so glad Zurb is lending their knowledge building of excellent frameworks to this widely underserved market.

I never needed to get into table hell. I used an image map every time. One image. Define some areas with different links. Bingo. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/ma...

How does it work in Gmail / Yahoo etc where images are blocked ?

Re: Zurb Ink: Responsive HTML Email Framework

#19

Post by amarcus »

buckbova wrote: post #13
crisnoble wrote: post #2

Anyone brave enough to bring a semblance of sanity to the world of HTML emails deserves major kudos. For kids like me who did not grow up making table layouts, coding emails is a nightmare. Oh the 's. I am so glad Zurb is lending their knowledge building of excellent frameworks to this widely underserved market.

I never needed to get into table hell. I used an image map every time. One image. Define some areas with different links. Bingo. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/ma...

Except you would most likely have a high rate spam rate and a major number of recipients won't be able to see your content without downloading images first.

You will get a better response with a text only message.

Re: Zurb Ink: Responsive HTML Email Framework

#20

Post by buckbova »

tn13 wrote: post #18
buckbova wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never needed to get into table hell. I used an image map every time. One image. Define some areas with different links. Bingo. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/ma...

How does it work in Gmail / Yahoo etc where images are blocked ?

This was pre-image blocking. Not sure how this would work now.

I assume there's a big empty table where the image would go and some text+links above and below the image.

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