Added: 09/22/2013 | Updated: 7 Years Ago
Email format issues can have many causes. Below are a few common symptons followed by some possible causes:
- HTML Code Shows Visibly: When HTML code is showing in the email so that a person sees <> codes throughout the page.
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- Advanced Features Setting: The "Email Type" setting under advanced features was changed from HTML to TEXT. Change it back to HTML so that HTML code shows correctly.
- HTML Code Used Not Supported: You are using tags that are not supported by the ESP (Email Service Provider). learn more
- Period (.) Position Issue: If it shows html code AND the email is cut off (doesn't have entire email including the report spam link at the bottom) then the problem is most likely the email being cut because of a period (.) appearing in a bad spot (typically after a long <>). learn more
- ESP Doesn't Support HTML: If your ESP (Email Service Provider) does not support HTML emails then HTML emails may have display issues. The display will be worst in systems before version 4.0. In our newer systems the html code is stripped of the code and only the text is shown (so they can easily read it, but links and images don't work). This is becoming a rarer problem as more and more support it, and support has been common for years. However, some people hold on to old software, or sometimes use an old account that doesn't support it.
- Email Is Cut: When the entire email is not showing but is being cut. If you do not see the report spam link at the bottom of an email being sent to a contact then the email is being cut.
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- Period (.) Position Issue: The email is being cut because of a period (.) appearing in a bad spot (typically after a long <>). If this is the problem, you MAY (but not always) see html code showing in the email. learn more
- HTML Code Used: It is possible that some of the HTML code being used is causing a problem. Either the HTML code is hiding items (like tags not being closed correctly), or maybe the html tags you are using is not supported. learn more
- Links Aren't Clickable: When sending an email the links are not clickable in the email.
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- Not Setup: For links not being clickable, the MOST common issue is the links need to be made clickable. To do this, highlight the content that should be the link, and click the chainlink icon and in the popup put the URL for the link.
- ESP Doesn't Support HTML OR HTML is Turned Off: If your ESP (Email Service Provider) does not support HTML emails then HTML emails may have display issues. This includes links may not be clickable. Also, this problem can happen if your settings with your ESP are setup so that you see the text version of an email instead of the HTML version. Also, if your email is suspected as spam, some ESPs may decide to only deliver the text version of the email and not show any HTML.
- Text Version Shows: You have it setup properly to display HTML messages, but text messages are being shown instead.
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- ESP Doesn't Support HTML OR HTML is Turned Off: If your ESP (Email Service Provider) does not support HTML emails then HTML emails may have display issues. This includes links may not be clickable. Also, this problem can happen if your settings with your ESP are setup so that you see the text version of an email instead of the HTML version.
- Email Suspected as Spam: If your email is suspected as spam, some ESPs may decide to only deliver the text version of the email and not show any HTML.
- HTML Shows Incorrectly: When some html code is not showing the way that you have set it up to show. Meaning, it's not showing as visible html code, but is not showing how you want it to. Exa: A background color you have setup and even shows up correctly inside the WYSIWYG editor is not showing in the email.
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- HTML Code Used Not Supported: You are using css or tags that are not supported by the ESP (Email Service Provider). learn more
- WYSIWYG Modified The Code: The WYSIWYG editor maybe modifying the code when you enter it. The WYSIWYG editor converts some html tags. You may need to find another way to achieve the same effect. To check this, after adding the html code, go back and check to see if it was modified. In general, the WYSIWYG editor will modify the code to be more compatible.
ESPs and HTML Support
ESPs (Email Service Providers. Exa: Yahoo, Google, AOL, Comcast, etc) have their own set of rules as to what HTML tags they support. These means that manyAlso, in HTML often tags are used that are not valid HTML tags, which most browsers do not "complain" about, but ESPs are much more likely to "complain" and have display issues because of these tags. Below are a few resources and rules to help you create emails that are more compatible with ESPs:
- AOL's Rules: AOL tends to have more email delivery issues and more html support issues than other ESPs. By making email that delivers well to AOL you can typically be confident that it will also display fine for most other ESPs. I believe newer AOL accounts have better support, and according to some sources display better, so my recommendation of using AOL's rules is based off their old accounts. Click here to visit their site and learn more
Period (.) Position Issue
Having a . appear at the end of an HTML tag can cause a problem. The longer the tag is, the more likely the problem will happen. Also, the older the version of our software you are using, the more likely the problem (we've made a couple improvements towards this). The problem happens because the tag is not broken, but instead, it breaks to a new line after the tag. So, if a . is after a tag, instead of within it, then it is more likely to find itself on a new line. And, if the . is all by itself on a new line it is understood as being an SMTP command to end the message. The way to find it is see where the message is being cut at. Then, go and view the HTML code of the email and find the same spot and see if right around that spot there is a . that appears after an html tag, and move it to be within the html tag (not inside). Exa:
test link. IS CHANGED TO:
test link. ---In our example we used a short tag to keep it simple, but this is more likely to be a problem as the tag is longer. The is 4 characters long, but another tag that is 40 characters long is 10x as likely to have this issue in most versions of our software. In 4.23 we hope to have a fix where it completely stops this from happening. If you are using the newest version of our system, you can help us stop the problem, by copying the html code into a txt file and sending us the txt file so we can put it into our development site to test with and prevent the problem.
