Text Vs. HTML Email
A person who is looking for a way to make her emails stand out to recipients may consider using HyperText Markup Language (HTML) email messages instead of plain text. HTML email not only offers advantages in the way of appearance but also lets business senders track rates for email opens, forwards and clickthroughs.
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Identification
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It's fairly easy to identify a plain text email. Users will immediately recognize the basic black font on a white background. Links appear blue and turn purple after the user clicks them. Some messages display images inline; however, there are no background images, specialty colors or additional customization.
HTML allows users to change their text color, size and font face. HTML emails use a background image to give the appearance of stationery. Some email clients even support background music via HTML.
Use
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Most email clients and online applications, such as Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook, Windows Live Mail and Thunderbird have tool bars that let users alter the appearance of their emails. Clicking a button allows a person to easily make text bold or italic, blue, red, larger or smaller.
Users can also compose HTML emails by copying and pasting content from another source. Email clients and providers that support HTML email preserve appearance alterations (bold text, links, colors and so on) when a person pastes content from another source.
An email client like Thunderbird may ask which mode the user would like to use to send his message, if he has altered its appearance. Selecting "HTML" or "Plain Text" will determine how his email appears to others.
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Benefits
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Plain text emails are quick and easy to write and read. All email providers and clients support plain text emails and this format tends to download more quickly than HTML emails.
Alternatively, HTML emails can have a more professional and unique look. They may help the user's message stand out and using a company logo can aid in branding as well.
Limitations
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Emails composed in plain text have a plain appearance, which some users may consider less attractive than HTML messages. Additionally, plain text messages display hyperlinks in their entirety. Long website addresses may wrap over several lines or cause unnecessary scrolling in the message window.
Not all email clients support HTML. Cell phones, for example, may have limited email support. A recipient's email program may automatically strip the message of the markup or display the actual code, instead. Additionally, a user can set her email client to block HTML elements within a message because not every email user wants to view messages in HTML. Both of these factors can cause email to display differently than the sender intended.
HTML email messages may also take longer to download than plain text emails because the messages can include elements such as images, tables or style sheets.
Even when another person's client renders the HTML correctly, it may appear differently for them depending on the device's capabilities and settings. Appearances are also subject to personal tastes and a user may compose a message that he thinks looks pretty sharp, but is difficult for others to read.
Considerations
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HTML emails may be more dangerous than plain text, for a recipient. When a user types or copies a link into a plain text message, recipients can clearly see the link address. This helps recipients decide whether it is probably safe to click a link. However, hackers or malicious software can use HTML to make the link appear as though it points to a safe destination when, in fact, it does not.
Furthermore, HTML email allows potentially dangerous code, called a Web bug, that can surreptitiously gather information about you and report to either the sender or another party. Like a phone tap or other bug, Web bugs can spy on a user and report this information back to whomever planted them.
While the original Web bugs took the form of a small and transparent images, many email clients allow the recipient to view HTML email messages while blocking images. Modern Web bugs can use other HTML tags including the "iframe" tag or the "style" tag. A recipient's email client may block images but allow other HTML tags.
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References
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