How to Decide if HTML or Text is Best for Your Ezine

You know you want to publish an ezine, but you're not sure whether you want it to be a text newsletter or an ezine designed in HTML. What should you do?

You need to know your options. You can write a text email in any word processing program or email program. You can publish your ezine in HTML using a text editor, a publishing software program, or a graphics-based publishing program. Which option is best for you?

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Is HTML or Text Best?

1. Determine your budget. If money is no object, you might invest in Adobe Photoshop, MS Frontpage, or Dreamweaver. They are all excellent programs suitable for designing Web pages.

2. Designing an HTML ezine from scratch takes lots of time. If you don't have the time, you should go with a text ezine or use a basic publishing package like MS Publisher.

Design a Text Ezine

3. Name the ezine. You need to have a catchy name.

4. Open up your word processing program.

5. Create a header. Put the name of your ezine at the top of the page in large font. Skip a couple of spaces then put a date and a volume/issue number.

6. Skip a couple of more spaces then make your table of contents.

7. Write your text for each of the sections of the ezine.

8. Create a footer with your company contact information, spam policy, and procedure for unsubscribing.

9. Text ezines don't have graphics, but you can create sections with horizontal lines and change the font color. Links to Web pages are also allowed.

10. Be sure to test your ezine's appearance, functionality, and design by sending a test copy to yourself and a few friends.

Design an HTML Ezine

11. Got a name? Good. Now, create a header. Take your graphic or artwork and make a banner using that with the name of your ezine as the banner text.

12. In your text editor, set your ezine width at no more than 600 pixels.

13. Insert your banner at the top of the ezine page.

14. Color-code your background. White works for most ezines.

15. If you want a table of contents, add that at the beginning of your ezine.

16. Write your ezine text and be sure to include hyperlinks to Web pages.

17. Create a footer with your company contact information, spam policy, and unsubscribe procedures.

18. Insert graphics where necessary.

19. Be sure to test your ezine's appearance, functionality, and design by sending a test copy to yourself and a few friends.

Tips & Warnings

• Test, test, test. Not all e-mail applications read HTML the same way, so test every element in as many applications as you can.
• Don't use too many graphics. Keep your design simple.
• CSS and Flash don't work for ezines. Use HTML or text and try not to get too fancy.