| As the online world changed in the nineties from | | | | who can't wait for the day when all attachments and |
| informational to commercial and highly competitive, | | | | all HTML emails are eradicated. That is because in their |
| marketers embraced the new technology and the | | | | world, anything that is not pure text is spam, virii, |
| need has arisen to send graphically appealing | | | | worms, trojans, spyware, adware, pure evil(ware) that |
| newsletters and marketing messages. You have only | | | | makes mailboxes grow and users growl. As a |
| seconds to capture attention, and the right picture will | | | | consequence, most of those cubicle inhabitants - the |
| grab quicker than the right copy, as they say, "a picture | | | | end users - who have to sign a hundred page policy |
| can be worth a thousand words". Just ask your clients | | | | before they start getting busy on those corporate |
| if they would use plain white paper, rather than | | | | e-memos, are unable to view and/or send HTML |
| letterhead, to send an offline message to prospects | | | | messages, whether the feature is turned off at a |
| and customers. | | | | server level, or on their computers. |
| Today, the vast majority of all email clients can render | | | | Everything else aside, there is no bigger offender here |
| (that is, display) HTML emails fairly well. Notable | | | | on Earth than Lotus Notes. Lotus Notes is notorious for |
| exceptions are older versions of Lotus Notes and pre | | | | its refusal to handle Multi-Part MIME the same way the |
| AOL pre version 6.0. So whereas a few years ago | | | | rest of the civilized world does. |
| the answer to the question was rather complex, today | | | | For your amusement, here is a definition of Lotus |
| it really comes down to message purpose, subscriber | | | | Notes that was created by one of those "big picture" |
| preference and multipart messaging. Studies show that | | | | executives: "Lotus Notes is a commercial workflow |
| roughly 95 percent of commercial messages sent | | | | and groupware software package that also provides |
| today are sent as Multi-Part MIME. | | | | application developers an environment for quickly |
| Multi-part MIME is an older protocol that allows you to | | | | creating cross- platform client/server applications". Still |
| send both text and HTML versions of an e-mail in a | | | | with me? Don't be scared. For the purposes of this |
| single package, kind of like a sandwich. The recipient's | | | | article, Lotus Notes is an email client. Ok? |
| e-mail program then displays the HTML version, if it is | | | | If you work for a company that uses Lotus Notes as |
| capable of reading that, or the text version, if it is not. | | | | the email system, don't even think about sending |
| MIME stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions | | | | newsletters other than in text form from it. Besides the |
| and is an internet standard for the format of e-mail. | | | | fact that as a general rule, I always recommend to |
| Virtually all human written Internet e-mail and a fairly | | | | marketers the use of a professional permission based |
| large proportion of automated e-mail is transmitted via | | | | email marketing service, in the Lotus Notes case you |
| SMTP MIME format. SMTP stands for Simple Mail | | | | just have to. |
| Transfer Protocol and if nothing else, you'll learn a few | | | | If you communicate to the B2B market, particularly |
| more acronyms if you stick around. Internet e-mail is | | | | large professional services firms, large lawfirms, many |
| so closely associated with the SMTP and MIME | | | | Global 2000 companies, HTML email compatibility will |
| standards that it is sometimes called SMTP/MIME | | | | be a thorn in your side, as a lot of these companies |
| e-mail. | | | | use Lotus Notes. |
| Folks, while nobody can really agree on numbers and | | | | The issues include: |
| stats, we all agree on this: HTML Email Doesn't Work | | | | - Older versions of Lotus Notes (under R5) convert |
| Properly for Millions of Recipients. | | | | HTML emails to a Lotus Notes Rich Text format. |
| HTML email breaks in a wide variety of email inboxes. | | | | Lotus Notes versions under R5 also do not recognize |
| This isn't due to your creative abilities or lack of HTML | | | | Multi-Part MIME messages (HTML and text combined |
| knowledge - it's due to the fact that the email client | | | | in a single email). |
| your recipient views your email in routinely breaks your | | | | - Some companies may be deploying later versions of |
| message. | | | | the Lotus Notes client, i.e., R6, but using an older version |
| I feel like this is worth defining, as I know a lot of | | | | of Lotus Notes/Domino server such as 4.6. In this |
| people get very scared when we talk about clients | | | | example, the recipient's email client would also render |
| and servers, but will not admit it. An email client (some | | | | an HTML message incorrectly. |
| "big picture" folks also call it Mail User Agent) is nothing | | | | So for a recipient to view a properly rendered HTML |
| but a computer program that is used to read and send | | | | email, a company must use both the Lotus Notes client |
| e-mail, such as Outlook, Lotus Notes, Thunderbird, etc. | | | | and server of R5 and above. |
| A mail server (also called a Mail Transfer Agent or | | | | Here are some quick tips you can take if you have a |
| MTA, or a mail exchange server) is a computer | | | | significant Lotus Notes subscriber base: |
| program that transfers electronic mail messages from | | | | 1. Include a link at the top of HTML emails named |
| one computer to another. Most of the time, since | | | | "View Web Version" or something similar. The link |
| nobody has time to learn all the acronyms and | | | | sends recipients to a web hosted HTML version of the |
| terminology coined by those "big picture" people, we | | | | email (either on the email technology provider's server |
| are used to know a mail server as the entire | | | | or the sender's server). |
| contraption (wires and all) that runs the program. | | | | 2. Also include an "Update Preferences" link and |
| Depending on the email system, your HTML images | | | | provide a web site update form that then enables |
| may be blocked so recipients see a blank white box | | | | recipients to choose to receive Text rather than |
| and/or your live hotlinks may not work properly. AOL | | | | HTML. |
| 9.0, Outlook 2003, and Gmail are most infamous for | | | | 3. Create complete Text versions for those who |
| blocking and/or breaking HTML, "for security reasons". | | | | prefer not to receive HTML or cannot view HTML. |
| Another big offender for not letting HTML through is | | | | 4. On opt-in forms, include an option to receive a Text |
| Mel, the guy that works in the corporate IT | | | | version and potentially list tips (i.e., "If you are using |
| department. Many corporations have IT departments | | | | Lotus Notes versions below R5, select Text"). |