CSS w/ Text/html setting

motorcity · Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 5 Location: Detroit

I am having trouble using CSS when viewing the mailing in "text" mode.

I have placed the CSS style info inside the brackets of the <head> </head> section, this all works great when viewing the page in a browser, however when I preview it in the "text" mode, I see all the CSS Style statements.

Have I missed some setting somewhere or is it impossible to correctly view a CSS page as just a text email?

stanbusk · Site Admin Joined: 28 Dec 2005 Posts: 2372

CSS is for HTML only. Why do you think you can use CSS for plain text?

motorcity · Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 5 Location: Detroit

I do not think I explained the problem correctly.

My understanding of the "text/html" mode is to create a message that can be read in either a browser or as just plain text. And, when read in the text mode, none of the html tags will show up.

My problem is the CSS "style" tags/definitions, or whatever you want to call them that are placed in the upper portion of the document between <head> and </head> all show up when one previews the document as just text.

This problem leads me to believe that I have either placed the tags in the wrong place or you can not use CSS with Bulk Mail in the "text/html" mode

stanbusk · Site Admin Joined: 28 Dec 2005 Posts: 2372

I guess you made a mistake when placing the CSS. I have seen a lot of messages with CSSs sent with MaxBulk. Have you written the altrnative version above the HTML?

motorcity · Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 5 Location: Detroit

I must have missed something w/ regards to the text/html mode. Do you need to enter a text version and then an html version? This seems contrary to my years of experience w/ MaxBulk Mailer.

I have been using MaxBulk Mailer for at least four years three times a month . In each case I have used the text/html mode. Each time I have created a simple html document laid out with table tags. When I viewed these documents in a email client without html it would display just the text segment of the message. And, when viewed in html mode, the message would display graphically as it was designed.

Now that I have tried to get a little fancier w/ CSS tags, I find that the style tags are displayed when viewed in the "text" preview.

Have I been doing this wrong for the last four years and just got lucky?

stanbusk · Site Admin Joined: 28 Dec 2005 Posts: 2372

Yes, it is recommended to write a text version and an HTML version. If you omit the Text version MaxBulk Mailer will attempt to create it wiping the HTML code. It looks like the CSS is not removed. If you open a support ticket and attach your file to it I can try to fix it.

motorcity · Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 5 Location: Detroit

Stan,

I played with it some more and I guess I just got lucky not having to write a separate text and html message for the "text/html" mode. Seems like the only way I can use CSS is if I write two separate messages. This however is not all that bad. I often had to work around the placement of links in the html so they would appear correctly in the text version. Now I can just write them the way I want them to appear.

Thanks for the help.

motorcity · Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 5 Location: Detroit

All is not as simple as I had hoped.

The following is worth noting as a design hint for people using the Text/HTML mode. Or, for that matter, just the HTML mode.

The html segment of the document needs to be constructed as if it will be viewed as "text" and not html.

The problem I had involved "links". In the text version I just included the simple links that my copy made reference to. In the HTML version I got fancy and created graphics for the links. Regrettably many folks have their email set to view html, but block graphics. The result was they did not get any of the links that the text in the html version made reference to.

Sorry if this is a re-hash of posts by others, but it took me 4 years of use to find the problem

stanbusk · Site Admin Joined: 28 Dec 2005 Posts: 2372

In fact, you can't predict how the recipient mail reader will handle the message. Some of them (MS products) will use the text in the HTML code stripping all tags.