Where Did The “HTML Only” Option Go?

If you’ve created a new campaign in the last day or so you might have noticed something missing when selecting the format of your campaign. Previously, you had 3 options: HTML only, HTML and plain text, and plain text only. As of our most recent update, the “HTML only” option has now been removed.

Moving forward, whenever you’re sending a HTML email, you’ll need to add a plain text alternative too.

Why should I include a plain text version?

Including a plain text alternative with your HTML email is best practice. It’s best practice for a number of reasons:

1. Content-based spam filters like SpamAssassin look for a close match between your HTML content and plain text content. If there’s a significant difference, your email will be penalized.
2. Some of your subscribers prefer plain text or use an email client that doesn’t properly support HTML email, especially if they’re reading it on a mobile device. Often they might have an email client but not a web browser, so they can’t access the web-based version of your email.

One little point of clarification. We always included a plain text alternative for you, even if you sent a HTML only email. This was just a brief message with a link to the web-based version and an unsubscribe link. It was better than nothing, but didn’t get you any closer to solving the problems listed above.

Why wait until now to make this change?

Removing this option has been on our minds for a while now, but we were hesitant to remove it altogether until we made the process of generating your plain text alternative an easier process. Now that we’ve added the ability to pull the text out of your HTML version with a single click, we felt the time was right.

I realize this adds a step to the create/send process for some of you, but please remember it’s in the best interests of you and your subscribers to include a well formatted plain text alternative whenever you send a HTML email. Also, don’t forget about our free plain text templates that provide a great starting point for a nice looking plain text email.