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When you plan to publish your e-zine, one of the first things you need to decide on is the format in which you want to publish it to your readers.

Currently, email can be delivered in two different formats: Plain text and HTML. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of each format:

--------------Plain Text--------------

Advantages:

* Easy to create

* Can be read with all email programs

* Small size equals fast delivery and short download times

* Some people consider it to be more personal than HTML newsletters

Disadvantages:

* Poor formatting options

* Newsletters may appear different to different users, depending on the email client, font choices, and margin settings

--------------HTML Text--------------

Advantages:

* Complete formatting options; your newsletter may look like web pages or a printed magazine, with colorful pictures and rich formatting.

* Provide better tracking options; you can see how many people have opened your message.

Disadvantages:

* Some people use email clients that do not support HTML properly, or deliberately turn off HTML'or filter HTML mails from unfamiliar senders into the trash.

* HTML messages are significantly larger than plain text messages, and take more time to deliver.

* When you include pictures, you either have to embed them into your email, which adds to the size, or link them to files on the Internet, which requires the recipient to stay connected to the Internet while reading your message.

Which format you finally use really depends on the contents of your newsletter and also on your target group. I have decided on using HTML format, since it provides me the most freedom and also give a more professional impression.

When sending automatic follow-up emails, however, in same cases it can be better to send a plain text email that looks like somebody has manually written it.

Special Tip: Using a professional email program like EmailUnlimited you can easily send emails that contains both, an HTML and a plain text your of your newsletter. This way, the recipient's email program will automatically determine which format it can display best and you can be sure that your message gets displayed on any email client.

Alway my best,

John Vorwerk