|
Sending Multi-Part
Mime Messages (Sending HTML and Text messages in
a single email)
Multi-part mime
refers to sending both an HTML and TEXT part of
an email message in a single email.
When a subscriber’s email client receives a
multipart message, it accepts the HTML version
if it can render HTML, otherwise it presents the
plain text version. Additionally, some recently
upgraded clients, such as Outlook 2003, enable
users to choose to accept HTML or plain text
messages by default.
Why send
both? It is assumed that by sending
both an HTML version and a TEXT version you will
reach your maximum audience as well as give
those who have advanced email client software
the opportunity to choose a desirable format.
Technical
Details of MIME
|
MIME
-- Multipurpose Internet
Mail Extensions (MIME) is an
Internet Standard for the format of
e-mail. Virtually all Internet e-mail is
transmitted via SMTP in MIME format.
Internet e-mail is so closely associated
with the SMTP and MIME standards that it
is sometimes called SMTP/MIME e-mail. |
MIME allows you
to define multiple parts of an email using the
Content-Type header. For example, the TEXT
portion of an email is defined using:
Content-Type: text/plain
The HTML
portion would contain this header:
Content-Type: text/html
Below is a
sample multi-part email message including all
headers. The text
portion is shown in maroon.
The HTML portion is shown
in green. The
defining mime header is shown in blue.
X-sender:
<sender@sendersdomain.com>
X-receiver: <somerecipient@recipientdomain.com>
From: "Senders Name" <sender@sendersdomain.com>
To: "Recipient Name" <somerecipient@recipientdomain.com>
Message-ID:
<5bec11c119194c14999e592feb46e3cf@sendersdomain.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 15:06:49 -0400
Subject: Sample Multi-Part
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----=_NextPart_DC7E1BB5_1105_4DB3_BAE3_2A6208EB099D"
------=_NextPart_DC7E1BB5_1105_4DB3_BAE3_2A6208EB099D
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Sample Text Content
------=_NextPart_DC7E1BB5_1105_4DB3_BAE3_2A6208EB099D
Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
<div style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY:
Arial">Sample HTML =
Content</div>
</body>
</html>
------=_NextPart_DC7E1BB5_1105_4DB3_BAE3_2A6208EB099D--
|
|
