Re: [mv] Rich Text

[Loy Ellen Gross <design@iinc.com>]

On Tue, 30 Nov 1999, Peter Bingham wrote:

>******    message to minivend-users from "Peter Bingham" <Pete@pbingham.freeserve.co.uk>     ******
>
>I thought it would be good to send customers nice receipts in Rich Text
>(HTML) format. The formatting of the e-mail usually looks a mess when the
>recipients default font is not fixed-width. It would be nice to display the
>ordered items in a table, with costs subtotals etc in neat columns. I
>achieved little from messing around with mime tags, headers, boundaries etc.
>Has anyone out there managed to achieve this with the current tags
>available?

I'm going to throw $0.02 in here --

1) proper HTML email requires attachments, meaning you now need
to include MIME encoding or some other popular encoding in your
email sending routine - and get it working on all the popular
email readers

2) HTML email takes something like four times the size of plain
text email, greatly increasing your bandwidth for nothing more
than pretty printing

3) I can't read HTML email because I choose to use a Unix machine
with a plain text email reader. If you send me an HTML receipt
via email, I register my complaint to your store's 800 number
and directly to the highest person I can talk to. In most companies
you'll find that complaint making it all the way up the 
telemarketing chain of command before it gets back down the MIS 
chain of command to bite you in the behind -- I've gotten apologies 
from pretty high up on this issue. It will make you look pretty bad.

Sure you want to do this? the [column] functions usually work
well for me in simulating a table in email.

  -- Loy
--
Loy Ellen Gross * Web Designer & Programmer * Xcalibur Internet
  Voice: 716-344-1114 * design@iinc.com * http://www.iinc.com