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Outlook 2007 and HTML Email Design

June 23rd, 2009 · 1 Comment | Print Post Print Post

As the install base for this new version of Outlook is growing, email marketers need to pay special attention to the restrictions Outlook 2007 is introducing when it comes to rendering HTML. Previous versions of Outlook relied on the Microsoft browser (Internet Explorer) to interpret HTML elements and style sheets. Outlook 2007 uses Microsoft Word as its HTML interpreter instead.

This imposes quite few limitations on HTML email design as it makes less use of some of its creative elements. Having said that, you can still design and send decent looking emails by simplifying your HTML code and following some guidelines.

Microsoft has published a lot of documentation explaining what is and what is not supported by Outlook 2007 HTML rendering engine. Here are some of the commonly used HTML tags and features that are no longer supported in Outlook 2007:

  • CSS Float or position attributes
  • Background images (HTML or CSS)
  • Animated GIFs
  • Forms
  • Flash
  • Replacing bullets with images in unordered lists

With the lowest common denominator in mind, simplicity in your email HTML design is key. The less complex and fancy your email code, the more likely it will render as you intended.

Tags: Best Practices · Tips

1 response so far ↓

  • 1 Shawna Burke // Jun 24, 2009 at 1:24 pm

    Thanks, Rami. Good tips! I always look forward to your blogs.

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