Spam filters, high security settings or even an outdated device are some of the factors that can get in the way of your invitation reaching your guest’s inbox how you intended. In those cases, sending a Plain Text version of your email can increase the deliverability of your invitation.
Learn more: A Word About Email Deliverability
With zkipster's Invitations feature, available on the Professional and Enterprise plans, you can send a Plain Text version of your invitation along with the HTML email - but do you know the difference between the two? This article will show you the key characteristics of both email formats and how to enable a Plain Text version of your invitation.
HTML vs. Plain Text
HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language and it is a coding language used to build most web pages and online applications so that you can view them on a web browser.
The HTML Email allows you to add images, hyperlinks, buttons and stylised fonts to your content to match your brand guidelines. Ultimately, HTML coding gives you more control over the design of the email.
HTML Email example:
On the other hand, the Plain Text email is a stripped down version of a HTML email, with no special formatting, no colours, no images and no special layout options, just a plain text.
Plain Text Email example:
While zkipster's invitation templates are built to keep maximum consistency across all desktop, mobile and web-based email clients (i.e. Apple Mail, Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, Thunderbird, etc.), your invitation emails can still be displayed differently from your original design, or they can be blocked from reaching your guest’s inbox altogether. This is because different devices and email clients have different settings when it comes to handling HMTL emails.
Banking institutions, for example, can have high security settings on their email providers and block an HTML Email from an unknown sender from reaching their inbox. Or one of your guests might have an outdated device that does not recognize the HTML code and cannot display the email correctly. You can learn more about HTML Email rendering via this article here.
In summary, sending a Plain Text version of your invitation is important because:
Some Spam Filters have been set up to always display Plain Text version of emails if available.
High security digital policies from organizations, such as governments or banking institutions, might block HTML Emails from reaching their inboxes.
Devices and email clients with low storage limit might choose to display the Plain Text version if your HTML email has too many images.
Non-traditional inboxes, such as from smart watches or gaming devices, might not have the capacity to recognize HTML coding and always opt to display the Plain Text version of an email.
Screen reader devices used by visually impaired guests work better when reading Plain Text emails.
How to Enable a Plain Text Email
Once you create your invitation, you can enable a Plain Text version of that email inside the Composer tab.
You just need to click on the 'Plain Text' section of your email composer and turn the toggle to ON.
The text box is where you will write the text of your Plain Text email. To save you time, you can click on the ''Sync from HTML" link so that all text from your HTML email is copied into the text box.
Please note: a Plain Text email does not contain any hyperlinks, images or buttons, so you might need to edit your Plain Text email to reflect these limitations. The zkipster dynamic tags will also not be available, so you will need to write your event information and how your guests can RSVP to your event.
Useful Links: