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Why Responsive Email Content is like Water
You put water into a
cup, it becomes the
cup
you put water into a
teapot, it becomes the
teapot.
you put water into a
bottle, it becomes the
bottle
To quote 1958 Cha Cha
Champion Bruce Lee
www.newzapp.com
Why Build Responsively?
The days of designing just for desktop
clients are past
Similarly we cannot just design for
mobile devices
The typical email audience opens
them on a mixture of the two
Responsive email building allows
emails to change to a layout and size
that suits the email reader
Main types of Responsive Email Structure
Fluid Adaptive Hybrid
Pros Cons
Fluid
 Simplest to build and proof
 No CSS needed in <head>
 Works cross platform
 No restriction on layout width
 Not very controllable
 Not the best for wider screens
Adaptive
 CSS and @media queries in <head> mean
greater control over layout
 Wider and narrower screens catered for
 More complicated to build and proof
 Not suitable for Gmail App on Mobile (which
ignores CSS and @media queries)
Hybrid
 Doesnt rely on CSS or @media queries
 Can still create layouts to suit wider and
narrower screens
 ...including Gmail App on mobile
 A bit more complicated to build and proof
 Depends on MSO code for Outlook
 Left and right aligned tables can be flaky in
some desktop readers
Which Method Should We Use?
Fluid
One of the earliest forms of
Responsive techniques
All table widths are set as
percentages
This works best for very simple
layouts
No CSS is required in <head>
<table> and image elements
expand to fit the screens width
Fluid
Expansion works great for
narrower screens
Images set to scale with the email
can become fuzzy and pixelated
but on wider screens this can
lead to layout problems
Elements can be stretched too
wide or move too far apart
Adaptive
The next development of
Responsive building
Fixed-width <table> elements with
multiple columns ensures a stable
layout for wider screens
Works well on desktop readers like
Outlook , Gmail and Mac Mail
This caters for wider and narrower
screens by targeting them
separately
Adaptive
Fixed-width <table> elements given
Fluid-style percentage-widths on
narrower screens
CSS and Media Queries in <head> of
email will target narrower screens
<table> column cells become CSS
block elements which allows them
to stack over each other
Any CSS in the <head> of an email is
ignored by most desktop clients
Adaptive
Unfortunately, the Gmail App on
mobile devices ignores CSS and
Media Queries in <head>
A broken version of the desktop
layout is shown instead
Hybrid
Uses Fluid layout for narrow
screens, not CSS or Media Queries
in the <head>
Developed to address the issues in
Gmail App on mobile
Floating single-cell <table>s with
left and right alignment allow
stacking on narrower screens
Hybrid
On wider screens, the left and right
aligned <table>s unstack and sit in
a single row
Inline CSS style max-width on
<table> stops expansion at a set
point
Works well for most mobile and
desktop devices
Hybrid
except the Outlook email reader,
which ignores the max-width
inline style
MSO-specific code is needed to
create ghost multi-column <table>s
with fixed widths to prevent over-
expansion
These ghost <table>s are only
active in the Outlook email client 
all other email readers ignore them
Remember  Content Needs Room
www.newzapp.com

More Related Content

Why Responsive Email Content is like Water

  • 1. Why Responsive Email Content is like Water You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup you put water into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle To quote 1958 Cha Cha Champion Bruce Lee www.newzapp.com
  • 2. Why Build Responsively? The days of designing just for desktop clients are past Similarly we cannot just design for mobile devices The typical email audience opens them on a mixture of the two Responsive email building allows emails to change to a layout and size that suits the email reader
  • 3. Main types of Responsive Email Structure Fluid Adaptive Hybrid
  • 4. Pros Cons Fluid Simplest to build and proof No CSS needed in <head> Works cross platform No restriction on layout width Not very controllable Not the best for wider screens Adaptive CSS and @media queries in <head> mean greater control over layout Wider and narrower screens catered for More complicated to build and proof Not suitable for Gmail App on Mobile (which ignores CSS and @media queries) Hybrid Doesnt rely on CSS or @media queries Can still create layouts to suit wider and narrower screens ...including Gmail App on mobile A bit more complicated to build and proof Depends on MSO code for Outlook Left and right aligned tables can be flaky in some desktop readers Which Method Should We Use?
  • 5. Fluid One of the earliest forms of Responsive techniques All table widths are set as percentages This works best for very simple layouts No CSS is required in <head> <table> and image elements expand to fit the screens width
  • 6. Fluid Expansion works great for narrower screens Images set to scale with the email can become fuzzy and pixelated but on wider screens this can lead to layout problems Elements can be stretched too wide or move too far apart
  • 7. Adaptive The next development of Responsive building Fixed-width <table> elements with multiple columns ensures a stable layout for wider screens Works well on desktop readers like Outlook , Gmail and Mac Mail This caters for wider and narrower screens by targeting them separately
  • 8. Adaptive Fixed-width <table> elements given Fluid-style percentage-widths on narrower screens CSS and Media Queries in <head> of email will target narrower screens <table> column cells become CSS block elements which allows them to stack over each other Any CSS in the <head> of an email is ignored by most desktop clients
  • 9. Adaptive Unfortunately, the Gmail App on mobile devices ignores CSS and Media Queries in <head> A broken version of the desktop layout is shown instead
  • 10. Hybrid Uses Fluid layout for narrow screens, not CSS or Media Queries in the <head> Developed to address the issues in Gmail App on mobile Floating single-cell <table>s with left and right alignment allow stacking on narrower screens
  • 11. Hybrid On wider screens, the left and right aligned <table>s unstack and sit in a single row Inline CSS style max-width on <table> stops expansion at a set point Works well for most mobile and desktop devices
  • 12. Hybrid except the Outlook email reader, which ignores the max-width inline style MSO-specific code is needed to create ghost multi-column <table>s with fixed widths to prevent over- expansion These ghost <table>s are only active in the Outlook email client all other email readers ignore them
  • 13. Remember Content Needs Room