Does AOL support HTML Email? Yes, AOL supports HTML email messages provided you pay attention to the fraction of HTML they do not support. AOL's developer web site
provides the greatest amount of detail regarding AOL compatibility.
This article is simply intended to summarize the relevant information.
Always test your newsletter on AOL instead of assuming it will work.
The
AOL Client Mail can generate Plain, Rich Text, and HTML E-mails. But
not all AOL clients are capable of generating all three formats.
Following is the break down of which text is accepted with each client:
- AOL 7.0: HTML, Rich Text, Plain Text
- AOL 6.0: HTML, Rich Text, Plain Text
- AOL 5.0: Rich Text, Plain Text
- AOL 4.0: Plain Text Only
Here are the HTML objects that are not supported by the AOL Client mail:
- ActiveX
- Audio
- External Style Sheets
- Frames and IFrames
- Java
- Meta Refresh
- Scripts: JavaScript, VBScript, Perl, etc.
- Tooltips
- Video
The
reason for this limitation is due to security hazards involved with
HTML E-mails. HTML E-mail can expose users to viruses and intrusive
programs. For example, Meta Refresh can send users to another web site
automatically. It is very important to AOL that the end-users are
protected from any of the potential security hazards.
Rich Text Formats:When
generating your Rich text E-mails, be sure to note that the following
tags are the only ones supported by the AOL Client mail:
- Big: Big
- Body: Body
- Bold: B
- Break: BR
- Center: Center
- Font: Font
- Header: H1, H2, H3
- Hyperlink: A
- Italics: I
- Paragraph: P
- Small: Small
- Strong: Strong
- Subscript: Sub
- Underline: U
HTML tags that are not supported by the RTF will be displayed as plain text.
How can I be sure I am reaching the maximum audience when delivering
messages to AOL? AOL has full support for recognizing MIME-Type
headers. For this reason, with many mailinglist software programs,
like the e2 solution, you can deliver both the HTML version of your
newsletter and a text (or Rich Text) format and have AOL decide which
to display.