This article provides some helpful tips on reviewing and editing the plaintext version of your legacy* campaigns.

One of the many ways that Emma works to improve your email deliverability is by sending a plaintext version of your campaign to any recipients who can't receive the HTML version. It may lack the style and grace of its HTML sibling, but it serves an important purpose and shouldn't be an afterthought.

In both the new drag and drop editor and the legacy* editor, Emma automatically generates a plaintext email based on the HTML version of your campaign. In the new drag and drop editor, there is no option to edit the plaintext version. However, it is possible to edit the plaintext version in the legacy* editor. As a result, it's wise to review the plaintext version before sending a legacy* campaign, so you can consider making any changes for readability or rearrange the order of your content as needed.

When you're ready to review the plaintext version of your legacy* campaign, simply click on Plaintext in the upper right corner of the screen to switch from the standard HTML view. By design, any changes you make to the plaintext view will not reflect on the HTML view.

While you're reviewing the plaintext version of your campaign, here are some simple tips to help you improve the plaintext version of your legacy* campaign.

Always review the plaintext after the HTML is done

The plaintext version is built directly from the text of your HTML version, so it's easiest if you focus on the HTML first. Once that's completely done, then turn your attention to the plaintext. When you alter the HTML and then switch back to the plaintext view, you will be prompted with a reminder that you have made changes and you’ll have the option to click the refresh button to sync those changes. However, doing so will cause any recent plaintext edits to be lost.

Clean up excessive line breaks

Plaintext doesn't always translate HTML correctly, so it tends to get line breaks wrong. This is why when you first preview your plaintext you may see some lines ending abruptly. Spend a minute cleaning up those line breaks and it will make a big difference. To do this, place your cursor in front of the first word on the next line and then hit backspace to remove the break and join the two lines together. Don't forget to save your changes.

Make things more readable by using other characters

Without the benefit of bold headlines, colors, and other rich formatting, plaintext requires a bit more creativity when it comes to making headlines and important content stand out. To make things more prominent, try putting spaces or dashed lines between sections, and using CAPS in place of the bolds you've used on the HTML side.

For longer emails, consider putting a brief summary at the top

If your HTML mailing has two columns, the plaintext version will still just have one. This means that the sidebar that fits nicely at the top of one version will be pushed down to the very bottom in the other. If the sidebar is important, consider giving it a brief summary near the top of your email so folks know there's a reason to scroll or try incorporating the sidebar elements into the main body. Also, remember that those nice images you used in the sidebar of your HTML won't appear, so your captions will need to stand on their own; if not, you should adjust them accordingly.

Think about your preview / preheader text

When you are in the final stages of preparing to send a new email campaign, you'll have the option to send your campaign with preheader text. This gives you a chance to populate that line of preview text that most inboxes display below your subject line in the inbox or mobile preview window. If you choose not to use preheader text, it's likely that the first few lines of your plaintext email will be pulled in to populate the preview text. Depending on how your mailing is laid out, you might see social sharing icons or alt text images pulled in here from your plaintext, which isn't a good look. So just be sure to make it a point to review the first few lines of your plaintext email so you know what your preheader text will be.

Send yourself a test of the plaintext view

The best way to proof the plaintext version is the same way you proof the HTML version — by sending a test of it to yourself or someone in your test group before sending it out to your audience as a whole. However, in order to send a contact (even if it is you) the plaintext version, you will have had to have already set their preferred format to plaintext. For more information about preferred format, please refer to this article.

If you have two email addresses for yourself, that's even better because you can set one to receive HTML and the other to receive plaintext, and then you can experience each version the same way your recipients will.

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*In April 2022, Emma's legacy editor was replaced with a new drag and drop editor. Accounts that existed prior to this change still have access to the legacy editor through their previously saved templates and campaigns, however new, from-scratch campaigns can only be created in the new drag and drop editor. Accounts that were created after this change only have access to the new drag and drop editor. Please refer to our new editor FAQ article for more information.