Your E-zine 13 - A Formatting Checklist
While sending out a text e-zine may seem like a piece of cake, there's more to it than you may think. *Good formatting* is the name of the game. Here's a handy checklist I use to make sure each of my issues is in great shape BEFORE I send it out. Please be my guest and use it for yourself!
- Are all lines 65 characters or less?
More than that and your missive may come through looking messy to many subscribers. End each line with a hard return by pressing the "enter" key.
- Have you made sure there's no auto-formatting, such as bolding, italics, or underlining?
These features don't translate well in e-mail and can come out looking mighty strange on the other end. Instead, emphasize words or phrases with *asterisks,* "quotation marks," or ALL CAPS ... sparingly.
- Are all sections neatly separated?
Use underscores (_____), asterisks (******), another nifty symbol ($$$$$, %%%%, @@@@), or a combination thereof (<<==>>) to help define each area and help your readers skim your issue more easily.
- Do all Web links include 'http://' before them?
Some e-mail programs won't automatically hyperlink a URL in your text without this prefix. So don't take a chance