Do you code HTML email templates from scratch or start from pre-built ones? Where do you get them?
I am currently drowning in a backlog of campaign requests and starting to question my entire workflow. For the past year, I’ve been hand-coding every single layout to ensure maximum control, but the constant testing in Litmus for every minor change is becoming unsustainable. I need to find a way to speed up my production without delivering a bloated or broken html email template to my clients, especially since we’ve seen an uptick in rendering issues with the latest Windows Mail updates.
Lately, I’ve been feeling like my time could be better spent on strategy or complex interactive elements rather than rewriting basic table structures for the thousandth time. However, I’m terrified of "free" blocks that add unnecessary CSS and mess up the deliverability. I'm looking for a middle ground—a source for a clean, professional html email template that I can actually trust and easily customize at the code level.
And here is what interests me:
- Do you prefer starting with a "blank slate" framework or using a library for your html email template foundations?
- How do you handle the balance between custom brand fonts and fallback web-safe fonts in your code?
- What is your go-to process for inlining CSS—do you use a manual tool or an automated build script?
- Have you found any libraries that offer a truly "clean" html email template without the typical spaghetti code?
- Which testing tools are you using to verify accessibility and screen reader support in your layouts?