E-mail Standards

These standards apply to all University of Minnesota e-mails that are sent for the purpose of communicating official University business via mass e-mail.

A mass e-mail is any message, such as a newsletter or college update, that is sent to a group of people, either on campus or off campus. Mass e-mail is not defined only by the number of recipients. Mass e-mail must be sent as multipart (HTML and text) or text only [see Message Coding].

An example of a mass e-mail received by most people on campus would be Brief. Mass e-mail generally is not e-mail you send to colleagues on a daily basis, even if the e-mail is sent to a large group.

If you're unsure of whether your e-mail constitutes a mass e-mail, call University Relations at 612-624-6868.

Message size

Standard size recommendations for the file size, width, and height of your HTML e-mail. Read more.

Message coding

HTML standards for e-mail including and how when to use CSS. Read more.

Graphic standards

The use of graphics in HTML e-mail, University standards for their use, and best practices. Read more.

Text standards

Recommendations for University identity in text, font face, text size, and text styling in e-mail. Read more.

Mailing lists

Getting and managing an e-mail list, requirements for opt in, opt out, and unsubscribe. Read more.

Testing

Recommendations on how to test and validate your HTML e-mail to be sure your audience sees what you'd like them to see. Read more.

E-mail tracking

For the advanced user, standards related to message tracking and link tracking. Read more.

U of M eCommunications system

Lyris, the U's mass e-mail distribution system, can be used for both internal and external mass e-mailings. See the eCommunications Web site for more information.

Mass e-mail checklist

• Mass e-mail must be sent as multipart (HTML and text) or text only; see Message Coding
• Include the wordmark at the top of HTML e-mail parts; see Graphic Standards
• Include 'University of Minnesota' in text at the top of text e-mail parts; see Text Standards
• Include an opt-out link when applicable; see Mailing Lists
• Include name and address of sending unit; see Mailing Lists
• Use tables for layout of HTML e-mail; see Message Coding
• Use inline styles to style text in HTML e-mail; see Message Coding
• Message width for HTML e-mail should be 500 to 650 pixels; see Message Size