Why learn how to code email
Both of these are great options. If you have no interest in code and just want to get a simple email built quickly then a drag-and-drop editor is very useful.
If you’ve got some experience in code but don’t have an interest in learning the specifics of email code then frameworks can help remove the need for some of the specialist knowledge.
However, these tools have their limits. You may not be able to get the exact look and feel to the email that you are aiming for. This happens more so when you want to try and stand out by doing something a bit different from everyone else.
If you find a bug in the code all you can do is report it to the tool and wait for them to fix it, depending on how many others are effected this could take a very long time, or maybe never get fixed.
Also if you were to move to a new job being able to code from scratch is a much more desirable and transferable skill.
Emails are built using HTML and CSS, these are very visual languages meaning you can as you write the code you can quickly and easily see what is changing in the output. These languages are the same ones used for every website you see. Although coding for web is different to email the need to understand HTML and CSS is the same and will set you up well if you want to later look at building websites too.
And once you’ve masters one computer language, it can really help with learning more as many of the concepts overlap.
Ok so not everybody loves it as much as we do at Parcel, Some folks don’t enjoy it at all and really try and avoid it. Others aren’t sure at first but learn to love it overtime. The only way to know is to give it a try. A few of the things we love about coding email are;
- Problem solving - Writing code for is a series of little puzzles and it can be very rewarding when you solve them.
- Always changing - Email is an old format but even so people are still finding new ways of doing things all the time. And as email clients are always changing things it’s like a game that’s always evolving.
- Community - There is a really good culture of collaboration among email developers. People are always sharing new ideas and helping each other solve complex issues.
Although some of those points may make things sound daunting, it’s only as complicated as you want it to be. If you are finding something too difficult, you can always simplify the design to something more achievable, then build it up as you grow more confident.Some test content