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Glossary · Message format

Plain-text part

The text/plain version of a message, sent alongside the HTML in a multipart/alternative structure for readers and programs that do not display HTML.

What it means

In a multipart/alternative message the text/plain part comes first and the HTML last, the order RFC 2046 uses for increasing preference. Programs that show only text, and readers who turn HTML off, see the text part.

It should carry the same message as the HTML, with links written out in full and the unsubscribe address included, since some readers will see nothing else. Many sending platforms can generate it from the HTML; check the result, because complex layouts convert into cluttered text.

Sources

What this definition rests on. The wording is ours; the facts are theirs.

All 432 terms in the glossaryThe wiki: blocklists and bounce codes

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