Plenty of New Zealand newsletters start life outside an email tool: a design agency in Wellington hands over a coded template, a developer exports a layout from the company’s design system, or an in-house marketer wants full control of every table cell. HTML is the right choice in those cases. It is also where small mistakes, such as a broken macron, a missing unsubscribe link or a 3 MB hero image, show up in front of every subscriber. This page covers how to work with HTML in Mailpro and what to check before sending to readers in Aotearoa.
Three routes to an HTML newsletter
- Import a finished file. If your agency supplies code, import the HTML file, adjust the details in the editor, and save it as a reusable template for future issues.
- Edit code and preview side by side. The WYSIWYG HTML editor builds the HTML structure while you type and lets you open the source to change it directly, with each change visible straight away.
- Let the editor generate it. The drag-and-drop builder writes email-safe HTML for you, which suits teams who want a polished result without maintaining code.
A coding checklist for New Zealand senders
- Keep macrons intact. Save and send in UTF-8 so that words such as Māori, Tāmaki Makaurau or Ōtautahi display correctly in the body and the subject line. A macron that turns into a question mark looks careless and, for te reo Māori, disrespectful.
- Design for the phone first. Single-column layouts, large tap targets and readable font sizes matter for readers checking email on the move. Mailpro’s responsive newsletter layouts handle the stacking; your code should avoid fixed widths that fight it.
- Plan for slow or blocked images. Rural broadband and mobile coverage vary across the country, and some email apps block images by default. Compress images, never put the key message only inside a picture, and write meaningful alt text.
- Check dark mode. Transparent logos and dark text on transparent backgrounds can vanish in dark mode. Test both themes.
- Use NZ formats. Dates as day-month-year, phone numbers that work from overseas (+64, dropping the leading zero), and prices in NZ dollars.
The footer is where the law lives
Hand-coded templates are the most common place for compliance to slip, because the footer gets trimmed during a redesign. New Zealand’s Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 requires every commercial email to carry accurate details of who authorised it and a functional, free unsubscribe facility, and unsubscribe requests must be honoured within 5 working days. Keep your business name and contact details and the unsubscribe link in the footer of every template, and make them readable, not grey-on-grey at six pixels. Beyond the visible link, mailbox providers increasingly expect a one-click List-Unsubscribe header. For the full legal picture, see email marketing law in New Zealand.
Personalisation tags in hand-written code
If you code your own template, you can still use Mailpro’s dynamic fields. Place the field tags where you want the reader’s name, region or loyalty tier to appear, and always set a fallback so a missing value reads “Kia ora” rather than “Kia ora ,”. Our page on personalised newsletters shows what to personalise and why.
Before you hit send
Send a test to a few real inboxes, including at least one on a phone, click every link, and read the plain-text version. Then return to the newsletter hub to plan your next issue. Your subscriber data stays on Mailpro’s Swiss-hosted private infrastructure, outside US jurisdiction, and is never sold or rented.