WordWrap e-mail

[paulm]

Although not really a bug (it's not a bug, it's a feature! ) it has bugged me for years.

Email sent by Zen Cart is wrapped to 76 characters. I don't know why this is done, but I guess this is a feature that was invented when screens were 640x480, or maybe for one reason or another lines longer than 76 characters where not allowed in email?

I think this makes the emails look unprofessional and less readable.

(Tested on version 1.3.9h using text e-mail)

When this line (line 175 includes/functions/functions_email.php):

      $mail->WordWrap = 76;    // set word wrap to 76 characters

Is changed to:

      $mail->WordWrap = 0;    // set word wrap to 76 characters

The wrapping is disabled.

Example with 76 character wrapping:

Dear Mr. Puk,

We wish to welcome you to Zen Cart.

You are now registered with our store and have account privileges: With
your account, you can now take part in the various services we have to offer
you. Some of these many services include:

Order History - View the details of orders you have completed with us.

Permanent Cart - Any products added to your online cart remain there until
you remove them, or check them out.

Address Book - We can deliver your products to an address other than yours!
This is perfect to send birthday gifts direct to the birthday-person
themselves.

Products Reviews - Share your opinions on our products with other customers.

For help with any of our online services, please email the store-owner:
root@localhost


Sincerely,

Team Zen Cart
Store Owner

http://www.zen-cart.xx/winkel/



This email address was given to us by you or by one of our customers. If you
did not signup for an account, or feel that you have received this email in
error, please send an email to root@localhost


This email is sent in accordance with the US CAN-SPAM Law in effect
01/01/2004. Removal requests can be sent to this address and will be honored
and respected.

Example with no wrapping (0)

Dear Mr. Puk,

We wish to welcome you to Zen Cart.

You are now registered with our store and have account privileges: With your account, you can now take part in the various services we have to offer you. Some of these many services include:

Order History - View the details of orders you have completed with us.

Permanent Cart - Any products added to your online cart remain there until you remove them, or check them out.

Address Book - We can deliver your products to an address other than yours! This is perfect to send birthday gifts direct to the birthday-person themselves.

Products Reviews - Share your opinions on our products with other customers.

For help with any of our online services, please email the store-owner: root@localhost


Sincerely,

Team Zen Cart
Store Owner

http://www.zen-cart.xx/winkel/



This email address was given to us by you or by one of our customers. If you did not signup for an account, or feel that you have received this email in error, please send an email to root@localhost


This email is sent in accordance with the US CAN-SPAM Law in effect 01/01/2004. Removal requests can be sent to this address and will be honored and respected.

[Kim]

Moderater's note: Thread has been moved out of Bug Reports and into Customizing.

The reason the word-wrap was set to 76 characters originally was for smaller screens than we use today, however it is still appropriate for viewing on larger screens and removing that limit could make lines that are very difficult to read. Usability dictates keeping lines of text relatively short.

http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/finet...ine_length.htm

http://baymard.com/blog/line-length-readability

...and many other similar articles.

[paulm]

Thanks for your reply Kim,

Usability dictates keeping lines of text relatively short.

http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/finet...ine_length.htm

http://baymard.com/blog/line-length-readability

...and many other similar articles.

That explains why some websites use such short lines of text.

Personally I am much more comfortable with at least 100 characters per line. And sites that display (significantly) below 100 characters seem quite rare these days. Maybe the human eye has adopted to wide screens?

[Kim]

If 100 characters works for you, great! However, we will continue to follow the best practices for the defaults.