Streamline HTML Email Creation in Umbraco Forms with MJML

Styling HTML emails can be a frustrating experience due to the varying rendering behaviors of different email clients. However, MJML offers a modern, streamlined approach to building compatible and responsive email templates.

The Challenge of Traditional HTML Emails

Traditional HTML emails often rely on outdated table-based layouts and extensive inline styling. This makes them cumbersome to work with and difficult to maintain. A prime example is the default Umbraco Forms email template. While functional, its complexity can be daunting for anyone trying to customize it.

MJML: A Simpler Solution

MJML (Mailjet Markup Language) is an open-source framework designed to simplify responsive email template creation. Instead of wrestling with complex HTML tables and inline styles, MJML provides an intuitive, component-based syntax. Elements like <mj-section>, <mj-column>, and <mj-text> replace nested tables and conditional comments, making the markup cleaner and easier to understand. MJML then converts this simplified markup into the complex HTML required for cross-client compatibility. This approach significantly reduces code complexity and improves maintainability. For instance, converting the default Umbraco Forms template to MJML can result in a substantial reduction in code size while enhancing readability.

Rendering MJML in .NET

While MJML lacks official .NET support, a community-maintained fork, Mjml.Net, is available via NuGet. This library provides a convenient way to render MJML within your .NET projects. One approach is to use the MjmlRenderer directly within your Razor views, streamlining the conversion process before sending emails.

Leveraging Razor Views with MJML

A more elegant approach involves leveraging Razor views and layouts. By creating an MjmlLayout.cshtml file containing the MjmlRenderer logic, you can dynamically process MJML within your email templates. This eliminates the need to store MJML as strings within your code, allowing you to use Razor’s full functionality for dynamic content generation. Your email template then simply references this layout, ensuring all content is rendered through MJML.

Conclusion

Integrating MJML with Umbraco Forms offers a significant improvement in the email creation process. It promotes cleaner, more manageable templates while ensuring compatibility across various email clients. This allows developers to prioritize design and content creation, ultimately simplifying email development.