Copying WordPress HTML to MailChimp – line breaks missing

  • JimGasperini

    (@jimgasperini)


    7 years, 9 months ago

    Hello–
    I’m trying to work out the most efficient process for producing content both as a page in a WordPress site and as an email sent out via MailChimp. One approach is to format everything in WordPress, copy it and paste it into a code block in a MailChimp template.

    Header formatting transfers smoothly. However, most of the line breaks and paragraph breaks do not. Does WordPress use some sort of invisible markup for some standard tag? In the text editor I see blank space where a <p> or
    would be. If so, is there a way to convert the invisible markup into more standard markup so MailChimp understands it?

    Because of the way the content is produced by various people it is not practical to have standard markup used when preparing the content in WordPress. It is a time-consuming chore to go in and fix every last line break.

    Any suggestions? Image tags don’t transfer well either.
    Thanks

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
  • Mark Ratledge

    (@songdogtech)

    7 years, 9 months ago

    ….format everything in WordPress, copy it and paste it into a code block in a MailChimp template.

    Where is this Mailchimp template? At MailChimp as part of their system? In the WordPress MailChimp plugin?

    Thread Starter JimGasperini

    (@jimgasperini)

    7 years, 9 months ago

    The MailChimp template is in their system.
    Hmm… a WordPress MailChimp plugin… perhaps that will address my issue?

    Thread Starter JimGasperini

    (@jimgasperini)

    7 years, 8 months ago

    Well, I’ve looked at WordPress MailChimp plugins. They seem to focus on handling contact lists and the like; actual emails are handled at MailChimp. So they are not an answer to my question.

    Mark Ratledge

    (@songdogtech)

    7 years, 8 months ago

    The MailChimp template is in their system….

    If you’re copying from the visual editor in WP, try switching to the text editor and copy.

    If that doesn’t work, you need to talk to them on how to prevent stripping of line breaks when pasting into their editor. It’s their editor, so you need to ask them.

    Thread Starter JimGasperini

    (@jimgasperini)

    7 years, 8 months ago

    I am copying from the “text” editor. The problem is that the “text” editor does not fully display html. No line break or paragraph tags display. It is not MailChimp that “strips” line breaks, but WordPress that does not display them in the text editor unless you create them manually or paste them in.

    I’ve just learned of the existence of something called TinyMCE; apparently it is actually this bundled-in application that provides both the visual and the “text” versions of WordPress editors. The “text” editor should really be called something like “semi-text” because it hides so much markup.

    Mark Ratledge

    (@songdogtech)

    7 years, 8 months ago

    Ah, I see that; that’s interesting; I didn’t know that and just tested it myself. If you manually add them, they will cut/paste. But not by default.

    Might want to ask here: http://archive.tinymce.com/forum/ Should be a way to force TinyMCE to show <br /> and <p></p> tags.

    Thread Starter JimGasperini

    (@jimgasperini)

    7 years, 8 months ago

    Thanks. Apparently strange things happen if you switch back and forth between the visual and “text” editors. As one plugin author put it, “your HTML markup will be completely munged into an unrecognizable form when you switch between those tabs.”

    The solution, as so often in the WordPress world, is another plugin. I found several addressing the issue, and chose one that seemed focused on my need and didn’t provide other features that might increase the risk of incompatibility.

    HTML Post Editor “Adds HTML tab to the post editor which shows the raw source of the page and is highlighted with the Ace Editor.” After switching from the Visual tab to the new HTML tab (not from the Text tab, the plugin author warns) I can copy fully marked-up code which looks much better when pasted into MailChimp.

    Mark Ratledge

    (@songdogtech)

    7 years, 8 months ago

    Good that it worked; I took a look at that plugin and may use from time to time.

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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