Help! Sending HTML e-mail via C# - Windows Mobile Outlook reads it as gibberish

Question

I have a script that sends an e-mail as both plain text and HTML, and it works fine for most e-mail readers including Outlook and Gmail. However, when reading the message on a Windows Mobile smartphone, the output is:

PCFET0NUWVBFIEhUTUwgUFVCTElDICItLy9XM0MvL0RURCBIVE1MIDMuMiBGaW5hbC8vRU4i Pg0KPEhUTUw+DQo8SEVBRD4NCiAgICA8TUVUQSBIVFRQLUVRVUlWPSJDb250ZW50LVR5cGUi IENPTlRFTlQ9InRleHQvaHRtbDtjaGFyc2V0PWlzby04ODU5LTEiPg0KICAgIDxUSVRMRT5Z b3VyIE1lZ2Fwb255IFBhc3N3b3JkIC0gTWVnYXBvbnkgLSBEaXNjb3ZlciB0aGUgbmV4dCBi aWcgdGhpbmc8L1RJVExFPg0KICAgIDxTVFlMRSBUWVBFPSJ0ZXh0L2NzcyI+DQogICAgICAg IGE6bGluaywgYTp2aXNpdGVkDQogICAgICAgIHsNCiAgICAgICAgICAgIHRleHQtZGVjb3Jh dGlvbjogdW5kZXJsaW5lOw0KICAgICAgICAgICAgY29sb3I6ICM5MDA7DQogICAgICAgIH0N CiAgICAgICAgYTpob3Zlcg0KICAgICAgICB7DQogICAgICAgICAgICB0ZXh0LWRlY29yYXRp b246IG5vbmU7DQogICAgICAgICAgICBjb2xvcjogIzAwMDsNCiAgICAgICAgfQ0KICAgIDwv U1RZTEU+DQo8L0hFQUQ+DQo8Qk9EWT4NCiAgICA8QSBIUkVGPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lm1lZ2Fw b255LmNvbS8iIFRJVExFPSJNZWdhcG9ueSAtIERpc2NvdmVyIHRoZSBuZXh0IGJpZyB0aGlu ZyI+DQogICAgICAgIDxJTUcgU1JDPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3Lm1lZ2Fwb255LmNvbS9faW1nL21l Z2Fwb255LWhlYWRlci1yZWQuZ2lmIiBXSURUSD0iNjMwIiBIRUlHSFQ9Ijg4IiBBTFQ9Ik1l Z2Fwb255IC0gRGlzY292ZXIgdGhlIG5leHQgYmlnIHRoaW5nIg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgQk9S REVSPSIwIj48L0E+DQogICAgPEZPTlQgU0laRT0iNCIgRkFDRT0iQXJpYWwiPg0KICAgIDxC Uj4NCiAgICA8QlI+DQogICAgWW91ciBNZWdhcG9ueSBwYXNzd29yZCBpczoNCiAgICAgICAg PEJSPg0KICAgICAgICA8QlI+DQogICAgICAgIEt1YnkyNDI0DQogICAgICAgIDxCUj4NCiAg ICAgICAgPEJSPg0KICAgICAgICBHbyB0byANCiAgICA8L0ZPTlQ+DQogICAgPEEgSFJFRj0i aHR0cDovL3d3dy5tZWdhcG9ueS5jb20vIiBUSVRMRT0iTWVnYXBvbnkgLSBEaXNjb3ZlciB0 aGUgbmV4dCBiaWcgdGhpbmciPg0KICAgICAgICA8Rk9OVCBTSVpFPSI0IiBGQUNFPSJBcmlh bCIgQ09MT1I9IiM5OTAwMDAiPk1lZ2Fwb255LmNvbTwvRk9OVD48L0E+DQogICAgICAgIDxG T05UIFNJWkU9IjQiIEZBQ0U9IkFyaWFsIj4NCiAgICAgICAgICAgIHRvIGFjY2VzcyB5b3Vy IGFjY291bnQuDQogICAgICAgICAgICA8QlI+DQogICAgICAgICAgICA8QlI+DQogICAgICAg ICAgICBUaGFuayB5b3UgZm9yIHlvdXIgc3VwcG9ydCBvZiBNZWdhcG9ueSBhbmQgaW5kZXBl bmRlbnQgbXVzaWMhPEJSPg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgPEJSPg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgU2luY2Vy ZWx5LDxCUj4NCiAgICAgICAgICAgIDxCUj4NCiAgICAgICAgICAgIFRoZSBNZWdhcG9ueSBU ZWFtPEJSPg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgPEJSPg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgPEJSPg0KICAgICAgICA8 L0ZPTlQ+PEZPTlQgU0laRT0iMiIgRkFDRT0iQXJpYWwiPipUaGlzIGlzIGFuIGF1dG9tYXRl ZCBtZXNzYWdlLiBQbGVhc2UgZG8gbm90IHJlcGx5LjwvRk9OVD4NCjwvQk9EWT4NCjwvSFRN TD4NCg==

The correct output should be: Click here to see

The code is:

SmtpClient mC = new SmtpClient(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["smtpServer"]);
        NetworkCredential nC = new NetworkCredential(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["smtpUsername"], ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["smtpPassword"]);
        mC.UseDefaultCredentials = false;
        mC.Credentials = nC;
        MailAddress mFrom = new MailAddress("[email protected]", "Megapony");
        MailAddress mTo = new MailAddress(forgotpwemail.Text);

        MailMessage mMsg = new MailMessage(mFrom, mTo);


        mMsg.IsBodyHtml = false;
        mMsg.Subject = "Your Megapony Password";

        mMsg.Body = getForgotPWBodyPlain(result);

        System.Net.Mime.ContentType mimeType = new System.Net.Mime.ContentType("text/html");



        AlternateView alternate = AlternateView.CreateAlternateViewFromString(getForgotPWBody(result), mimeType);

        mMsg.AlternateViews.Add(alternate);

        try
        {

            mC.Send(mMsg);
            pnlpwform.Visible = false;
            pnlSuccess.Visible = true;

        }
        catch (Exception)
        {
            pnlResponse.Visible = true;
        }
        mMsg.Dispose();

Please help!

Thanks, Paul

Answer 1

I would say it's a combination of the content-type and the the image that's causing the issue. The link you provided showed a nice gif with a Megapony logo, yet the content-type is set to text only. Because of this, the bits that make up the gif is being treated as a series of text characters.

This would be a good place to start: http://www.systemnetmail.com/faq/3.1.3.aspx