Snippet
From EtelligentWiki
Snippets are increasingly popular in email software and webmail, enabling users to get a better idea of the content of an email message without actually opening it. Snippets appear as text previews, usually below or to the side of the subject line, or as a pop-up in the operating system's task bar.
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Examples of Snippets
Here are some examples of Snippets:
Gmail Snippets
Snippets in Gmail appear as text to the right of the subject line (when viewing the inbox) or beneath the subject line (when viewing as a pop-up with GoogleTalk installed).
Gmail Inbox Snippet
The snippet in Gmail's inbox shares characters with the subject line. At a resolution of 1024x768, you have approximately 55-60 characters for both your subject line and your snippet. The shorter the subject line, the larger the snippet. Also note that Gmail displays its subject lines in bold characters (which take up more space); an accurate snippet size can therefore only be guaged by testing.
Gmail Pop Up Snippet
When viewing the snippet in the GoogleTalk pop-up, the first ~100 characters are visible with the subject line shown above.
Outlook 2007 Snippets
Outlook 2007 can show snippets in two ways: first, as a preview text inside the inbox (beneath the subject line) which it calls its "Auto Preview"; and, secondly, as preview text displayed in a pop-up alert from the Windows taskbar.
Outlook 2007 Inbox Snippet
The size of the inbox snippet depends on the recipient's screen resolution. The amount of text show is also dependent on the presence of hyperlinks, which, as you can see from the above screenshot, bump it down onto a new line. What is consistent, however, is the vertical size of the snippet, which is always three lines.
Outlook 2007 Pop Up Snippet
The snippet in Outlook 2007's pop up is two lines deep, each of approximately 50 characters. Like its inbox snippet, hyperlinks are bumped onto a new link and should therefore probably be avoided in the first few hundred characters.
