> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.sdocs.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.sdocs.com/sdocs/template-architecture/template-authoring/s-docs-template-development-best-practices.md).

# S-Docs Template Development Best Practices

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### Put everything inside basic tables, even headers and footers

Keep all layout and structure within basic HTML tables.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Don’t use the same styling as a modern website.

Avoid modern webpage styling; prefer email/template-safe, table-based styles.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Standard recommended style statement for a table

Use the following table declaration as the recommended starting point:

{% code title="Recommended table style" %}

```html
<table border="0" cellpadding=“0” cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; width: 100%;">
```

{% endcode %}
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Avoid using elements that have built-in styling

Do not use `<p>`, `<th>`, `<ul>`, `<li>`, or anything that has built-in browser styling.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Only use `<span>` when necessary

Prefer minimal inline elements; reserve `<span>` for when it's required.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Font-family considerations

Note: `Arial Unicode MS` sometimes will not show bolded text in Chrome's PDF preview, but it will once the template is downloaded.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Avoid using margin

For spacing, prefer table-based techniques:

* For horizontal spacing use:

  <pre class="language-html" data-title="Horizontal spacing example"><code class="lang-html">&#x3C;tr>&#x3C;td style="line-height:20px;width:100%;">&#x26;nbsp;&#x26;nbsp;&#x3C;/td>&#x3C;/tr>
  </code></pre>
* Use extra blank columns for side margins.
  {% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Use percent for column widths

For column widths use percent values instead of px.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}


---

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