On 6/2/04 11:21 AM, "Deborah Shadovitz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Paul gave you a good answer but... > If you simply use Plain Text, the coloring is done for you, when the ">" are > added and everyone can follow the thread. Frankly I find HTML email (what > you're sending) so hard to follow (can't tell who is saying what) that I > don't read it or try to help. [Indented, outdented, smaller, larger, > colored...too much work to figure out.] MS has made it the default for some > dumb reason on their Win apps but on a Mac you have a choice. > Here is my very strong recommendation: > > Go to E'rage->Prefs and: > > Under Compose choose Plain Text for Mail format > > Under Compose check the option to show the HTML formatting toolbar. Now you > can click the button to turn that ugly format on or off. > > Under Reply and Forward optionally choose the 3rd option, same format as > sent if you feel the need to reply to awful HTML with the same while doing > us plain people the honor of respecting plain. > > Also, MVPs please correct or confirm this. An html message contains 2 parts > that need to be sent/read by the email client but a plain text just sends 1 > so it's faster in several ways. > > I wish everyone would just use plain text and reserve HTML mail for when you > need to show edits or strong, strong emotion, or send colorful birthday > greetings. > > This message is composed using Plain text. I turned off the html using the > button. That put the ">" in front of all your text and shows it blue for me. > My new text is black. If you hit reply to mine, all text gets another > and > the colors change accordingly to show quote levels. Please know that turning > an already replied to html message plain does not always show levels. Richard knows all about the differences between plain text and HTML, and has chosen to use HTML. He doesn't actually need you to tell him not to use it. The default in Entourage is Plain Text - ergo, he must have changed the default to HTML himself because he wants to use it. He's been told often that some people don't like HTML, but he has his reasons for wanting to use it. I believe they are probably business reasons, and they're his own business (pun intended). This is a personal preference. I wish people would stop telling other people what they should do or not do. The use of HTML certainly allows for a large variety of possibilities and a large variety of responses. Personally, I like a tastefully-formatted HTML message and dislike garish ones. My personal taste will not be the same as yours. And - guess what? I get formatted snail mail every day. I don't write back to the senders telling not to use letterheads or italics because "I don't like them". I suggest the same approach to formatted text email - you're going top be getting a lot more of it as time marches on. Simple HTML - formatted text - such as Entourage can send - hardly adds anything worth noting to the size of messages - it's minimal, even using colored text. Even on dialups you'll hardly notice it. On broadband, it won't make any difference whatsoever. Only big pictures inserted or as attachments (in plain text messages, too) add appreciably to size or speed. I think it's good that people learn that some other people object - for their own reason (some of which I find peculiar, but that doesn't matter) - to formatted emails. They might wish to take that into account. I find the moralizing about text formatting somewhat repugnant - to me it smacks of Puritanism. But each to his own. In this particular case, Richard, a long-time member of this mailing list, knows that some people object. He may have deduced that most of these people are "old fogeys" - people who have been using email and usenet for years dating from a time when it really was not a good idea to send HTML down the wires. I think he must have worked out that none of his own correspondents mind, since he keeps on using it. He may even have discovered that a few people at the other end find a tastefully-formatted message more "professional". Anyway, that's what he does. Personally, I tend to respect the sender by always replying in the sender's format - plain or HTML. It makes for nicer interactions. I send out my own messages as plain text 95% of the time - the exceptions being when I send AppleScript code which needs to be properly formatted without extra line breaks, or for special reasons to demonstrate something which requires text formatting. It certainly doesn't bother me when others use HTML (except when they use lurid background colors, which I turn off in my replies). I often quite welcome them, in fact, since they can make for easier reading - the same reason you'd format a letter in Word. Everyone has his or her own preferences, you see. -- Paul Berkowitz MVP Entourage Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html> AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/> PLEASE always state which version of Entourage you are using - **2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions otherwise. -- To unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/entourage-talk%40lists.letterrip.com/> old-archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/entourage-talk%40lists.boingo.com/>
