Hi,
There are, I am told, two basic styles of replying to an email
a)delete none/some/most of the email being replied to,
and intersperse comments at (seemingly) random positions in the
result.
b)delete none/some/most (usually none) of the email being replied to,
and place all reply text at the head of the email.
b is (my view) definately superior to a). When viewing the resultant email,
noone has to scroll down, hunting for reply comments.
All reply comments are clearly visible.
Yes, the email can get a bit long - in this case, it is quite alright to
edit out the last chunk of the email.
It is very very clear who wrote which bit when you use this style.
a style emails can get incredibly hard to follow, particularly when it
contains portions of emails, with different levels of quoting.
==================
My colleagues tell me that a style is the one preferred by many internet
users. I personally find it objectionable - the writer(s) have not taken
the time to make their ideas/points clear. This speaks of a lack of
consideration for others. Sure, a is quick to generate. However, a is
longer for everyone else to read.
=================
I am sure you have realised that this email is in the b style.
======
I did find:
http://www.cs.queensu.ca/FAQs/email/etiquette.html
and quoting,
Include enough of the original message to provide a context. Remember
that Electronic Mail is not as immediate as a telephone conversation and
the recipient may not recall the contents of the original message,
especially if he or she receives many messages each day. Including the
relevant section from the original message helps the recipient to place
your reply in context.
Fair call - one must provide context. - so how much of the email being
replied to should be in my reply. The easiest thing is to include the lot.
Badluck to the people who read email on their cell phones. Volker's email,
which I am replying to, gets deleted, cause I am just adding to the
discussion, but not referrring to any of his points.
================
What also helps is clearly blocking up your email.
You will note the lines of ==== in my text.
This makes it clear that I have moved to a different aspect of the
topic in question.
Derek.
(About to start another "holy war" on email ettiquette, so apologies to
the list police. But this is a linux issue. WE must be able to present
our ideas in a clear fashion.)
On Wed, 16 Feb 2005, Volker Kuhlmann wrote:
Deleeted.....
--
Derek Smithies Ph.D. This PC runs pine on linux for
email
IndraNet Technologies Ltd. If you find a virus apparently
from me, it has
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] forged the e-mail headers on
someone else's machine
ph +64 3 365 6485 Please do not notify me when
(apparently) receiving a
Web: http://www.indranet-technologies.com/ windows virus from me......
