On 3/22/10 9:04 AM, Bill Davidsen wrote: > That's true of web pages as well, perhaps more so, people add flash, > javascript, > and all manner of other things. Bold or italics to make meaning clear, links > with the URL and display text separate for clarity.
No amount of Flash, strange fonts, or scripts can substitute for literate writing. What Strunk and White wrote in "The Elements of Style" in the middle of the last century is still valid today. > As I noted before, HTML allows more control to the reader, so it is readable > on > everything from a cell phone to an HDTV sized monitor. Text will be too wide > on > one device, and too narrow on another. The simple lists seem totally > portable, I > mail a newsletter to hundreds of people, and get no complaints, I know they > work > on IE, Safari, iPhones, the Verizon "touch" phones, and Blackberries. And > people > can diddle the display width before printing the message, too. > > I'm sure my response to JeffM was as harsh, but there are clear benefits to > HTML > in a multi-display world, as well as to having color when the display > supports it. > > Finally, unless you not only drop HTML but drop MIME as well, you will get > HTML > attachments. If size is an issue, limit size, but in general people are just > using HTML, and your choices are to admit the 80's are over, or posting > off-topic rants in response to valid technical questions. When someone says > "how > do I?" a response of "only stupid people would want to do that" is off topic > in > my book. I use only plain ASCII for E-mail. No one ever complained to me about the formatting or appearance of my messages. The same cannot always be said about HTML-formatted messages. Early this year, I analyzed 20 HTML-formatted messages. They contained an average of 4.6 HTML syntax errors per KB of file size. (The file sizes were bloated by HTML formatting to 4.6 times the size of the equivalent ASCII-formatted content.) These syntax errors can have several results: * E-mail applications may have trouble viewing HTML-formatted messages generated by different applications. * Those E-mail applications that have no trouble viewing HTML-formatted messages generated by different applications might not be able to quote properly the original message when replying or forwarding. * Audio E-mail applications for the visually handicapped might not be able to read the messages. (This can have severe consequences for businesses in the U.S. whose E-mail messages violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.) -- David E. Ross <http://www.rossde.com/> Go to Mozdev at <http://www.mozdev.org/> for quick access to extensions for Firefox, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, and other Mozilla-related applications. You can access Mozdev much more quickly than you can Mozilla Add-Ons. _______________________________________________ support-seamonkey mailing list support-seamonkey@lists.mozilla.org https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/support-seamonkey
