Marck D Pearlstone wrote: > Usually a top post (what you are describing) does > *not* use quote prefixing and instead quotes the entire original > message below the signature in a format like this:
Hmmm... I disagree slightly. I would say that people who use Outlook generally top post in the format you describe because that is the default behavior of Outlook. Using a prefix character (>, :, etc.) for quoted text is pretty common from what I have seen (including just about every web-based mail client I have played around with). And that is independent of top (or bottom) posting. In fact, I use a reply template for business mail that mimics the Outlook-style headers quote, but I also use the '>' symbol in front of those headers and the quoted text. I sense that the top-posting vs. bottom-posting has the potential of religious fervor, but I'm not convinced it even matters that much. I end up using whatever method I think will get my message across best. I don't care what anyone says about bottom posting being "right" - I experience top-posting a whole lot more in my business and personal e-mail alike. And while I'm very aware that frequency and/or popularity does not make something right or better, I do know that my ultimate goal is to have people understand the message I am sending them. I gave up the fight for ASCII e-mail a long time ago, even though I'll go to my grave holding onto the idea that HTML does NOT belong in e-mail. I know I'm right about this :) but cannot ignore the simple fact that HTML and rich text mail is more and more common. And no matter how hard or how long I preach of its evils, if I am to continue using e-mail, I will likely see more and more HTML mail. The Bat - thankfully - provides a beautiful interface for not dealing with HTML e-mail, so this particular issue is moot for me now anyway. I can see good reasons for both top and bottom posting. Really. And I love to argue. Thankfully this list has picked one method (it's bottom, right?) and sticks with it. I'm much more in favor of consistency than I am with top or bottom. That this list is 'strict' about its chosen method is a good thing, IMO. I belong to a motorcycle list where half the people top post and the other half bottom post. I just shrug my shoulders and reply using whatever method the author used. And I have TB Quick templates that can switch between top and bottom with a few keystrokes. -- Ken Green Using The Bat! v1.62r on Windows 2000 5.0 Build 2195 Service Pack 4 ________________________________________________ Current version is 2.00.6 | "Using TBUDL" information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
