On 2010-02-12 2:41 AM, Keith R Bainbridge wrote: > If I am following a long thread the last thing I want to do is page > down over the information I have read before.
This is why *selective* quoting should always be employed, whether you are top-posting or bottom/inline posting. My biggest gripe with top-posters is that they generally tend to just blidnly quote the entire message, including endless repeats of list footers/disclaimers/advertisements, etc etc ad nauseum. Most modern mail clients have the ability to quote only the selected test in an email, so the best way to do this is simply highlight the relevant part of the message you are replying, then click Reply. Thunderbird thankfully finally got this feature with 3.0 without having to install an extension, but it has always been possible with the extension. > I want to simply read the new bit that some kind person has added. Whether or not this is the case usually depends on the context of the reply. If the reply stands on its own, there is no need to quote anything. If context is needed, include *only* that part of the message being replied to that is necessary to maintain it. > (If I need a reminder of what has gone before, I simply scroll. I simply refer to the previous messages in the thread. > Surely if I thank somebody for their help, they are entitled to see > my thanks quickly. That's one of the times that a simple top-post is fine - but in fact, when that is the case, there is no need to quote anything. Mindlessly quoting a 10 page long thread is just plain dumb. > I suspect this will start a flame or two, but I am passionate about > this. I much prefer intelligent and measured discussion, even on a hot button topic like this. Imo, the bottom line is, there are times when top-posting is fine, but what irks me more than that is blindly quoting the entire message, regardless of whether or not you are top posting or bottom/inline posting. -- Best regards, Charles --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
