Re: OT: Reply text question.
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: OT: Reply text question.
- From: "* I* J* <j*@ix.netcom.com>
- Date: Sat, 4 Apr 1998 22:42:23 -0700 (MST)
william b. cook wrote:
>
> > Cut out that superfluous "Reply" text
> >
> On my last message, I forgot to do this. Would you mind telling me
> (us) why this is important? I would assume that cutting out the "Re" would
> make searching the archives much easier.
What I mean by this is removing excess text that is not pertinent to your
reply to a particular message. When you click "Reply" an email program often
places the text of the original message in the body of the "Reply" with ">"s
to indicate the quoted lines (as above).
Very often your reply only applies to a portion of the original message, so
instead of making everyone scroll past the entire message (especially if it is
a long one) if you edit out the portions that are not relevent, it makes for
easier reading. It also makes for shorter download times from the mail server,
takes up less disk space, and is generally courteous. I think (IMO) that
cutting out the extra text makes for neater, more concise messages, and if you
are trying to communicate something, that helps. There are times when it is
certainly appropriate to leave in the entire quoted text, and even intersperse
your reply in the quoted text.
Ideal targets are signature lines, like mine that you cut out. I also find it
easier to spot the reply when you put a blank line between the quoted text and
your reply.
I guess you could make a case that my signature is too long, especially with
my recently added prods about "reply" text "Subject lines" and "Categories". I
would be hard pressed to argue against that, except to say that (especially)
with Subject lines and Categories we all (including myself) seem to have
gotten a little lax recently.
I am sure there are some listers out there that are saying "Well, just who
does he think he is?" Well, you are right, I'm nothing more than another
lister. I just happen to think that making this list work well is a job that
takes a little effort from all of us.
If you think I am out of line, I would appreciate hearing about it.
Thx
John | "There be dragons here"
| Annotation used by ancient cartographers
| to indicate the edge of the known world.
John Jones, jijones@ix.netcom.com
Fremont, California, USA, Earth, USDA zone 8/9 (coastal, bay)
Max high 95F/35C, Min Low 28F/-2C average 10 days each
Heavy clay base for my raised beds.
There are currently 70 Iris pictures on my Website. Visit me at:
http://members.home.net/jijones
