Posting in Plain text- how to turn off HTML

Index

• How to change to plain text posting
• if you are using Outlook Express
• If you are using Netscape mail:
• If you are using Eudora:
• if you are using AOL
• Why you shouldn't post in HTML or send attachments
• Recommended Reptile and Amphibian Books
• How to Contact me
  

How to change your email programs default so you can post in plain text to the mailing list

      Please ... only send letters to the list in PLAIN TEXT format - with no attachments (no pics, no digital sigs, no windat. type files). I will include an explanation below as to why you should not post to the list in HTML or send attachments but first I'd like to try to help you turn off the HTML posting:

Outlook Express

      If you are using Internet Explorers mail program - Outlook Express (these instructions are for the latest version of outlook express, if you are using an older version you may not find things under exactly the same wording as I have listed here, but you should find something similar if you look around!) :

1. Open Outlook express
2. Go into the TOOLS menu
3. Scroll down to "Options" and select "OPTIONS"
4. A gray box will open up with a number of clickable tabs along the top, click on the "SEND" tab
5. Under "SENDING" there are a number of selections that you may check if you choose to. Please make sure that the last one " Reply to messages in the format in which they were sent" is NOT checked.
6. Near the bottom of that same "send" menu, you will see another heading called " Mail Sending Format" Please make sure that "Send in Plain Text" is checked, and that send in HTML format is not checked ... at least for when you are answering or sending posts on the list please. :)

      In Outlook Express I believe you can also go into the address book, highlight a particular e-mail address, use your mouse to right click over the highlighted address and then select mail properties for that address. If you can do this in Outlook express or whichever e-mail program that you are using you should be able to select plain text options for that single address and leave the rest of your email address preferences intact if you generally prefer to send private emails in HTML.

If you are using Netscape mail:

1. Open Netscape:
2. Click on the EDIT menu, scroll down and select "preferences"
3. Once in Preferences, go to the "Mail and Newsgroup" column on the left of the gray box and click on the plus sign to open the sub-menus:
4. Once the sub menus for "mail and newsgroups" opens up, select "FORMATTING" (at least that is what you will select in the latest Netscape version, older versions may list it differently so explore all of the sub menus for "mail and newsgroups" until you find something that looks similar to what I'm describing below please
5. Once in "Formatting" you'll see a heading on the right called "message formatting" please make sure that "Use the plain text editor to compose messages" is selected and that the one saying use html editor is NOT selected.
6. It's also a good idea to check the first box in the next section on the right in formatting: "When sending HTML mail messages to recipients who are not listed as being able to receive them": Select "Ask me what to do if the message has html formatting, otherwise, send in plain text".

If you are using Eudora:

1. Open Eudora
2. Go into the TOOLS menu at the top of the program.
3. . Scroll down the TOOLS menu and select "Options"
4. Once in "Options" select: "Stylized Text"
5. Select send in "plain text only", and the option "ask me each time" (that way if you are replying to an HTML letter off list you have the option to reply in HTML if you want, but please only reply in plain text on the list!)

AOL

      Someone using AOL version 5 said that: "I have AOL version 5.0 that i am using, and i went up to "mail preferences" and un-checked the box marked "use white mail headers." " and this did seem to stop the member from sending HTML posts to the list.

      There are a lot of email programs in use out there ... I've just listed some of the more popular ones, and ones that I'm familiar with ... if you use one that I haven't mentioned and you figure out how to turn off the HTML send .... maybe write out the instructions as I have above and I'll include it in updates of this letter. I would appreciate that! But either way ... if you are using an email program that I haven't listed above and suspect that you are sending in HTML please explore ALL of the menus in your email program and look for an option that allows you to only send in "PLAIN TEXT", and to only reply in plain text if you get a post on the list that is sent in HTML.

Here are the reasons why HTML postings, signature or info file attachments and pictures are frowned on:

      Many email software packages can now give people the ability to send letters using several different HTML formats such as different fonts, italics, colour backgrounds, fancy lines and bullets, inline pictures, and many of these programs can also send automatic attachments such as v-cards, or winmail.dat attachments.

     Please do not use any of these fancy new abilities or attachments! All posts to the mailing list must be in plain text with no attachments of any kind such as v-cards, or winmail.dat, or pictures (jpg, gif) attachments.

• A) You must remember that some of our members are using UNIX servers and email programs that only accept text posts (and they cant do a thing to change this fact);
• B) Several of our members are from Europe or other countries that charge very high telephone and Internet connection rates so the longer it takes them to download their mail the more they end up paying. HTML attachments, v-cards, winmail.dat and pictures only fatten the post and cause more download time for these people.;
• C) The list members who receive the digest version are also affected by all of the html add ons, v-cards, winmail.dats and as I said above any pictures that are sent to the list. As an example, when someone uses HTML in their post with a colour background and perhaps say a couple of different fonts ... ALL of the posts after this one persons post on the digest run together like one HUGE paragraph, and usually in a different font than the rest of the digest is printed in. This makes the digest very hard to read.
• D) Winmail.dat attachments cause some of the digest members to not be able to open their version of the digest at all. Therefore they may lose a lot of valuable information from that one digest just because of someone's attachment.