At 09:40 AM 10/23/1999 -0400, you ("Suzie Smith" <ssmith@kyol.net>) wrote: [snip] >I do have one more inane question revealing my computer ignorance: when I >return this to you, Shirley, does this automatically publish on the group's >site or just to you? I ensured that the group would be included in this >message by adding the e-dress, but do I need to? [snip] Hi, Suzie: This is to the list because it relates to skills that can make everyone's online experience more pleasant, not to mention effective. The fact that you asked the question at all means you are a lot further along than many e-mail users, who seem (although it isn't true in most cases) to have set their common sense aside when they sit down at their keyboards. Whether a "reply" that you generate, by clicking on an icon or selecting a menu choice, goes to an individual or to a list depends on how the mailing list software works in conjunction with your e-mail software. ROOTSWEB uses mailing list software that, coupled with the Eudora Pro that I use, sends an automatically generated reply only to the originator of the message. However, you will note that this reply is going to the list, not you, because *I* am in control. And so are you! It is very useful, and I would dare to add courteous, to learn how to use your own e-mail software to do the following: 1. Learn to EDIT the "TO" field (or recipient, or destination, whatever your software calls it). Just because your software THINKS it knows where you want the reply to go, doesn't mean it's right. And I guarantee that if you change the "TO" field your computer won't slap your wrist! I have worked with Microsoft, Netscape, and Eudora e-mail software (in many versions) and all of them let you do this. Get your cursor into the "TO" field (however named) by clicking on it or tabbing to it. Edit it as you would edit any text. Alternatively, if your software has an address book, just delete the entire "TO" field and re-address the message. What I often do in Eudora is leave the original "TO" field as generated when I clicked "Reply" and insert an additional recipient from my address book. Whatever! Just remember, YOU, and not your computer or software, are in control of this process!!! 2. Learn to mercilessly remove quoted material that is not necessary to your reply. When your software generates a reply, it most likely copies the entire body of the original message into the body of the reply message, marked in some way (the usual is with the symbol ">" at the beginning of the quoted line). This quoted text is not sacred. It can, and often SHOULD, be edited by culling useless or uninformative verbiage. Editing this quoted text is exactly the same as editing something you typed in yourself. I call the process of deleting whole blocks of the unnecessary "[snip]", which I stole from somebody else a LONG time ago. Especially learn to remove the useless communications garbage that some programs insist they want to send. For example, your (Suzie's) message to the list included 15 lines of text that told me that "Suzie Smith" <ssmith@kyol.net> sent the original message to DUTTON-L@rootsweb.com. No more than two of these lines of quasi-gobbledygook are even remotely! interesting to me, much less necessary (and I'm a programmer); but I especially defy anyone to explain why I need to know that the message wended its merry way via: X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300 Again, remember that YOU, and not your computer or software, are in control! It is important to recognize that the use of [snip] should not violate the original meaning of the message, or edit spelling or grammar, without saying that you have done so. This isn't so important when replying only to the individual who sent you the original message, but is crucial for honest communication on mailing lists and newsgroups. The text > An amazing movie; its ineptitude in its character development is exceeded only > by the director's creativity in obscuring the action on screen. I could hardly > wait to tell all my friends to stay away from this turkey! should not be quoted and then edited to read > An amazing movie [snip] its character development is exceeded only > by the director's creativity [snip] I could hardly > wait to tell all my friends [snip] I think you catch my drift. Try these two things. I think you'll like the results. And thanks, Suzie, for asking! Darrell Darrell A. Martin formerly of the Dutton District, Springfield, Vermont currently in exile in Addison, Illinois darrellm@sprynet.com