Re: Search Engines

On Fri 02 Jul, Walter Ian Kaye wrote:

> This guy also doesn't learn that you must not post HTML-formatted messages
> to email lists. I already sent private email to him and Mr. Cassar (who are
> both using the same email program, OE 5.0), and yet they persist in sending
> that horribly-formatted crap to the list.
> 
> ::sigh::

Likewise. A surprising numbers of new users unwittingly fall into this trap.

This problem can be traced to the 'default settings' of 'Microsoft Outlook
Express', resulting in non-compliant messages being sent. This can often lead
to complaints, particularly from subscribers to non-binary newsgroups and
mailing lists such as this, who object to receiving HTML-encoded attachments.

A particularly annoying aspect of this is that the messages are often 3-4
times larger than they need to be. Those of us on metered local calls, such
as here in the UK actually pay to send or receive this extra dross, not to
mention the quite unnecessary additional strain on the net, which affects us
all.

If subscribers are unsure of their OE settings, here is the procedure to
follow to ensure that OE is configured correctly:

Configuring Outlook Express
---------------------------

1. Load Outlook Express

2. Click on the 'Tools' option on the menu bar and select 'Options...'

   This will open the options control window.

3. Click on the 'Send' tag at the top.

4. Under the "Mail sending format", ensure that the 'Plain Text' option is
   ticked, by clicking on it if needed.

5. Click on the 'Settings' box to the right of this option.

6. Ensure that the option "Encode text using" box is set to 'None' and click
   'OK'.

7. Repeat steps 4-6 for the "News sending format".

8. Ensure that the 'Include message in reply' option is  turned OFF - ie. no
   tick - by clicking on it if required.

9. Click 'OK' to activate your new settings.

Outlook Express should now be set up correctly.

If anyone on this list has influence at MS, perhaps they would be kind enough
to ask them to alter the default settings on future versions of IE so that
they comply to the internationally agreed standards.

All the best,

Iain

-- 

Iain Logan, Langholm, Dumfriesshire - Chartered Transport Consultant
<http://homepages.enterprise.net/iainlogan/>
<mailto:iainlogan@enterprise.net>

Received on Friday, 2 July 1999 15:45:29 UTC