[Reader-list] what to do about formatting issues on the reader list: please read carefully

[Narayanan Vivek]

THIS IS A TEST MAIL

Hi all, 

Some of you have had formatting issues when
posting to the reader list from yahoo and rediff
accounts.


WHAT WENT WRONG?

The problem, most likely, is this: the reader
list is set up only for plain text messages, not
for any messages with html coding in them.  This
reduces many risks, including security risks
posed by viruses, etc.  So, when your messages
contains any html formatting (that is, any
formatting at all besides capitals) then the
message automatically gets held up by the server
(not any human being!) for "moderator approval". 
By the time Iram Ghufran has approved your
message, it will come stripped of any html tags
that would format it.  What might be going wrong
is: your email account is sending the messages in
html format.  

WHAT TO DO (POSSIBLY)

In your yahoo account, go into "Mail Options" and
then, "General Preferences".  There will be an
option between messages with formatting and
"plain text only".  Click on "plain text only",
and make sure that it is set to this option
whenever you are posting to the list.

ALSO, if you are writing your posts first in MS
Word or other word processing program, and then
cutting and pasting into the mail window, then
some html tags may creep in.  SO, while you are
still in Word, save the document as "plain text
only", check that the formatting is clear, then
cut and paste into the mail window.

WHAT YOU CANNOT DO IN PLAIN TEXT FORMAT

In "plain text format", you cannot do any bold,
italics, underlining, colour, or different fonts.
 If your post has any of those things then you
already know it is not in plain text.  What you
can do, hopefully is breaks between paragraphs,
and Capital Letters, which can be used for
emphasis and also for headings if you wish:

YOU CAN PUT Your Headings IN CAPITAL LETTERS

Now some will argue that it is not polite to use
capital letters on the net, but you decide for
yourself what you want to do.

ARE WE SURE THIS WILL WORK?

Not yet.  But this is a test mail sent from my
yahoo account, and we will shortly find out if
this will solve the problem.

Thanks
Vivek


 
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