[e-drug] E-drug and HTML e-mail

[Hilbrand Haak <haakh@chd-consultants.nl>]

E-drug: E-drug and HTML e-mail
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Dear E-druggers,

>From time to time E-drug moderators have asked attention for the
annoyance of HTML e-mail messages, and the problems they cause
in preparing well-formatted e-drug messages. I came across a
helpful website (http://www.betips.net/etc/evilmail.html) that lists a
whole lot of reasons why HTML in e-mail is a bad idea. I print the
(shortened) text below. At the end there are clear guidelines on
how to switch off HTML in the major e-mail clients (Outlook,
Outlook Express, Eudora, Apple's Mail.app, and Netscape
Communicator). 

The bottom line: please switch off HTML in your e-mail clients
now...

Hilbrand Haak
E-drug co-moderator

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Why HTML in E-Mail is a Bad Idea
(copied as fair use. HH)

HTML e-mail is one of the uglier things Microsoft has wrought upon
the Internet, and this page exists to explain some of the reasons.
It's not that there are not some nice things about HTML e-mail, just
that the reasons below far outweigh any benefits it provides. HTML
in e-mail is a bad idea ...

Because HTML is for making web pages and plain text is for simple
communications. If you're looking to create a web page or write a
book, fine. But e-mail messages are not web pages or books. e-mail
was designed for simple messaging. Anything else detracts, rather
than adds to its core functionality. As Andy Roony said, "E-mail is
simple. Like the pencil, it just works." Well, e-mail is not simple --
and it doesn't always work -- when HTML is involved. 

Because it introduces compatibility problems with text-based clients
like the hundreds of thousands of Pine users out there.

Because it can introduce security issues and trojan horses -- it's a
gateway to danger as any Outlook user can tell you. HTML can
include any number of scripts, dangerous links, controls, etc. 

Because it doubles the size of e-mails as clients "handle" the issue
by sending out plain text and HTML versions of the same e-mail. 

Because people spend more time choosing a font that the recipient
probably doesn't even have on their system than in choosing their
words carefully. 

Because it wreaks havoc with any mailing list that sends out
digests. 

Because it violates the e-mail standards and protocols
unnecessarily. Most users never use any of the "advanced" options
and those who do typically go overboard -- usually spammers who
use HTML's fancy styles as a way to garner attention. The only
possible reasonable purposes for HTML e-mail are simple text styles
such as bold and italics which can be expressed _in_ *other*
WAYS that are /universally/ readable.

Because it encourages companies to think it's OK to do things like
include code that will let them know if you're reading their e-mail.
This actually happened to a friend, who received an e-mail from
infobeat asking why he wasn't reading their daily news e-mails.
This is a gross violation of privacy. 

Because its presence, and the public's complicity with it,
encourages the abuse of advertising bloat in your inbox. Knowing
they can do eye-catching banner ads, spammers and corporations
(such as Barnes and Noble) will fill half a page with ads for this and
that, creating visual and mental clutter we'd all be better off
without. We get enough of that on the web - we don't need it in
our inboxes as well. Some would say that advertising is heavily
reliant on visual elements to be successful. In most cases, this is
true; but not in the computer industry.

How To Fix the Problem
Most HTML-capable e-mail clients will let you disable HTML e-mail
globally (for all messages) or on a recipient-by-recipient basics.

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Here's how to do it in MS Outlook and Outlook Express: 
Pull down Tools | Options. Select the Send tab. Look at the section
labeled "Mail Sending Format." Change the radio button from
"HTML" to "Plain Text." 

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For Outlook 2000, it is: 
Tools | Options | Click on the Mail format tab | select Plain Text
from the Pulldown box, then click OK.

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Here's how to do it in Hotmail 
You can ensure that you're not sending out HTML email from
Hotmail accounts by not using the "Rich Text" option in the
message compose window. If you dig around in the options, there's
a setting that lets you turn off the Rich Text bar for all messages. 

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Here's how to do it in Eudora (all types), version 4 and up: 
>From the Tools menu, choose Options. 
In the Category list, choose Styled Text. 
Choose the "Send plain text only" radio button. 
Clear the "Send the signature with styles" check box. 
Clear the "Ask me each time" check box. 
To strip HTML from a message you are currently viewing in Eudora:

With the cursor somewhere on the message body, press Ctrl-A to
select the entire message text, or choose Select All from the Edit
menu. From the Edit menu, point to the Text cascading menu, and
choose Clear Formatting. 
Alternately, the Select All and Clear Formatting commands can be
added to the tool bar to simplify this task. 

Something that can be done in Eudora to cut down on the
annoyance of others' HTML is to uncheck all of the codes in
Special:Settings...:Styled Text. There's a section at the bottom of
that panel, "When receiving styles, pay attention to"; unchecking
everything makes HTML mail look like plaintext. 

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Here's how to do it in Netscape Communicator: 

Click Edit | Preferences 
Click "Mail & Newsgroups" (click the "+" to expand)
Click Formatting
Select "Use the plain text editor to compose messages" 

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Here's how to do it in Apple's Mail.app: 

Pull down Mail | Preferences 
Select "Composing" in the top icon row 
Change "Default message format" to "Plain Text" 
Close Preference panel. 
You can also disable the display of HTML email by going to the
Viewing icon and deselecting "Download all images, animations and
other HTML attachments." 

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