9 votes

Use plain text email

14 comments

  1. [4]
    em-dash
    Link
    I am begging people to stop hard-wrapping text. Invariably I will view it on a screen that is a different width than yours, and then all the text is either weirdly narrow or it double-wraps and...

    I am begging people to stop hard-wrapping
    text.

    Invariably I will view it on a screen that is a
    different width than yours, and then all the
    text is either weirdly narrow or
    it
    double-wraps and you get one word on every
    other
    line, which is also annoying to read. The
    correct
    place to do text layout is client side, where
    you
    know all the details of the font and screen
    width
    being used, as well as any relevant accessibility
    settings
    the reader may have set.

    18 votes
    1. [3]
      krellor
      Link Parent
      But what if I like that "just copy and pasted from an OCR'd PDF vibe in my communications?

      But what if I like that "just copy and pasted from an OCR'd PDF vibe in my communications?

      11 votes
      1. [2]
        em-dash
        Link Parent
        this post is vertically huge for comedic effect but I don't want to make people scroll past it t h e n I w i l l r e s p o n d t o y o u w i t h a s i m i l a r l e v e l o f i l l e g i b i l i t y
        this post is vertically huge for comedic effect but I don't want to make people scroll past it

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        8 votes
        1. krellor
          Link Parent
          As a fun aside, apparently when a reply is entirely contained in a section block, it doesn't trigger a notification. I double checked my previously read notifications, and this comment is not...

          As a fun aside, apparently when a reply is entirely contained in a section block, it doesn't trigger a notification. I double checked my previously read notifications, and this comment is not listed. Neat!

          1 vote
  2. [6]
    Akir
    Link
    The old fogey in me wants to agree, but I can't. These recommendations are arcane. As much as I would like to make these behavior the standard, they quite simply are not. Worse, they're counter to...

    The old fogey in me wants to agree, but I can't. These recommendations are arcane. As much as I would like to make these behavior the standard, they quite simply are not. Worse, they're counter to what everyone else does, which makes the primary point of email - communication - harder than it needs to be.

    To put things as succinctly as possible, the defaults of the most popular email clients are the opposite of what this document wants, and as such you will be the odd one out unless your email needs are entirely within an insular group of people.

    16 votes
    1. Aerrol
      Link Parent
      Yeah, it's painfully clear to me that the author of this article does not work in or interface with any profession that requires email as the primary mode of communication. Moving to plaintext for...

      Yeah, it's painfully clear to me that the author of this article does not work in or interface with any profession that requires email as the primary mode of communication.

      Moving to plaintext for my work would be atrocious and a dramatic drop in my quality of life and ability to get work done.

      9 votes
    2. Greg
      Link Parent
      A succinct and accurate description of 95% of what I’ve read by Drew DeVault! I skimmed the article, wasn’t quite sure if it was modern and out of touch or if it was 30 years old, and then saw the...

      The old fogey in me wants to agree, but I can't. These recommendations are arcane. As much as I would like to make these behavior the standard, they quite simply are not.

      A succinct and accurate description of 95% of what I’ve read by Drew DeVault!

      I skimmed the article, wasn’t quite sure if it was modern and out of touch or if it was 30 years old, and then saw the SourceHut link at the bottom and it all fell into place. The choice to put both a tilde and a slash in the contact email address at the bottom feels like a particularly on-brand rejection of common usage and de facto standards.

      8 votes
    3. [3]
      vord
      Link Parent
      This is really the #1 reason to disable HTML if you care at all about your privacy. As soon as that unique invisible pixel renders, the sender knows you've looked at the email, and you've just...

      Virtually all HTML emails sent by marketers include identifiers in links and inline images which are designed to extract information about you and send it back to the sender.

      This is really the #1 reason to disable HTML if you care at all about your privacy. As soon as that unique invisible pixel renders, the sender knows you've looked at the email, and you've just confirmed you have a functional email address and not a dead one.

      6 votes
      1. [2]
        Akir
        Link Parent
        That is true, but the tracker is an image that is downloaded, so simply disabling images (which Gmail does by default, IIRC) is enough to stop them. (Did you mean to make this a top-level comment?)

        That is true, but the tracker is an image that is downloaded, so simply disabling images (which Gmail does by default, IIRC) is enough to stop them.

        (Did you mean to make this a top-level comment?)

        3 votes
        1. vord
          Link Parent
          Nah, I just felt that was the prime reason which doesn't seem too arcane. Most emails degrade poorly without images anyway so I've found degrading all the way to text a net win.

          Nah, I just felt that was the prime reason which doesn't seem too arcane. Most emails degrade poorly without images anyway so I've found degrading all the way to text a net win.

          3 votes
  3. [4]
    first-must-burn
    Link
    I do this for myself for many of the reasons listed. But it's a personal choice. I'd much rather move away from email altogether for a more secure messaging standard. At one place I worked, we...

    I do this for myself for many of the reasons listed. But it's a personal choice.

    I'd much rather move away from email altogether for a more secure messaging standard. At one place I worked, we moved from email to Slack for internal comms, and it was much more pleasant to use, easier to keep organized, and more secure. I don't want the world to run on Slack, but I'd love to see email supplanted by an interoperable open protocol that supports similar features.

    5 votes
    1. [3]
      Noox
      Link Parent
      Maybe I'm too used to tech-fields, but every place I've worked has had a combination of the two, always. Email and a chat messaging system I mean - e.g. Teams, Slack, Google Chat etc. When you say...

      Maybe I'm too used to tech-fields, but every place I've worked has had a combination of the two, always. Email and a chat messaging system I mean - e.g. Teams, Slack, Google Chat etc.

      When you say internal communication, dyou mean like the day to day quick messages, essentially as if you're speaking with a person but virtually, took place via EMAIL?!?!

      Before anyone listen-here-young-whippersnapper's me, I'm almost 31, unless this was 20 years ago that just seems beyond inconvenient and inefficient to me.. glad your workplace moved away from that!

      2 votes
      1. [2]
        Tardigrade
        Link Parent
        With how frustrating Google chat is to use for workplaces that are Google based that force no non internal comms policies people default to email for instant messages and yes it is inconvenient...

        With how frustrating Google chat is to use for workplaces that are Google based that force no non internal comms policies people default to email for instant messages and yes it is inconvenient and inefficient.

        1. Akir
          Link Parent
          I still maintain that push email is the worst invention to ever be made in the business sphere.

          I still maintain that push email is the worst invention to ever be made in the business sphere.