Qualcomm's Eudora

These instructions are based upon Eudora v6.2 for Mac OS X. They are similar for Eudora for Mac OS 9 and Eudora for Windows.

Under Eudora->Preferences (or Special->Settings), choose the "Composing Mail" option, and be sure that "Word wrap" is checked.

Also under "Composing Mail" (as well as under "Personality Extras"), choose a signature file. Create the signature using Windows->Signatures, and specify a minimum of a single line with your name.

Under Eudora->Preferences (or Special->Settings), choose the "Styled Text" option. Under "Sending mail with styles", either specify to "Send plain text mail only", or "Send styled mail only" WITH the "Ask each time" checkbox checked. If the latter, be sure to specify "Plain text" when Eudora asks on each send to the mailing list.

When replying to a post, highlight just the text of the post you are replying to that is relevant to your reply, and hold the Shift key down while you click on Reply. This will automatically quote only that part of the original post.

Apple's Mail (Mac OS X only)

For new posts, select Mail->Preferences, then select the Composing icon. Under Format, select "Plain text".

For replies, select Mail->Preferences, then select the Composing icon. Under the Responding section, check the "Use the same message format as the original" checkbox and the "Quote the text of the original message" checkbox. Under "When quoting text in replies or forwards", select the "Include selected text if any, otherwise include all" option.

Under Mail->Preferences, select the Signatures icon. Specify a minimum of a single line with your name.

Microsoft's Entourage 2004 (Mac OS X only)

The first thing you want to do is configure Entourage to reply in the same format as you receive (since posts to the mailing list always come in "plain text"). Under the Entourage menu, select Preferences. Under Mail & News preferences, select Reply & Forward. Click the checkbox that says "Reply to messages in the format in the format in which they are sent".

Note, however, that when composing new posts, this will have no effect, so you'll have to either:

1. Manually set the post to plain text on-the-fly, or
2. Configure Entourage to always send in plain text.

To always use plain text, do the following: Under the Entourage menu, select Preferences. Under Mail & News preferences, select Compose. For "Mail format", choose "Plain text".

To change the post to plain text on-the-fly, when you are composing your post, first go under the Format menu and make sure that "HTML" is unchecked.

To help out with proper quoting, do the following: Under the Entourage menu, select Preferences. Under Mail & News preferences, select Reply & Forward. Under "Mail Attribution", choose the option to "Place reply text at top of message and include this attribution line" (use the default attribution line or customize it as you desire).

Microsoft's Outlook 2002 (Windows only)

To send in plain text: Under the Tools menu, select Options. In the Options window, select the Mail Format tab, then click on the "Internet Format" button. Under "Rich Text Options", choose "Convert to Plain Text format". That will instruct Outlook to use plain text for sending to Internet addresses (the mailing list address is considered an "Internet address").

To setup proper quoting: Under the Tools menu, select Options. In the Options window, select the Preferences tab, then click on the "Email Options" button. In the "On replies and forwards" section, under "When replying to a message", choose the option "Prefix each line of the original message". Make sure that the prefix character is ">". When you reply to a mailing list post, you will need to manually edit out unnecessary text from the original post as well as signature lines and other noise.

Microsoft's Outlook 2003 (Windows only)

To send in plain text: Under the Tools menu, select Options. In the Options window, select the Mail Format tab. Under "Message Format", choose "Plain Text" and click on Apply.

To setup proper quoting: Under the Tools menu, select Options. In the Options window, select the Preferences tab. Under "Email", choose "Email Options". In the "On replies and forwards" section, under "When replying to a message", choose the option "Prefix each line of the original message". Make sure that the prefix character is ">". When you reply to a mailing list post, you will need to manually edit out unnecessary text from the original post as well as signature lines and other noise.