Subject: Puzzled about Pine

From: "Kathleen P. Daily-Herrman" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 1996 17:21:55 -0700 (MST)

Hi...

I have a question about the "reply-to" feature in pine.
When I opt to include the original message in my
e-mail it starts right below the "Message Text" bar.

This is very annoying as then I have to manually insert
lines so I can type in my reply above the original message.

I'm using crosstalk for windows to access the shell.  Not
running PPP using telnet to access pine.   Pretty cut and
dried.

I'm thinking that there would be some sort of environmental
variable I could set in the .pinerc or in the Pine setup/
config that I could modify to address this issue.

Thank you all for any assistance in advance.

Kathleen

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From: Mike Brudenell <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 1996 09:36:07 +0100 (BST)

The general idea is that Pine by default starts your new message _above_
the included text.  This is because the "new" text of your reply is
(hopefully!) more important than the "old" text of the original message
(which the sender already knows about/others have already read).

By putting your reply above the included text Pine helps the recipient
find and read it easily, without having to first wade through lots of old
text.

I'm a little confused about what you're actually trying to achieve...

Most people encountering this behaviour for the first time ask about
getting their new message text put below the included stuff.  However you
seem to imply that you're happy with having your new message above, but
dislike having to "manually insert lines so [you] can type in [your]
reply".

If you really mean this then you shouldn't be having a problem: as you
type and fill up a line Pine will automatically start a new one whenever
it is needed.

However if you really _are_ asking about how to put your new text beneath
the included stuff then go to Pine's Setup Configuration screen and check
out the "signature-at-bottom" setting.

Cheers,

-- 
Mike Brudenell                                         <[email-masked]>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Computing Service, University of York, Heslington, York, YO1 5DD, UK
Tel: +44-1904-433811  FAX: +44-1904-433740  http://www.york.ac.uk/~pmb1/

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From: "Kathleen P. Daily-Herrman" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 1996 05:59:19 -0700 (MST)

Dear Mike:

I went into Setup and Config and found the signature-at-bottom
feature and unset it.  Worked like a charm.  Thank you for
your assistance.  It's wonderful!

Kathleen

---

From: Jeffrey Goldberg <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 22 Oct 1996 18:04:44 +0100

> e-mail it starts right below the "Message Text" bar.

Don't you get something like what is at the begining of this
message when you reply.
 
> lines so I can type in my reply above the original message.

First, do you really want the reply to precede the original.  I
find it convenient to put my replying comments after the relevant
bits of text.  It saves people have to scroll down to see what
the original message was.  I hate answers that say "yes" while leaving
the whole of long quoted email message for me to read to
see what the question was.

Also, you shouldn't really need to inset line.  If you go to
the begining of the message body and start typing things should work.

I hope that this helps.
 
-j
--
Jeffrey Goldberg                +44 (0)1234 750 111 x 2826
 Cranfield Computer Centre      FAX         751 814
 [email-masked]     http://WWW.Cranfield.ac.uk/public/cc/cc047/
"I am much fonder of my critics than I am of my fans."  --Thomas Kuhn (d 1996)

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From: Mike Brudenell <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 1996 09:23:25 +0100 (BST)

Conversely, I hate having to scroll down through reams of text I already
know (having seen before, or even sent out) just to reach "Yes".

For a lot of my replies I use the "reply before included text" format.
That said I do use the "intersperse reply text within in included text"
when appropriate, and with judicious editing of the included text.

In my view having a default of "included text before reply" is too easy to
"misuse" and just tack one's reply onto the end without any editing down
of the original message text.

Cheers,

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From: Jeffrey Goldberg <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 1996 12:39:58 +0100 (BST)

On Thu, 24 Oct 1996, Mike Brudenell wrote:

> Conversely,

Conversely to what?  ;-)

> I hate having to scroll down through reams of
> text I already know (having seen before, or even sent out) just to reach
> "Yes".

Of course that is worse than "yes" followed by entirity of original
text.  Basically, if people don't edit or interpolate, then reply before
text is better.  But it is best to get people to edit.  reply before
text encourges people not to.

Furthermore, replies to replies to replies are more readable if they
all include the text before the reply than if the all do it after.
(And if they mix, it is a nightmare).

> of the original message text.

there is that danger, but "reply before include test" makes it much easier
for people to not edit the include text at all.  I suppose that only
experience will tell.

I forgot how this whole thing began.  I can see a case for having
include text after reply as an option, although I don't
think I would make use of it.

  If I see a lot of message of the type you
describe, I will reset pine.conf here.  So far, I haven't seen too
many unedited include texts before replies.

-