GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 635735
Forward and reply to HTML format messages in HTML format.
Last modified: 2010-11-26 00:55:53 UTC
This is an enhancement request that HTML formatted messages be forwarded or replied to in HTML format by default. Steps to repro: 1) Under Edit -> Preferences -> Composer Preferences -> General tab -> have "Format messages in HTML" unticked. 2) Open a received HTML message, preferably one with embedded images, and click the Forward or Reply buttons. What happens: It forwards the message as plain text, losing the embedded images. One suggestion as to what could happen instead: * The "Format messages in HTML" option could be renamed to "Format new messages in HTML" (i.e. it should apply to _new_ conversations, not replies or forwardings of existing conversations). * Forwarding or replying should then default to using the format of the message that is being forwarded or replied to (be it plain text or HTML). Why this should happen: 1) Politeness. If you speak English and French, and your buddy also speaks English and French, and he starts chatting to you in French, and you ignore his choice, and reply in English, when everyone knows you can speak French perfectly, then this is considered to be rude. The standard convention in communication is that where possible we continue the conversation in the same format as it was started. Trying to force a format change on someone else just feels impolite and pushy, no matter how much we may conceptually prefer plain text mail to HTML mail. 2) Maximum content preservation. If you're received something in HTML, it may well contain images, formatting, and so forth. If you're going to forward this on, it's a good idea to send on what you received. Changing the format does not do this. Preserving the existing format is also less surprising to new users. The above would still allow preferring plain text emails, but just for new conversations. Furthermore the user can always manually change a messages format when desired.
(In reply to comment #0) > Furthermore the user can always manually change a messages > format when desired. Same as now, from plain text to HTML, and those embedded pictures are "back" (more precisely, they are shown). This is very much like yours bug #550767 and the bug #481915. I tend to mark both of your bug reports as duplicates of the oldest, to not have multiple bug reports for the same thing.
*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 481915 ***
> Same as now, from plain text to HTML, and those embedded pictures are > "back" (more precisely, they are shown). Yes there is definitely a workaround, but the manual toggling should be unnecessary. I.e. changing the format should be thing that requires manual intervention, rather than the other way round, where it changes format and you need to manually change it back to what the orginal message was to get the less surprising behavior, namely getting the images back. > This is very much like yours bug #550767 I'm sorry, I clean forgot about that bug when logging this one, and only remembered it in the shower this morning, and that therefore this was a dupe, but this was marked as dupe before I got the chance to fix my mistake ... my apologies, my bad. > and the bug #481915. I'm not entirely sure that bug #481915 is the same, mostly because I don't fully understand what it's saying. However, if it does this: "the quoted part MUST be the viewed part" then that should do it. I.e. if you show an HTML message, and then reply to that or forward that, then it should show/include/quote the HTML formated bit below, and therefore the message itself must be in HTML format. At least I think that's what it's saying - and if so, then yes, that sounds logically equivalent, and I'd be happy if Evo did that.