[OT] quoting text

[Steven Schveighoffer]

On Sat, 13 Jun 2009 10:51:56 -0400, Stewart Gordon <smjg_1998 at yahoo.com>  
wrote:

> Saaa wrote:
>>> I guess it depends on your style.  If you respond to the entire  
>>> message,
>>> then putting at the top makes sense, because then you can read the  
>>> response quickly, and read the history below if you want.
>
> If I want to read the whole message you're replying to, I can open up  
> the mesasge you're replying to in my newsreader.

Yes, but there are some issues there:

1. the newsgroup/newsreader sometimes doesn't correctly put your message  
as a reply to the original.
2. You may not read messages threaded, so it might be tough to find the  
original message.
3. You almost ALWAYS want to read the immediately responded-to message for  
context (i.e. quote level 1), I am annoyed when I have to close the  
message I was reading to read the one responded to.  Especially when I am  
following 5 threads at once.

I can see arguments for both methods.  I use both, but only really the  
second method for newsgroups.  I'm not sure why, but it just feels more  
natural.

> <snip>
>>> But if you want to respond point-by-point, then going below makes  
>>> sense. You can respond to each point, then have your main point at the  
>>> bottomm of the message.
>> Who would do that!
>
> Anybody who is well-educated on how to use newsgroups?

Gee, I don't remember having newsgroups 101 in school :P  In fact, I don't  
think I ever received education from anyone.  I just do what feels  
natural, and what makes sense.

>>> My email clients always put quoted text below.  However, my news  
>>> client always quotes above.
> <snip>
>
> Below/above what?
>
> - the cursor?
Yes

> - one or more blank lines?
Yes

> - your signature?
Yes

> - the message you typed, after you hit the send button?
No, the quoted text appears as I type my message.

> I for one would like to see newsreaders that will, at least as a pref,  
> put the cursor above the quoted text and blank lines/sig below.  This  
> sets the user ready to work down the message, trimming it down and  
> inserting reply text where it fits.  See
> https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=227376

That sounds like a feature I would use.  I think another good feature  
would probably be to limit the quoted text to N levels (do you need 5  
levels of context to make your point?).

I do want to say that It doesn't bother me what people do, I just find it  
interesting how different social tools evolve in different directions,  
even when the interface is pretty much identical.

-Steve