Charlie Summers wrote:
At 12:50 PM -0400 10/25/00, ZENIT News Agency is rumored to have typed:
Remember that we're in the Microsoft era. I just checked -- Netscape 4.0+ will filter on body, but not arbitrary headers
Er...I just checked Communicator 4.5/Mac (note I do _not_ use this for email, and don't even have email preferences set), and in the "Message Filters" window when creating or editing a filter, when selecting from the first popup (defaults to "subject") the last entry is "Customize..." which brings up a "Customize" window allowing you to enter _any_ header field name you'd like;
<snip> You're correct. In the WIN32 versions, there's an "Advanced" button (which is not in the most intuitive spot, but is there).
<snip>
Outlook and its derivatives are similar.
You're telling me that a modern Microsoft application cannot perform the functions of a 1997 application from another company?
Explain to me again slowly why anyone uses it?
Well, when you buy a computer, install any piece of Microsoft software (even if utterly unrelated to the Internet), or touch the C key (exaggeration), these programs get installed in your computer and then try to harass you into "selecting" them as the defaults... Actually sometimes the "selection" is automatic. On the other hand, if I want to use any other program, I have to specifically go get it. Ergo, people use what they have.
the problem being solved by the recipe is a real one.
I disagree; the problem appears to be within this one application, not the mailing list. There is no valid reason for using damaged software. (I have to tell you, I am somewhat in shock that even a company as inattentive to its customers' needs as Microsoft cannot do something as mind-numbingly simple as this. Are you _certain_ it cannot filter on X-* headers?
I can't find the function in Outlook Express. The filtering dialog is very simplistic -- though you can specify not to even download certain messages (leading to a full mailbox on the server and lost email from bounces, I suppose). It can filter on the "normal" From, to, CC, etc.... And there's no "Advanced" or "Customize" option in the dialog. It's conceivable that this function is buried somewhere in a menu, but I have my doubts. Actually, Microsoft is very "anti-header" in general. If you want to even SEE the headers (other than To, From; Subject, and CC), you've got to right-click the message, select Properties, move over to another tab /Details), and there you get a small window with the headers, which you can't cut and paste, and often have to right-scroll to see. When I was training another to use SmartList, this made for a quite difficult time... (I said to look for the confirmation header, and they said it didn't exist, etc.) And you've got to insert a recipe into SmartList to use X-Commands, since these clients won't insert custom headers. I did a header search on X-Mailer to check my recent mails, and 131 out of 597 included "Outlook" in that field... Maybe people are actually smartening up and leaving the M$ clients behind (or only smart people write to me :-) ) Anyway, there are various categories of lists. If you're running a high-level discussion, perhaps you can make demands of your users to be able to subscribe (which client to use etc.). Others who are trying to build a discussion, might have to "pander" to the lowest common denominator in order to build up a community.