At 8:18 AM -0500 11/12/01, Mike is rumored to have typed:

It appears that the latest version of AOL does not allow you send in plain text format.

Depends on what version you mean. If you mean 6.0, it's tough, but there are some work-arounds; if you mean 7.0, it's a _little_ easier.

Either way, see:

http://members.aol.com/adamkb/aol/mailfaq/#aol6html

And to explain to your users why HTML mail is silly and how to fix it on a by-client basis, send them to:

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/1236/nomime.html

I have been blocking plain text for some time and do not want to change this.

He, he...I like that typo. I assume you're blocking NON-plain text. (But it would be a hoot to see a list that REQUIRED web pages to be sent...)

Does anyone know of any work around for this? Maybe RTF->plain conversion?

RTF (Rich Text Format) and HTML are two entirely different things; what you're looking for is demime if you're going to clean multipart/alternitive or text/html mail on the server end. See:

http://scifi.squawk.com/demime.html

...for more information.

Charlie (who doesn't run demime, instead expecting his subscribers to send plain text)

Mike, You need to have your members follow these instructions.

To force AOL 6.0 to send plain text email:

1. Change your global email preferences (only needs to be done once): a. Go to Keyword: Preferences (or choose Preferences from the Settings menu on the AOL 6.0 toolbar). b. Click on Font, Text, & Graphics Preferences. c. Click on the Reset button at the bottom of the resulting window. Do not make any changes in the Font Preferences area of the window. d. Click on the Save button.

2. Change a specific email to plain text (must be done for every email): a. Compose and address the email as desired. b. Choose Select All from the Edit menu to highlight the entire message. c. With the mouse arrow somewhere over the highlighted text, click the Right mouse button, revealing a contextual menu (AKA Right-Click). d. Choose Normal from the Text menu. e. Taking care not to make any further changes to the message, send it.

Note that changing the text to normal will eliminate the "blue bar" quoted text indicator, but will not remove some HTML elements of the quoted text. The entire quoted section must be deleted (or simply not quoted in the first place), followed by the re-entry of the text quoted manually, prior to changing the text to normal. Changing the text to normal will also eliminate any styled text that would have been seen by AOL recipients of the message, which cannot be re-added. Testing also suggests that messages with hyperlinks cannot be converted to normal text, requiring the prior removal of the link.

If this process is unappealing, other options include reverting to a prior version of AOL or using AOL Mail via the web. http://www.aol.com/aolmail/

The "Customer Care" folks at AOL offer the following solution: Use AOL Mail on the Web (http://www.aol.com/) to send mail to Internet addresses that don't allow formatting - AOL Mail on the Web sends mail as plain text only.

Jeff

www.9-11-2001tragedy.com Order your tip CD today. Filled with TV, VCR, camcorder tips and more. Version 3.0, ready, with more tips, user friendly program. $49.00 for CD(+shipping), plus first year of tip updates. www.tech-repair.net www.intrepid-video.com Many more monitor tips added! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike" mike@midicase.com To: smartlist@Lists.RWTH-Aachen.DE Sent: Monday, November 12, 2001 8:18 AM Subject: AO-Hell

It appears that the latest version of AOL does not allow you send in plain text format. I have been blocking plain text for some time and do not want to change this. Does anyone know of any work around for this? Maybe RTF->plain conversion?

No biggie if I can't, just checking.

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