2019-06-26: Composing better emails

[iridakos]

Feel free to write any comments you have for the post Composing better emails

[ponsfrilus]

@iridakos Great post! I also think that text emails are much more readable than HTML email, and I like when people answer under your email using small and efficient quotes of the previous one. Who's remember the netiquette ?

[iridakos]

Thank you @ponsfrilus !

Sometimes I prefer text emails too but there are cases in which HTML ones do provide some convenience for the readers especially when the body contains links.

I didn't know about the netiquette guidelines 👍

Thank you for your feedback!

[ParthibanHaridhas]

All the 5 tips with the before and after examples are good.
If you specify the serial number like 1, 2, 3, ... before each tip, it may trigger the reader that it has only 5 tips and not a big article :-). Just my opinion since i tend to postpone/avoid reading long articles.

[alfredbez]

In the example 'Emphasize text with bold/underlined font' you changed 'Jira' to 'Redmine'. I guess that's a mistake or does Redmine really makes your mails better :-)

[iridakos]

@alfredbez Hehe! Thank you for pointing this out, just fixed that 👍 👍 👍

[nodefive]

Awesome idea... I've tried oh boy for so many years. But it will never happen. When 99.9999999999% of the people that email me email me their emails look like TRASH. Like a bad mojo old viagra pills ads.

There is no formatting whatsoever, links (hahahaha links) or any organization. Sometimes I receive emails with a long long chain of replies, it is really difficult to find out what happens as some write on the top, others on the bottom, and some crazy ones just open an space in the middle with an ENTER, and write it there.

These people should loose their "Email Licenses" and pay a heavy "Time Wastage" fee, and also receive 3 slaps on their faces as a punishment for their email crimes.

No matter how hard I try, how I format entire conversations to show them how much easier it is to get a concise, organized email thread, they keep their ways. It's like they all have a big Texas sized "F**K IT" button. And they use it like there is no tomorrow.

[kagahd]

Very well written @iridakos , thank you!
While reading your post I discovered that I'm using these guidelines already unconsciously for important mails or documentations. However, it's really good to see them explicitly written down, so I may share them easily with my colleagues. 👍

[iridakos]

@nodefive 🤣

@kagahd Thank you very much!

[iridakos]

@ParthibanHaridhas Hi and thank you for your feedback.

I have a table of contents on the right that gives an overview of the post so that readers get an idea of its size.

I didn't want to use numbers also to avoid being interpreted as some kind of grading of each rule (ex. the first one is more important compared to the last one etc).

[lproven]

Whereas the points about writing clearly and succinctly are well-made, I submit that they are also fairly obvious.

As for the formatting advice, I strongly disagree. My arguments are summarised here, and please note, not by myself.

https://useplaintext.email/

[ponsfrilus]

@lproven Thanks for sharing that link!

[call-me-zip]

As someone who has been accused of sending long emails for important subjects, I like your suggestions! I already use some of them, but there is room for improvement in my emails. I will say that nothing drives me more bonkers than when my audience didn't bother to read what I thought was an informative, comprehensive email. For the record, I try to only author lengthy emails when I think it is necessary to include the info (with links) I think the reader needs to make a decision or authorize an action right from the email (so they don't have to go hunt down such info). PS - nice cats (I'm more a dog person, but can still appreciate your love for your cats).

[iridakos]

Thank you @call-me-zip!

Long emails written properly are very useful, I agree with your points.