can [QUOTE] blocks be trimmed from emailed message previews?

metaed · 01-04-2024, 11:41 AM

Message previews are very useful when they preview enough of the new post to let you know whether or not to click the link.

The LQ Spy message previews are great at this because they trim [QUOTE] blocks. The preview begins at the new content. For example, here's a great LQ Spy message preview:

Code:

New Post   glupa4e   Today 14:00   Slackware 15 64 - doublecmd fails to install                        Slackware
                                   installing libqtpas fixed the issue for me (140 views, 5 replies)

But email notifications of new posts include [QUOTE] blocks in the preview, and because those generally come first, that is all you see. It makes 90% of previews unhelpful. For example, here is the unhelpful message preview for the same post used in the first example:

Code:

Dear metaed,

glupa4e has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - [SOLVED] Slackware 15 64 - doublecmd fails to install - in the Slackware forum of LinuxQuestions.org.

Here is the message that has just been posted:
***************
---Quote (Originally by metaed)---
Are you looking for https://slackbuilds.org/repository/1...ies/libqtpas/?
"This package provides the libq
***************

wpeckham · 01-04-2024, 04:19 PM

[QUOTE=metaed;6474578]Message previews are very useful when they preview enough of the new post to let you know whether or not to click the link.

The LQ Spy message previews are great at this because they trim [QUOTE] blocks. The preview begins at the new content. For example, here's a great LQ Spy message preview:

Code:

New Post   glupa4e   Today 14:00   Slackware 15 64 - doublecmd fails to install                        Slackware
                                   installing libqtpas fixed the issue for me (140 views, 5 replies)

But email notifications of new posts include

Quote:

blocks in the preview, and because those generally come first, that is all you see. It makes 90% of previews unhelpful. For example, here is the unhelpful message preview for the same post used in the first example:

Code:

Dear metaed,

glupa4e has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - [SOLVED] Slackware 15 64 - doublecmd fails to install - in the Slackware forum of LinuxQuestions.org.

Here is the message that has just been posted:
***************
---Quote (Originally by metaed)---
Are you looking for https://slackbuilds.org/repository/1...ies/libqtpas/?
"This package provides the libq
***************

If that can be done it will be because it is supported by your email client or reader. Whatever renders the email for viewing has control here, so that is what you must leverage.
Note that there is no IEEE standard for how to include or render quotes, so different tools may do it differently. This makes it a non-trivial problem for the team maintaining the email clients and most simply do not address this as an issue.

boughtonp · 01-08-2024, 05:18 PM

This...

Quote:

Originally Posted by wpeckham

If that can be done it will be because it is supported by your email client or reader.

...is nonsense.

Metaed is not asking for anything that can be solved by their email client, they are asking for the content of LQ-generated email to use the same functionality as used by the previews on the LQ Spy page.

It is entirely possible doing so is a trivial case of changing a single function call in one file - though it might also be more involved; only someone with access to the LQ source code can say for sure.

Aside: Note how, rather than quote an entire message, I trimmed the above quote to a small relevant part, (and with slightly different wording I could have omitted it entirely without any loss of clarity). Also, after posting, I will spend a second to glance at my post and see if for any reason it might benefit from editing... (spoiler: it did)