Sending Files to the Webmaster

When sending files to the webmaster, please don't attach files to your email messages.

I know that request seems counter-intuitive in this age of computers, but here's why this is undesirable...
 

1. Everyone has a different word processor and different word processors save files in different encoded formats.  If the webmaster doesn't have the same word processor you do, or even the same version of the word processor, he/she often can't read the file you sent.
2. Even if the webmaster manages to read the file, the page/paragraph formatting options (tabs, bold, italics, etc.) don't always translate.  The webmaster ends up with a file that doesn't look anything like its appearance in your word processor.
3. To publish your work, the webmaster has to put the files you send into ASCII text format for purposes of adding HTML codes.  It's best if they don't have guess at what formatting options to ignore, change, etc.
 

Then what do I do instead?

The solution is to take the lowest common denominator approach.  That's the "copy and paste" method. Copy the text out of your word processor and paste it into the body of the email message. If you are using Windows 3.1, Windows95, or WindowsNT, here are the steps:
 
1. Open your email program and start a message to the webmaster.  Don't send it yet.
2. Open the file in question into your word processor.
3. Highlight the complete text of the file:

Click your left mouse button at the very fist character in the file
Scroll down to the bottom of the file
Press the shift key and click your left mouse button at the very end of the file
You should see the entire text of your file highlighted in reverse-video.
4. Press ctrl-C (i.e. press the control key and the C key at the same time). This causes the highlighted text to be "copied" into your Windows paste buffer.
5. Go back to your email program where you started a message to the webmaster in step 1.
6. Place your cursor at the beginning of the message area.
7. Press ctrl-V (i.e. press the control key and the V key at the same time). This causes the text that you copied from the word processor to be "pasted" into the body of your email message.

Copyright © 1996, 1997 Jean Suplick Matuson. All rights reserved.