Okay, well I'm not sure if I'm right about the plain text and HTML part, but I think I am. Correct me if I'm way off, please
Well, isn't it right that when composing an e-mail you do so in plain text, right? But you can change it to HTML though? I would like to know how to do that. Could anyone please tell me, pretty please?
Also, could you list the different e-mail hosting providers that use HTML and the others that use plain text?
To change preferences for using plain text or HTML when composing emails, open Thunderbird and go to Tools, and then Account Settings. Go to Composition and Addressing on your account. There is a checkbox for telling it to always compose your emails in HTML. Uncheck it and it will compose in plain text by default.
Also, you can select to change the views of individual messages by going to View, then Message Bady As and selecting one of the listed views there.
Thank you very much.
The underlying email transport on the Internet handles HTML mail ok. It is mail reading programs that do strange things with it.
One bad thing that HTML mail can do is run scripts that trigger bugs in those mail programs to compromise your computer. Why a mail program would let a script in a mail message do that, is one of the questions of the last couple of decades.
HTML mail also takes more effort to process, scan for junk, and so forth. Plain text mail usually gets the message across with less fuss.
It may seem counterintuitive, but there are lots of non-obvious reasons why plain text is better than HTML mail. You're free to ignore them, of course, but it's good to know what it is you are ignoring. (I compose in HTML from time to time, but I find it faster and simpler for day-to-day stuff to use plain text.)
MC