Re[3]: Quick pre-install questions
Hello Peter, Thursday, July 29, 2004, 1:37:14 PM, you wrote: Take a look at www.calendarscope.com Will it sync with a pocket pc? -- Thanks, Terry Using the Bat! 2.12.00 under Windows XP Service Pack 1 2600 Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Quick pre-install questions
My apologies for asking these basic questions, but frankly, I'm so overwhelmed with stuff I have to do, and so sick of Outlook, that I'm looking for some quick answers. I did check at the site first, but not as thoroughly as I probably could have. So... - Is there a built-in HTML editor for email? WSYWIG? - Can I configure it to reply in plain text to all msgs, including ones that come as HTML? Does the program convert the message I'm replying to first, including quoting it in my reply if I want? Is the conversion reasonable? - Can it be configured not to fetch any images or other remote content, while still displaying HTML in msgs? - Can I write emails as HTML source code? (I don't use styled msgs very often, but if I did want to, that's a comfortable way to do it for me, since I'm a web developer.) - I'm sure it has folders for organizing email. Can folders contain other folders, and so on? - Am I right that The Bat can quote msgs in replies like this, with the author's initials: DM Message text DM More msg text - Can its import from Outlook bring in items that aren't email msgs? Specifically, 'Post In This Folder' items? - Is its address book really email-centric, or will it do for general contact management? Multiple separately labelable phone numbers? Street address, ideally more than one? Searchable categories or keywords? - Not directly about The Bat, but what are people using for calendaring? I hate Outlook, but it's currently my email, address book, and calendar, so replacing it completely means replacing all those functions. Contacts have to be in my email program to make any sense, but The Bat doesn't do appointments and stuff, right? I suppose I don't hate Outlook's calendar as much as I hate its email, so I could just keep using it for that one thing, but if there are other great alternatives for Windows, I'd love to know. Thanks very much for any help, really appreciated, Dave Merrill Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
RE: Quick pre-install questions
One more I forgot... Does The Bat handle large numbers of msgs well? I have some folders for high-volume mailing lists that have 12,000 msgs in them, even after deleting older posts. My overall Outlook file is almost half a Gig; it's bloated Micro$oft-ness I'm sure, but I do have and keep a lot of email. Is The Bat reasonably fast looking at, sorting, and threading big folders? Searching lots of msgs? And the big one: Is it *stable* at that scale? Thanks, Dave Merrill Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: Quick pre-install questions
Dear Dave, @29-Jul-2004, 09:11 -0400 (29-Jul 14:11 UK time) Dave Merrill said: - Is there a built-in HTML editor for email? WSYWIG? Yes, although it's fairly basic. TB is extremely mature as a plain text mail client and has some wonderful WYSIWYG text features. - Can I configure it to reply in plain text to all msgs, including ones that come as HTML? Yes. Does the program convert the message I'm replying to first, including quoting it in my reply if I want? Yes. Is the conversion reasonable? Hmmm. Sometimes. I get plagued by double line-feeds between paragraphs and some strange spacing effects on some HTML messages. Other times, it can go through without a glitch. I think it depends on the source. - Can it be configured not to fetch any images or other remote content, while still displaying HTML in msgs? Au-contere, it does not /ever/ 'fetch' images and has no such mode nor a switch for it. This is a security design policy decision that most users appreciate with enthusiasm. - Can I write emails as HTML source code? (I don't use styled msgs very often, but if I did want to, that's a comfortable way to do it for me, since I'm a web developer.) Hmmm - I think so. That's the best I can do, since I know of some here that do that. - I'm sure it has folders for organizing email. Can folders contain other folders, and so on? Oh yes. Very much so. I have about 200 folders nesting up to 5 levels deep in places. - Am I right that The Bat can quote msgs in replies like this, with the author's initials: DM Message text DM More msg text Yes. This is available 1) as a configuration option 2) as invoked by template macro, meaning you can vary the quote prefix method: o by account o by folder o by Address Book group o by Address Book entry simply by varying the reply templates at these levels. - Can its import from Outlook bring in items that aren't email msgs? Specifically, 'Post In This Folder' items? I have no idea - perhaps someone else can answer this. - Is its address book really email-centric, Yes... but or will it do for general contact management? Multiple separately labelable phone numbers? Street address, ideally more than one? Searchable categories or keywords? It has all of these features. - Not directly about The Bat, but what are people using for calendaring? I hate Outlook, but it's currently my email, address book, and calendar, so replacing it completely means replacing all those functions. Contacts have to be in my email program to make any sense, but The Bat doesn't do appointments and stuff, right? Well, it does have a fairly sophisticated scheduler. It is email-centric, but can do launches, popups and document creations on event triggers. I suppose I don't hate Outlook's calendar as much as I hate its email, so I could just keep using it for that one thing, but if there are other great alternatives for Windows, I'd love to know. Thanks very much for any help, really appreciated, I hope that's helped. -- Cheers -- //.arck D Pearlstone --List moderator and fellow end user TB! v2.12.03 on Windows XP 5.1.2600 Service Pack 1 ' pgphsTlvkWzz7.pgp Description: PGP signature Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: Quick pre-install questions
Dear Dave, @29-Jul-2004, 09:20 -0400 (29-Jul 14:20 UK time) Dave Merrill said: One more I forgot... Does The Bat handle large numbers of msgs well? I have some folders for high-volume mailing lists that have 12,000 msgs in them, even after deleting older posts. Huh! Is that all??? My overall Outlook file is almost half a Gig; it's bloated Micro$oft-ness I'm sure, but I do have and keep a lot of email. Is The Bat reasonably fast looking at, sorting, and threading big folders? Searching lots of msgs? Jumping into a folder with more that 10,000 mails can make TB pause for a moment, especially if it's threaded and you have configured the view for that folder to have all threads expanded by default. And the big one: Is it *stable* at that scale? I have nearly 170,000 messages in my working account and in excess of 250,000 messages in my archive. Stable as a rock and has been so for years. -- Cheers -- //.arck D Pearlstone --List moderator and fellow end user TB! v2.12.03 on Windows XP 5.1.2600 Service Pack 1 ' pgpIWuXywjqgl.pgp Description: PGP signature Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
RE: Quick pre-install questions
Thanks, great info (:-). Interleaved... - Can it be configured not to fetch any images or other remote content, while still displaying HTML in msgs? Au-contere, it does not /ever/ 'fetch' images and has no such mode nor a switch for it. This is a security design policy decision that most users appreciate with enthusiasm. Me too, kind of, or rather, I want to control it. I *don't* want what the version of Outlook I'm using does, which is to always display images, contacting the sender's server and letting them know I'm here. But I would like to see images when I choose to, both full HTML pages with images from companies I want to hear from, and specific image enclosures I select. Are you saying it *won't* display remote images, even if I want it to for the individual msg I've viewing I thought The Bat did have some viewing capability, as mentioned here, from the site: The Bat! has built-in image viewer supporting GIF, PNG, BMP, ICO, WMF, EMF and JPEG formats. You don't have to wait until an external image viewer gets loaded. - Can I write emails as HTML source code? (I don't use styled msgs very often, but if I did want to, that's a comfortable way to do it for me, since I'm a web developer.) Hmmm - I think so. That's the best I can do, since I know of some here that do that. Is there a 'View HTML Source' or 'Edit HTML Source Code' menu item or button, something like that? - Not directly about The Bat, but what are people using for calendaring? Well, it does have a fairly sophisticated scheduler. It is email-centric, but can do launches, popups and document creations on event triggers. Sorry, I wasn't very specific. Can it.. - Show monthly, weekly, and daily views, including multiple appointments on the same day, whole-day events, some events spanning multiple days? - Handle recurring events (weekly mtgs, annual birthdays etc), with reasonable control? - Pop up an alert and optionally play a sound when an appointment occurs? Can I snooze the alert for a selectable amount of time, so it reminds me again later? - Load in the typical US national holidays automatically? Thanks again, a lot, Dave Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
RE: Cut mark (was: Quick pre-install questions)
OK! @29-Jul-2004, 09:20 -0400 (29-Jul 14:20 UK time) Dave Merrill said: Oh yes - sorry to do this! Just a little nudge... Dave Merrill moderator Note: This moderator's interjection is a note to all readers and not just to the person being replied to, even if their post may have instigated this reply. Please don't feel singled out Dave. ° Please include a signature delimiter in your messages. This consists of a dashdashspacereturn, i.e., a '-- ' by itself on a line. This allows your readers, when replying, to quote your text without the signature and list footers since everything below and including the sig delimiter is excluded when quoting. You can easily automate this process by including the sig delimiter in your templates. Even if you barely have a signature to speak of, that doesn't make any difference to whether or not you need a cut mark. You are being courteous to other readers since at least three lines of text is added to your signature by the list server. To find out why these MOD messages are posted to the list instead of private mail, please read the welcome message you received when you subscribed. Thank you. /moderator -- Dave Merrill Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: Quick pre-install questions
Dave Merrill, [DM] wrote: Me too, kind of, or rather, I want to control it. I *don't* want what the version of Outlook I'm using does, which is to always display images, contacting the sender's server and letting them know I'm here. But I would like to see images when I choose to, both full HTML pages with images from companies I want to hear from, and specific image enclosures I select. Are you saying it *won't* display remote images, even if I want it to for the individual msg I've viewing If the images are remote, it will not fetch them. However, if the images are with the message, it will display them in the message. I thought The Bat did have some viewing capability, as mentioned here, from the site: The Bat! has built-in image viewer supporting GIF, PNG, BMP, ICO, WMF, EMF and JPEG formats. You don't have to wait until an external image viewer gets loaded. This is true. Is there a 'View HTML Source' or 'Edit HTML Source Code' menu item or button, something like that? Not that I know of. There are ways of working around not having such a facility conveniently provided. For example one way to edit the source would be to export the message to text, edit and then import it afterwards. With a couple filters and PowerPro, a macro utility, I had these actions reduced to two button presses. I think Marck may have been referring to writing HTML messages in source format using the plain text editor. TB! will then send it off as HTML. - Show monthly, weekly, and daily views, including multiple appointments on the same day, whole-day events, some events spanning multiple days? - Handle recurring events (weekly mtgs, annual birthdays etc), with reasonable control? TB! actually does Birthdays. However, it's not heavy on the PIM functionality. Neither are there plans for this for the foreseeable future. The scheduler is for scheduling e-mail related tasks. It can be scheduled to send/check, create/send messages, open linked documents or messages or start programs. - Pop up an alert and optionally play a sound when an appointment occurs? Can I snooze the alert for a selectable amount of time, so it reminds me again later? Yes. Alerts for the above mentioned tasks can be created and set to repeat at intervals. - Load in the typical US national holidays automatically? No. :) -- Allie Martin [List Moderator and fellow end-user] The Bat! v2.12.04 on WinXP Pro (SP1) . 43% of all statistics are worthless. pgpYnvTabmtDK.pgp Description: PGP signature Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
RE: Quick pre-install questions
Thanks for your reply; interleaved. Is there a 'View HTML Source' or 'Edit HTML Source Code' menu item or button, something like that? [snip] I think Marck may have been referring to writing HTML messages in source format using the plain text editor. TB! will then send it off as HTML. So if I just write html in the normal msg editor, TB knows to send it as an html msg, not just show the html I wrote as text? That'd be ideal; I'd rather write my own html than use a smart WYSIWYG html editor. Am I understanding you right that that's what it does? TB! actually does Birthdays. However, it's not heavy on the PIM functionality. Neither are there plans for this for the foreseeable future. The scheduler is for scheduling e-mail related tasks. It can be scheduled to send/check, create/send messages, open linked documents or messages or start programs. - Pop up an alert and optionally play a sound when an appointment occurs? Can I snooze the alert for a selectable amount of time, so it reminds me again later? Yes. Alerts for the above mentioned tasks can be created and set to repeat at intervals. Can you see monthly weekly and daily views of scheduled stuff? - Load in the typical US national holidays automatically? No. :) Hmmm, might need to figure out a way around that. Could it import them from a text file, if I can find one? What do people use for calendaring outside of TB? -- Dave Merrill Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: Quick pre-install questions
Dave Merrill, [DM] wrote: So if I just write html in the normal msg editor, TB knows to send it as an html msg, not just show the html I wrote as text? That'd be ideal; I'd rather write my own html than use a smart WYSIWYG html editor. Am I understanding you right that that's what it does? Though TB! will display the message as HTML, other clients may not do so unless the headers do say that the message is in HTML format. Can you see monthly weekly and daily views of scheduled stuff? It would seem that you can view only days at a time. There's a little calendar where you can click on the date and from there look at the tasks scheduled to run on that day. Hmmm, might need to figure out a way around that. Could it import them from a text file, if I can find one? Import them to what? The scheduler is not a personal information manager. It doesn't schedule appointments, to do lists and such. The address book stores e-mail addresses and other information about the owners of these e-mail addresses. It associates templates with addresses. It just happens to store birthdays and will alert you about them, but that's about it. What do people use for calendaring outside of TB? I use 'Time and Chaos'. -- Allie Martin [List Moderator and fellow end-user] The Bat! v2.12.04 on WinXP Pro (SP1) . No good deed goes unpunished - Clare Booth Luce pgp3eRXGmMgHr.pgp Description: PGP signature Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
RE: Quick pre-install questions
So if I just write html in the normal msg editor, TB knows to send it as an html msg, not just show the html I wrote as text? That'd be ideal; I'd rather write my own html than use a smart WYSIWYG html editor. Am I understanding you right that that's what it does? Though TB! will display the message as HTML, other clients may not do so unless the headers do say that the message is in HTML format. So TB doesn't do that when it detects html in my outgoing msgs... h... Allie (only, please), would you mind trying that, sending an html email built that way to me directly? Thanks. What do people use for calendaring outside of TB? I use 'Time and Chaos'. That's what Perry said too. I checked it out a while ago, as a contact mgr and scheduler for my wife (Eudora user). I should look again, thinking only about scheduling. Thanks much, Dave Merrill Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re[2]: Quick pre-install questions
Just a quick thought popped in here. If you like to keep extensive notes on your contacts (I do as a rural church minister), the web page fields can also reference files on your local computer. I keep pastoral care notes as plain text Notepad files and reference them from The Bat!'s address book. Works a treat. Hope this helps. -- Peter in New Zealand. Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re[2]: Quick pre-install questions
Take a look at www.calendarscope.com It's shareware. I have used it for a couple of years now, and it hasn't blinked once. It's pretty well like the calendaring part of Outlook, but has more configurability. Like you can tweak and adjust the colours of events to what you want, rather than being linited to a fixed set of colours. There's heaps of other things that can be tweaked as well. If you are used to the calendar in Outlook you will love this program. I can't recommend it too highly. It sits in my task bar tray together with The Bat! all the time, and the two provide all the functionality I need to replace Outlook. (Although they don't actually interact at all.) Hope this helps. -- Peter in New Zealand. Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: Quick pre-install questions
Dave Merrill, [DM] wrote: So TB doesn't do that when it detects html in my outgoing msgs... h... Allie (only, please), would you mind trying that, sending an html email built that way to me directly? Thanks. Done and coming your way. -- Allie Martin [List Moderator and fellow end-user] The Bat! v2.12.04 on WinXP Pro (SP1) . 24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? pgpYj9LWjpepY.pgp Description: PGP signature Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
RE: Re[2]: Quick pre-install questions
Thanks, I'l check it out. Looked nice from a quick look, with the one exception that I didn't see a way to directly import my existing stuff from Outlook; maybe as text. Thanks, -- Dave Merrill Take a look at www.calendarscope.com It's shareware. I have used it for a couple of years now, and it hasn't blinked once. It's pretty well like the calendaring part of Outlook, but has more configurability. Like you can tweak and adjust the colours of events to what you want, rather than being linited to a fixed set of colours. There's heaps of other things that can be tweaked as well. If you are used to the calendar in Outlook you will love this program. I can't recommend it too highly. It sits in my task bar tray together with The Bat! all the time, and the two provide all the functionality I need to replace Outlook. (Although they don't actually interact at all.) Hope this helps. -- Peter in New Zealand. Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re[4]: Quick pre-install questions
I don't think there is any way to get data across from Outlook to Calendarscope. I went down this road when I first evaluated it. In the end I printed out the monthly display from Outlook and manually entered it all into Calendarscope. Took a few hours, but it seems worth it, for me it was anyway. A pity the author has so obviously tried to improve on the calendar module of Outlook, with some success, but didn't make it easier to migrate. On the other hand, Outlook's pst format is proprietory, which is MS speak for we don't let you fiddle with it! If you have any greater success than I did (which was a couple of years ago) I would love to know. -- Peter in New Zealand. Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
RE: Re[4]: Quick pre-install questions
I bet you're right it's not supported. It isn't true that .pst files are impenetrable though. A number of programs import from them, including The Bat if I'm not mistaken, but maybe just msgs, not calendar items. -- Dave Merrill I don't think there is any way to get data across from Outlook to Calendarscope. I went down this road when I first evaluated it. In the end I printed out the monthly display from Outlook and manually entered it all into Calendarscope. Took a few hours, but it seems worth it, for me it was anyway. A pity the author has so obviously tried to improve on the calendar module of Outlook, with some success, but didn't make it easier to migrate. On the other hand, Outlook's pst format is proprietory, which is MS speak for we don't let you fiddle with it! If you have any greater success than I did (which was a couple of years ago) I would love to know. -- Peter in New Zealand. Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
RE: Top posting (was: Quick pre-install questions)
Dave Merrill, [DM] wrote: [snip] moderator This posting violated the list rules regarding top posting. OK! Sorry! I confess to not having read the list rules cover to cover, which I probably should have done. I most likely wouldn't have kept straight which lists prefer and reject top-posting anyway though... I've been through multiple discussions about this on other lists. I personally think it's actually more efficient to put new stuff at the top, with context below for those who need and want it. But when in Rome, it's Fine By Me (:-). Thanks for your patience with my local-newbie ways. -- Dave Merrill Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
Re: Top posting (was: Quick pre-install questions)
Dave Merrill, [DM] wrote: OK! Sorry! I confess to not having read the list rules cover to cover, which I probably should have done. I most likely wouldn't have kept straight which lists prefer and reject top-posting anyway though... :) I've been through multiple discussions about this on other lists. I personally think it's actually more efficient to put new stuff at the top, with context below for those who need and want it. Yes. We've had those discussions here as well. Many times over. :) But when in Rome, it's Fine By Me (:-). This is all we ask and I really appreciate your willingness to go along with us on this one. Thanks for your patience with my local-newbie ways. Sure. I always send interjections to newbies with some amount of suspense. The reactions are quite varied and unpredictable at times. :) -- Allie Martin [List Moderator and fellow end-user] The Bat! v2.12.04 on WinXP Pro (SP1) . Health is the slowest rate at which one can die. pgpQNyl7y50Ik.pgp Description: PGP signature Current version is 2.12.00 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
