Reply vs Followup

[Mike Easter]

Recently a 'dispute' developed in another newsgroup over whether or not
Tb has a configuration in which Reply serves to Followup to a newsgroup.
To my surprise, it is possible to configure Tb that way.

If the Mail Toolbar is enabled, which it is by default, it can be
customized by a R click. In customization mode, one can drag a Reply
button into the Mail Toolbar. There is no option to drag a Followup
button into the Mail Toolbar.

Now that the reconfigured Mail Toolbar has a Reply button, it can be
used to Followup to a newsgroup message. This role of the Reply term is
inconsistent with all of the other ways and places that one can use
Followup or Reply such as the message pane header buttons, the Message
menu item, or the thread pane message R click context menu items.

I'm not bugzilla-capable or inclined.


--
Mike Easter

[David E. Ross]

Technically, the response to a newsgroup message is a Followup per RFC
5536. According to that RFC, a Reply (actually Reply-To) for a
newsgroup message would go as E-mail to the sender. However, this
terminology creates some small confusion since that RFC also specifies
Followup-To, which changes, limits, or otherwise controls where
responses are sent.

I have the Toolbar Buttons extension installed, which expands the
repertoire of buttons that I can put on my Thunderbird tool bar or menu
bar. None of those buttons, however, are named Followup; and no such
button is available through that extension's set of optional buttons.
The default -- without the extension -- remains a Reply button. When
responding to a newsgroup message, that Reply button acts as a Followup
(not Followup-To) button.

I happen to prefer the current situation. When responding to a
newsgroup message, my thought-process is as if I were replying. To me,
a followup would expand on the information contained in the message to
which I am responding; but not all responses are such expansions.

--
David E. Ross
<http://www.rossde.com/>.

Is it true that Donald Trump refuses to reveal his
income tax returns because he uses so many questionable
loopholes that he pays no taxes? See
<http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/06/15/new-evidence-donald-trump-didn-t-pay-taxes.html>.

[Brian]

On Sun, 3 Jul 2016 10:26:32 -0700, "David E. Ross"
<nob...@nowhere.invalid> wrote:

>Is it true that Donald Trump refuses to reveal his
>income tax returns because he uses so many questionable
>loopholes that he pays no taxes? See

Another specious argument. "Loopholes" are also known as tax laws and
regulations. If Trump adhered to the law, there is nothing
"questionable" about it. If you don't like the laws, petition your
lawmakers to change them.

With so many truthful criticisms to broadcast about Trump, why do
you insist on circulating insinuations and speculation?

Please meet me in Mozilla.general to discuss this further.

[Mike Easter]

David E. Ross wrote:

> Mike Easter wrote:

>> Now that the reconfigured Mail Toolbar has a Reply button, it can
>> be used to Followup to a newsgroup message. This role of the Reply
>> term is inconsistent with all of the other ways and places that one
>> can use Followup or Reply such as the message pane header buttons,
>> the Message menu item, or the thread pane message R click context
>> menu items.

> The default -- without the extension -- remains a Reply button. When
> responding to a newsgroup message, that Reply button acts as a
> Followup (not Followup-To) button.

I object to this inconsistency and believe that it is a fault/ bug/
flaw/ developer misconstruction.

Reply should be consistent in its distinction from Followup instead of
different in just one place.


--
Mike Easter

[Ron K.]

The button in the header bar of the message pane is a Smart Button,
switching from Reply if mail is the source and Followup when news is the
source. This was a bug fix that landed a few years ago and generated a lot
of controversy.

--
Ron K.
Thunderbird user since May, 2003

[Jim Porter]

On 07/03/2016 09:47 AM, Mike Easter wrote:
> Now that the reconfigured Mail Toolbar has a Reply button, it can be
> used to Followup to a newsgroup message. This role of the Reply term is
> inconsistent with all of the other ways and places that one can use
> Followup or Reply such as the message pane header buttons, the Message
> menu item, or the thread pane message R click context menu items.

You're right that it's inconsistent. However, that's how the Mail
Toolbar's reply button has worked for a long time. When I added the
"Followup" button (so that Thunderbird would finally use the correct
naming), I opted to keep the old Mail Toolbar button the same, since
it's purely a legacy UI for people who don't like change.

Still, I've thought about adjusting the Mail Toolbar's reply buttons as
well. If I can come up with a good way to satisfy the legacy folks while
being consistent with the new UI, I will.

- Jim

[B00ze]

I'm with David, I am really really really used to hitting Reply in the
main (Mail) Toolbar to "followUp" in newsgroups. I never use the buttons
in the header pane; I'm old school maybe but I think buttons belong up
top. But there's no reason you can't make the reply button in the main
toolbar a "smart" button just like in the header pane, ie. it turns into
FollowUp when you're reading news, and has a dropdown menu where you can
go pick Reply if you want to send the reply directly to the author
rather than followUp. My Reply button in the Mail Toolbar actually
already has a drop-down menu (from some addOn?) where I can pick Plain
Text or HTML reply, so I'm already used to going to the dropdown for
other associated functions...

Regards,

--
! _\|/_ Sylvain / B00...@hotmail.com
! (o o) Member:David-Suzuki-Fdn/EFF/Red+Cross/SPCA/Planetary-Society
oO-( )-Oo Windows error 0C Memory hog error, more RAM needed! More!

[Tanstaafl]

On 7/4/2016 10:45 PM, B00ze <B00...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> But there's no reason you can't make the reply button in the main
> toolbar a "smart" button just like in the header pane, ie. it turns into
> FollowUp when you're reading news,

and turns into 'Reply List' when reading list messages.

I would sure appreciate your voting for my feature enhancement to make
the 'Smart Reply' button available to other/all toolbars:

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=868961

[B00ze]

I voted for the bug, thanks.

Best Regards,

--
! _\|/_ Sylvain / B00...@hotmail.com
! (o o) Member:David-Suzuki-Fdn/EFF/Red+Cross/SPCA/Planetary-Society

oO-( )-Oo No Keyboard Error, Press F1 to continue...