We've all seen plenty of emails that appear to have grown thorns from having been forwarded a few too many times. The "thorns" are all those little "greater-than" arrows ">>>>>". Maybe the email was good enough that you forwarded it without stopping to think about the fact the you'd added yet another set of arrows, or maybe you just don't know how to get rid of them. Maybe you've heard that they make software for this, if a software solution sounds good to you, then you're on the wrong page. You should stop reading this and switch to my
Free Email-Email Tools page, but if you just hate downloading software, no problem, read on. I'm going to show you how to lose the forwarding arrows and clean up the email without downloading any special software or going to a great deal of trouble either.
In writing this tutorial, I'm going to assume that you're using a Windows system, and that your email client is Outlook Express. The basic tool I'll be using is WordPad, which comes with every Windows system. If you're using another system or email software, don't despair, you'll need a simple word program to do the editing, and you'll have to make a few adjustments to "translate" these instructions for your system so you might learn something useful here anyway.
First, Let's assume you've received an email that's full of extra addresses and forwarding arrows. You read it, you liked it, and you want to send it to another friend. The first step is to save the email in a format that's easy to manipulate. The most basic text format is called a "text file", and to convert this email into a text file we will use the "Save As" feature in our email client, by clicking on "File" and "Save As"
Next you must decide where to save the file (making a note, or keeping the location in mind, so you can find it later), and click on the little down arrow, next to the file type, selecting "Text Files (*.txt)" from the drop down menu.
Confirm that your selected file type is actually showing in the window, and hit "Save"
Here's a text file I saved from my email. I've edited out the actual email addresses and replaced the carriage returns with their HTML equivalent so that the text appears here exactly as it does in the text file I saved.
From: "Some Friend" <some_friend@yahoo.com>
To: "Don Crowder" <whatever@address.com>
Subject: i have learned
Date: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 5:46 PM
and too all my friends > > > > > >> >> I've learned....>> That the best
classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.>> >> >> >>
I've
learned....>> That when you're in love, it shows.>> >> >> I've
learned....>>
That just one person saying to me, "You've made my day!" makes my
day.>> >>
>> >> >> >> >> I've learned....>> That having a child fall asleep in
your
arms is one of the most peaceful >> feelings in the world.>> >> >> >>
I've
learned....>> That being kind is more important than being right.>> >>
>> >>
I've learned....>> That you should never say "no" to a gift from a
child.>>
>> >> >> I've learned....>> That I can always pray for someone when I
don't
have the strength to help >> him in some other way.>> >> >> I've
learned....>> That no matter how serious your life requires you to be,
everyone needs a >> friend to act goofy with.>> >> >> I've
learned....>> That
sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to >>
understand.>> >> >> >> >> I've learned....>> That simple walks with my
father
around the block on summer nights when I >> was a child did wonders for
me as
an adult.>> >> >> >> I've learned....>> That life is like a roll of
toilet
paper. The closer it gets to the end, >> the faster it goes.>> >> >> >>
I've
learned....>> That we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we
ask
for.>> >> >> >> I've learned....>> That money doesn't buy class.>> >>
>> >>
I've learned....>> That it's those small daily happenings that make
life so
spectacular.>> >> >> >> >> I've learned...>> That under everyone's hard
shell
is someone who wants to be appreciated >> and loved.>> >> >> >> >> I've
learned....>> That the Lord didn't do it all in one day. What makes me
think
I can?>> >> >> I've learned....>> That to ignore the facts does not
change
the facts.>> >> >> >> >> >> I've learned....>> That when you plan to
get even
with someone, you are only letting that >> person continue to hurt
you.>> >>
>> >> I've learned....>> That love, not time, heals all wounds.>> >> >>
>>
I've learned....>> That the easiest way for me to grow as a person is
to
surround myself with >> people smarter than I am.>> >> >> I've
learned....>>
That everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.>> >> >> >>
I've
learned....>> That there's nothing sweeter than sleeping with your
babies and
feeling >> their breath on your cheeks.>> >> >> >> >> >> I've
learned....>>
That no one is perfect until you fall in love with them.>> >> >> I've
learned....>> That life is tough, but I'm tougher.>> >> >> >> >> >>
I've
learned....>> That opportunities are never lost; someone will take the
ones
you miss.>> >> >> >> >> >> I've learned....>> That when you harbor
bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.>> >> >> >> >> I've
learned....>>
That I wish I could have told my Dad that I love him one more time
before >>
he passed away.>> >> >> >> I've learned....>> That one should keep his
words
both soft and tender, because tomorrow he >> may have to eat them.>> >>
>> >>
>> I've learned....>> That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve
your
looks.>> >> >> >> >> >> I've learned....>> That I can't choose how I
feel,
but I can choose what I do about it.>> >> >> I've learned....>> That
when
your newly born child holds your little finger in his little >> fist,
that
you're hooked for life.>> >> >> I've learned....>> That everyone wants
to
live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness >> and growth occurs
while
you're climbing it.>> >> >> >> I've learned ...>> That it is best to
give
advice in only two circumstances; when it is >> requested and when it
is a
life threatening situation.>> >> >> >> I've learned....>> That the less
time
I have to work with, the more things I get done.>> >> >> >> To all of
you...
Make sure you read all the way down to the last sentence.>> >> It's
National
Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care. Send >> this to
everyone you consider a FRIEND, even if it means sending it back >> to
the
person who sent it to you. If it comes back to you, then you'll >>
know you
have a circle of friends.>> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> HAPPY FRIENDSHIP WEEK
TO
YOU!!!!!! >> >> YOU ARE MY FRIEND AND I AM HONORED!>> >> >> >> >> > > >
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! News - Today's headlines |
Pretty messy huh? Next, I'm going to open WordPad, and use it to open the text file. WordPad won't show me the text files in a folder by default, it's looking for documents made with MS Word, with a .doc extension, but I can force it to show the the text files, which it can also open, by selecting "Text Documents (*.txt)" from the drop down menu in the file opening dialog box. First I click on "File" and "Open"
Next I select "Text Documents (*.txt)" from the drop down menu.
Notice the folder, where I saved my text file, appears empty in the image above. As soon as I selected for text files, my file appeared in the window, I clicked on it, and clicked "Open", and WordPad opened the text file.
First, working in WordPad, I highlighted the unnecessary text at the top and bottom of the email and hit the delete key to remove it.
Skip this little paragraph if you already know how to highlight: To highlight text, place your cursor behind the first character you want to remove and hold the right mouse button down while you slide the cursor, with your mouse, to the last character you want to remove. The text will highlight as you pass over it. If you don't get it right the first time, then click anywhere that isn't hightlighted and the highlighting will "go away", permitting you to set the cursor and try again. Once you've highlighted all the text you want to remove, just hit the delete key and that text will disappear. Sometimes, don't ask me why, Windows refuses to cooperate and will highlight a few extra characters which you don't want to delete. You can "fight with it" until you get it right, but sometimes it's easier to just delete the characters and retype them.
What to delete: You have to call your own shot on this one. Lots of neat little stories I get in my email have religious messages at the end, warnings about dire consequences that will befall me if I don't forward them, suggestions about how many people I should forward it to, or other information that the story doesn't need to give it value. For my part, I always remove this kind of information. A good story should have the right to stand on it's own merit without being used as a vehicle to convey a religious message, and I'm perfectly capable of deciding whether or not I want to forward it, while I'm not worried about having a run of evil luck if I decline to forward it. Frankly I have a deep and abiding faith, however naïve it may be, in justice, so I suspect that the person who writes a message like that at the end of an email is the one who's going to suffer all the bad luck.
So, I deleted all the useless bits of my text file, by highlighting them and hitting the "Delete" key, now I want to get rid of all those arrows. Look the document over carefully to see if the arrows have any sort of pattern. In this document they all seem to be in little groups of two arrows ">>" so I highlighted the first group of arrows in the document
Next, I clicked on "Edit" and "Replace".
This opens the replace dialog window, with the highlighted characters already showing in the "Find what:" box.
Leave the "Replace with:" box empty and click on "Replace All". Wordpad will replace all the little arrows with "nothing", just as you've told it, and replacing them with "nothing" removes them from the document.
Now you have to do a little "light housekeeping" to make your document look a little neater, taking out some extra spaces and such, but when you're finished, your document will look pretty good. I replaced the words "I have learned... That" with "nothing", and did a little extra editing to come up with this:
1. The best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.
2. When you're in love, it shows.
3. Just one person saying to me, "You've made my day!" makes my day.
4. Having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.
5. Being kind is more important than being right.
6. You should never say "no" to a gift from a child.
7. I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way.
8. No matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.
9. Sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.
10. Simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.
11. Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.
12. We should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.
13. Money doesn't buy class.
14. It's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.
15. Under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.
16. The Lord didn't do it all in one day. What makes me think I can?
17. To ignore the facts does not change the facts.
18. When you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.
19. Love, not time, heals all wounds.
20. The easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.
21. Everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.
22. There's nothing sweeter than sleeping with your babies and feeling their breath on your cheeks.
23. No one is perfect until you fall in love with them.
24. Life is tough, but I'm tougher.
25. Opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.
26. When you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.
27. I wish I could have told my Dad that I love him one more time before he passed away.
28. One should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.
29. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
30. I can't choose how I feel, but I can choose what I do about it.
31. When your newly born child holds your little finger in his little fist, that you're hooked for life.
32. Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.
33. I've learned that it is best to give advice in only two circumstances; when it is requested and when it is a life threatening situation.
34. The less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.
|
The important thing is to save your work, by clicking on "Save" rather than "Save As" because this will overwrite your text file with your edited text. Remember, you can't change fonts, font sizes or font colors when you're editing this in WordPad, even though Wordpad will permit it, because that's not information that can be saved in a text file.
Once you've saved your edited text file, you can email the text file very easily by opening a new email in Outlook Express, clicking on "Insert" and "Text From File"
Be sure your cursor is in the compose field (where it would be if you were going to type the email) when you do this. If the cursor is in the address or subject line, the "Text From File" choice will be "grayed out", and won't work. To tell you the truth, this gets me everytime. I try to insert a text file, and Outlook won't let me, so I sit here all confused and frustrated for a minute before I remember to click my cursor in the compose field and try it again. I hate that "duh" feeling, don't you?
Select your text file, and click on "Open", and the text will appear in your email. Once the text appears in your email, you can change fonts, font sizes and colors, or add a background color if you want, unless your email is (like mine) in plain text mode. If you're not sure, look under the "Format" selection.
You can see, by the "dot" that Plain Text is selected in my email. Clicking on "Rich Text (HTML)" will switch modes and permit me to add "fancy" touches if I want.
If you're a regular user of Outlook Express Stationery, you might not be aware that the text, from a text file, will come up in the stationery's default font settings when it's inserted into a stationery. Rich Text emails, and emails using stationery are much larger files that plain text emails, and take longer to send and receive, so I don't normally use them, but many of my friends do.
If you'd like to learn more about Outlook Express stationery, you can find a wealth of information by doing a
Google search on the words "Outlook Express Stationery" (in quotes) or you can visit the
CloudEight site.
If you're using Hotmail, Yahoo, or another web based email client, you can "snag" the text from an email by highlighting it, right clicking on it and selecting "Copy". Open WordPad, or any word software, right click in the compose field (where you type stuff) and click on "Paste". This puts the text into your editor, and you can clean it up using the techniques which have been discussed here. Once you have the text cleaned to your satisfation, click on "Edit" and "Select All", right click on the highlighted text, click on "Copy", then go to your compose field in your web based mail, right click on the compose screen (where you type the email you're sending) and select "Paste" from the right-click menu. The cleaned text will appear, in your email and you can send it on, all nicely cleaned up.
If you're forwarding from a web based client, copy the text from your email, paste it into your word program, clean it, highlight it, right click, and copy it again. Highlight the text in the email you're forwarding, then left click and hit "Paste". This will replace the original text with the text you've cleaned.
If you have questions, comments, or information you'd like to see added to this tutorial, please use our
Feedback Form to contact me about it.
This tutorial written and posted on November 4, 2002 by Don Crowder.
