First of all, messages to the Feistfans-l Mailing List should be formatted as plain text.
Many email readers operate basically the same when handling emails.
When a message is replied to each line is prefixed by "> " (greater than sign and space), to indicate it was from the message being replied to, and each subsequent reply adds another ">". (Some mailers display different characters to indicate threading)
So you can end up with several ">>> " indicating earlier replies. Depending on your email program you may have already seen that it will not let you type in certain places, this is because you are trying to alter the original text. The only way you can type is by using a carriage return (Enter), which starts a new line, and noticeably no "> ".
Why is this important? Well, many email programs use this to control colour changes to text, to indicate age of reply and therefore correct attributation, for example, 3rd reply may be in Red, 4th reply Blue, 5th reply Purple, but the current text will normally be Black.
Another area that should always be aware of is that "-- " (dash, Dash, space), is used to indicate the signature follows. You should not type any reply below this as when the person receiving the email comes to reply, they may not be able to "Quote" any of your text in the signature, as the originating signature is stripped from the email by many email programs. (You may also have noted that the Signature is also coloured, different from the body)
FAQ answers attributed to Raymond E. Feist are copyright by Raymond E. Feist.
It should also be born in mind that the answer given was only applicable on the date written, and to a specific question. You may find further, similar questions, in the FAQ.
