[kdepim-users] Font size in KMail HTML viewer

[Stan Goodman]

At 01:06:47 on Tuesday Tuesday 07 September 2010, Ingo Klöcker 
<kloecker at kde.org> wrote:
> On Monday 06 September 2010, Stan Goodman wrote:
> > At 21:56:49 on Monday Monday 06 September 2010, Ingo Klöcker
> >
> > <kloecker at kde.org> wrote:
> > > On Sunday 05 September 2010, Stan Goodman wrote:
> > > > At 23:12:25 on Sunday Sunday 05 September 2010, Ingo Klöcker
> > > >
> > > > <kloecker at kde.org> wrote:
> > > > > On Sunday 05 September 2010, Stan Goodman wrote:
> > > > > > Changing the font size in the message window is duck soup,
> > > > > > but I do not find a way to do the same thing for the HTML
> > > > > > viewer. What am I overlooking?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > KMail is v1.9.10.
> > > > >
> > > > > That's KDE 3.5.10.
> > > >
> > > > That's true.
> > > >
> > > > > I assume by message window you mean the separate message viewer
> > > > > one gets by double clicking a message. And by HTML viewer you
> > > > > mean the message pane in the main window, right?
> > > >
> > > > The message window is where one reads the plain-text of incoming
> > > > messages. The HTML viewer is where a HTML-formatted version is
> > > > displayed.
> > >
> > > Hmm. I'm not sure I understand what you mean.
> >
> > I don't know how it can be made more clear.
> >
> > > > > You can change the font size in both viewers for example with
> > > > > Ctrl+Mouse wheel.
> > > >
> > > > My mouse doesn't have wheels. I can change the font size in the
> > > > message window by Settings > Configure KMail > Appearance >
> > > > Fonts. I do not see a way to either choose a font or change the
> > > > style or size of an existing font. Surely there must be a way.
> > >
> > > The thing with HTML is that the HTML tells KMail which font size to
> > > use. I'm not sure whether the standard keyboard shortcuts of
> > > Konqueror for changing the font size work in KMail 1.9. Try
> > > whether Ctrl+Plus (and Ctrl+Minus) work. (In KMail 1.13 they do
> > > not work. :-( )
> >
> > Then maybe this is a good time to try Evolution. Perhaps it is more
> > complete than KMail in this respect.
> >
> > ^+ and ^- are normal for browsers; one  would have thought that the
> > developers of KMail would have understood why they are handy.
> > Apparently they don't.
>
> Yeah, we don't. The reason for this is probably that the KMail
> developer (me included) don't receive an awful lot of HTML mail that we
> actually care to look at in HTML mode. Therefore, all of those annoying
> HTML messages with way too small font sizes (unknowingly enforced by
> the senders of those messages) have never bothered us enough to make us
> add this functionality. Yeah, we are lame bastards. If you think the
> Evolution guys are cleverer than us then go try their product. I won't
> shed a tear.
>
> Sorry for the sarcasm, but all of those threats of users that they will
> switch to another application if we don't implement some feature they
> cannot live without are laughable. If they are lucky then we will
> simply ignore their ridiculous threats, but I'd guess most of the time
> we will not only ignore their threats but we will also ignore their
> request. So by threatening us either you achieve exactly nothing or you
> achieve the opposite of what you thought you'd achieve.
>
> > I find the text displayed in the HTML viewer to be so small that I
> > need to squint, or sometimes to give up reading it and go on to
> > something more productive. It is very hard to believe that there is
> > no means provided to enlarge the text. Or to use instead an external
> > viewer like a browser.
>
> I suggest that you simply switch to plain text mode for those messages.
> If in plain text mode you don't see the full text and in the HTML mode
> the fonts are way too small then the sender probably doesn't want you
> to read his message. Complain to him that he shouldn't send messages
> with such a small font size.

For the record: I NEVER send HTML-formatted email messages. I generally 
express my annoyance with others that send me such messages, explaining 
to them the 1) fancy formatting has no real place in mail, and 2) in 
cases where I would like to save the message, I need to go to the extra 
step of deleting the HTML crap which bloats the message by a factor of 
about four or more.

I receive a lot of email newsletters. Some of these are readable as plain 
text, while some are less convenient because they are not even separated 
into paragraphs because they assume the Microsoft-encouraged bad habit of 
HTML formatting. Indeed, some newsletters consist entirely of an HTML 
version, with no plain text at all. I need to read them. That you don't 
see a need for me to do so reflects only the fact that your product is 
designed entirely for your convenience, with little or no thought about 
the needs of the others who use it because they don't really have an 
alternative. Very likely you have never enquired about the needs of 
people who are not on the development team. That attitude is made very 
clear in your response quoted above. I do not think it is defensible. And 
the ugly fact is that there IS a real need for an ability to adjust the 
size of text in HTML emails.

I did not threaten you with anything, partly because I understand that 
threats are very unlikely to help. It occurred to me however, that 
perhaps Evolution may have  been designed by less narrow minded people. I 
have no idea if that is true or not, but it certainly is worth a try.

-- 
Stan Goodman
Qiryat Tiv'on
Israel
_______________________________________________
KDE PIM users mailing list
kdepim-users at kde.org
https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kdepim-users