[Mailman-Users] FW: Preserve HTML format while scrubbing file attachments

[Darrell Burkey]

So, the simple answer is 'No, it is not possible to both preserve HTML
formatted email messages and scrub file attachments', right? 

I believe you and understand your explanation (which I appreciate you taking
the time to provide). It just seems odd that this is not possible. And no, I
don't want to have a crack at it. :-)

I'm perfectly happy to have the messages in plain text with attachments
scrubbed both in the distributed messages and the archive. I'm just a bit
tired of explaining to users why it's that way and would prefer to let them
wallow in their HTML rubbish if they prefer. 

Indeed, they are so insistent about their precious HTML that it may come
down to having to allow file attachments just to apease them. And that's yet
another thing I'm so very tired of explaining to users is a very bad idea.
Let's send a 5Mb one page Word document to 500 people who don't want it.
Ugh. 

Maybe mailing lists themeselves aren't that great of an idea any more. They
sure can give me the poos. :-)

Cheers.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Brad Knowles [mailto:brad at shub-internet.org]
> Sent: Sunday, 9 March 2008 2:09 PM
> To: techmgr at case.org.au; mailman-users at python.org
> Subject: Re: [Mailman-Users] Preserve HTML format while 
> scrubbing file attachments
> 
> 
> On 3/9/08, Darrell Burkey wrote:
> 
> >  I've read the FAQs until my eyes are square and I can see some
> > discussions  in the mailing list archives but no definitive 
> answer to
> > essentially this  post in 2006:
> >
> >  http://www.mail-archive.com/mailman-users@python.org/msg40147.html
> >
> >  which asks if there is a way to preserve html formatted messages
> > while still  having file attachments scrubbed? I don't think the 
> > replies to the above  message really understood what was 
> being asked
> > as I'm not worried about the  archives at this point in
> time, rather I
> > just want a message that a user  sends that contains html
> formatting
> > to retain that formatting and have any  file attachment
> sent converted
> > to a link (scrubbed).
> 
> Yes, we did understand.  Given the highly variable nature of the way
> that mail clients generate and interpret MIME/HTML formatted 
> messages, there simply isn't a general way to do this sort of thing. 
> What works for one client is likely to break others.  The archive 
> scrubbing stuff that Mailman can do for digests can also be applied 
> to regular messages passing through the list, but the effect is the 
> same.
> 
> Teach them not to post in HTML, or teach them to live with HTML being
> converted to plain text, all the while their attachments can either 
> be completely stripped from the message, or they can be scrubbed as 
> appropriate.  But any time you go mucking about with the internal 
> structure of a mail message, the output is not likely to be as 
> attractive as the sender would like.
> 
> --
> Brad Knowles <brad at shub-internet.org>
> LinkedIn Profile: <http://tinyurl.com/y8kpxu>
>