Reply to Author by Email

    

Reply (R) ( Article Menu - Reply)
Also found in the right click article and thread pane menus (the tool tip is "e-mail author")

A reply is an e-mail response to the author of an article.  A follow-up, by contrast, is an article posted to a usenet newsgroup. Reply by e-mail is not as common as it used to be. You should be sure that the author does not mind an e-mail reply, as most prefer follow ups to the newsgroup. In addition, fake e-mail addresses are common - you might have to edit the address manually.

Create a Reply Via an E-mail Response to an Article

1.   With an article selected in the thread pane, click the e-mail author toolbar button or select the Reply command from the Article menu.  You can also right-click in the thread or article panes and choose the Reply command.

2.   You see the Reply Window with the e-mail address of the article ’ s author in the To: field. The subject contains Re: <original subject>.  You can also edit the article. Note that the automatic Reply introduction is configurable in Tools - Global Options - Replying.

3.   Optionally, check spelling from the Options menu or toolbar button (unless you have set the spell checker to run automatically on send).

4.   Optional: Click on the available buttons to edit advanced fields or add attachments to your reply.

Ø    Note: The author may be using a fake or munged e-mail address that you will have to edit manually. Also note that many authors these days do not want an email reply, unless requested.

In order for email functions to work, the following must be true:

1.   You must have setup a functional Mail server (SMTP) in Server - Properties - Servers

2.   You should be using a valid email address, or the person can not reply to you. You might even be rejected by your ISP SMTP server.

·       If the Reply function is not available (grayed out) - you did not set up the SMTP server in Server - Properties

·      Remember you can use a fake email for usenet posts and a valid e-mail address for mail functions. Use the Server - Properties - Setup Tab. The fake email goes in the field "Reply address for posts"
See The topic for a description of the various posting options.