Quoting messages that contain quoted messages

[Shmuel Gerber]

How do you quote a reply that already contains a quote within it, so that both the original quoted text and the reply show up as a nested quote? I've seen replies that look like this, but I don't see how to do it.

[hmtcastle]

How do you quote a reply that already contains a quote within it, so that both the original quoted text and the reply show up as a nested quote? I've seen replies that look like this, but I don't see how to do it.

It just takes a little copying and pasting. There's no "automatic" way to do it. Click here for an especially egregious example.

[David A Foulkes]

Each quoted section opens and closes with quote tags that look like [ quote ] and [ /quote ] with the quoted text between. By using the Multiquote button to capture the post you're replying to as well as the post that was quoted in that reply, you end up with something like this:

[ quote ]

some original posted text here

[ /quote ]

[ quote ]

reply to original posted text here

[ /quote ]

By moving (cut'n'paste actually) the first closing tag ( that is the [ /quote ] part) from the first quote and placing it after the next (or last one), you now embed the reply into the original post as a double-quote, so it would look sort-a like this:

[ quote ]

some original posted text here

[ quote ]

reply to original posted text here

[ /quote ]

[ /quote ]

I've placed spaces inside the brackets to keep the text format for your review. Taking those quotes out, it will now look like this:

some original posted text here

reply to original posted text here

[Shmuel Gerber]

Thanks, guys, but that seems like a royal nuisance. Not only are quotes not nested automatically, but the inner quotes disappear completely, so that responding to a response leaves an unintelligible post. ... Seems ripe for a feature request. :-)

[hmtcastle]

Thanks, guys, but that seems like a royal nuisance. Not only are quotes not nested automatically, but the inner quotes disappear completely, so that responding to a response leaves an unintelligible post. ... Seems ripe for a feature request. :-)

I'm not sure what you mean when you say, "the inner quotes disappear completely", but it's either worth the effort or it's not (and I tend to agree that it's not). The same goes for colored text and those hideous emoticons. If a reply makes sense, it doesn't need cosmetic surgery.

[Shmuel Gerber]

I'm not sure what you mean when you say, "the inner quotes disappear completely", but it's either worth the effort or it's not (and I tend to agree that it's not). The same goes for colored text and those hideous emoticons. If a reply makes sense, it doesn't need cosmetic surgery.

I am now replying to your last reply, which quoted my previous reply. However, only your new words appear, not the words to which you are replying, which you quoted.

If all we're doing is responding to an entire post, then obviously there's no need to keep quoting quotations, which would lead to the entire thread appearing in every post. However, when replying to specific snippets, it's hard to follow a conversation when half or more of the responses are missing.

[hmtcastle]

If all we're doing is responding to an entire post, then obviously there's no need to keep quoting quotations, which would lead to the entire thread appearing in every post. However, when replying to specific snippets, it's hard to follow a conversation when half or more of the responses are missing.

Note that you can edit the quoted portion and there's usually no need to quote it in its entirety (though, sometimes, I think a snippet helps). You can also copy and paste to your heart's content though, as noted, it may not be worth the effort. Fortunately, you can preview your posts so maybe you just need to do a little experimentation to figure out the right balance of effort vs. effect.

Note, too, the following options for viewing posts:

• Standard: Posts are shown one after the other.
  
• Linear +: The first post is always shown at the top of the page, with other posts shown one after the other.
  
• Outline: All posts in a topic are shown in tree display, with one thread at a time shown.
  

The "Outline" option may lead to some confusion.

Note, too, the difference between clicking on "Reply" (to a particular post) and "Add Reply" (to the Topic).