Encoding tells a program what bit pattern corresponds to what character.

If you are using a Western European Language (e.g. English, French,
Spanish, Italian, etc.), then Western ISO is a good choice. It is
widely supported.

If a message uses MIME format, then the message includes the encoding
being used so that the receiving program knows how to interpret the
characters.

If a message uses Uuencode format, them the encoding is not specified in
then the receiving program has to guess.

In OE you can specify a default encoding for read (Tools, Options, Read,
International). You can also override the encoding for the current
message under View, Encoding.

So if the receiver uses a different encoding than the sender, that can
cause strange characters. If a message quotes a previous one, the
mismatch can get propagated.

Another source of problem is when a person composes in another program
(e.g. MS Word) and pastes into a message. Word's smart quotes can get
mistranslated.

HTML is generally frowned upon in newsgroups. For e-mail, that's
dependent upon who you are sending to.

HTML requires MIME format.

For newsgroups, Uuencode used to be the standard because all newsreaders
supported it. MIME is becoming more common.

The Encoding setting at Tools, Options, Send, Mail/News, HTML/Plain Text
Settings has an entirely different meaning than the character set
encoding. Here use Quoted-printable for HTML/MIME messages. Use None
for Uuencode.

Your font choices are largely personal. Unless you are sending HTML
format, the font information is not included in the message. Where the
font can cause a problem is if you are using some graphic symbols, such
as in Wing Dings where unless the reader is using the same font they
won't see the same thing.

--

Mike - http://TechHelp.Santovec.us



"Pete B" wrote in message
...
Can somebody please explain to me what all the font and encoding
options in WinXP SP3/IE 7/OEx 6 do? I know how to set these options,
but I am not really sure what all the various options do. For
example:

What are the encoding options supposed to do?
What is the difference between Western European ISO, Western Europe
Windows, UTF-7, UTF-8, User defined, and how do those affect what is
typed or read?
What are the best settings for newsreaders and for email, or at least
what is "standard", both text and HTML?

I keep getting strange characters showing up in emails I receive, both
news messages and mail messages, such as the one below:

Â

I have no idea what that character is supposed to be, and others also
appear from time to time. Is this due to my email settings, my
encoding, or due to the sender's setup, or even due to the ISP or some
such? Is that character some kind of punctuation or what?

I currently have my options set for W. Euro ISO encoding, using
Incised901 Bd BT for proportional font, Lucida Console for fixed font,
mail setting HTML quoted printables, News sending format plain text,
MIME, encoding none, news compose Lucida Console 10 pt, mail compose
Incised901 Bd BT 10 pt.

Is that good, bad, or indifferent?

Is there any MSKB info on all this stuff? The OEx Help files tell you
HOW to set the options, but it really does not explain what the
options do


--
Pete B