DC Reveal/Hide feature

[SKesselman]

Hi,

What is the reveal hide feature here? It it a script that I can use in an email, web mail or Outlook?

I want it!!!!

The history & reasons:

I used to work at IBM and write step-by-step instructions for employees.

We all used Lotus Notes, which allowed me to create reveal / hide sections for each step of the instructions. That was very useful, as some employees required much less assistance than others. Anyone could just click on the section that pertained to them, follow the instructions and be done with it.

The emails appeared clean and concise, saved people time and in some cases confusion.

I would really like to make emails like that again. Thanks.

[KynloStephen66515]

I am assuming you mean the 'Spoiler' option, if so, just click the button that says 'SP' (in between the topic title and the smileys) and type between the tags!

Very easy to use

Spoiler

Just click to reveal...im only guessing this is what you mean

as far as i am aware, this is only for use on the forum, you cannot use this tag on any other platform (unless you see the option)

[Shades]

MS Word:
    * Hide selected text -- Click CTRL + Shift + H
    * Display Hidden Text -- Click CTRL + Shift + H
    * Include Hidden Text for printing -- Click CTRL + P, click Options Button & select Hidden text. Print.

How to Hide Text in Notepad

Here are tips to hide/show text in html. HTML is usable for email messages. Maybe it is not what you look for, but it can be "inspirational".

All these tips may even come in handy for more general use as well.

Ready made script.

EDIT:
Added one more link

[SKesselman]

Thank you !
Oops! Now, I remember asking this question before.

What I wanted to do was on the last link.
It won't work in Word, so I copied the script and played around with it on gmail.
It didn't work there either, but that is only because I don't really know what to do with a script, yet.
Last time I inquired about this, someone else sent me that same link and I chickened out.
I wouldn't even try to learn how to use it.
I'm a little more motivated, now. I really like that feature.
Also, now that my computer is in working order, I'm a little more open to trying new things.

I've bookmarked the script link for later, and when I have more time (in mid-March), I'll certainly come back and ask for some references to instructions on how to actually implement a script.

Thanks, again! 

[JavaJones]

Another thought: try fooling the email client into thinking something is a quote. Some use pretty simplistic ways of determining this, e.g. > character prefix. Of course this will only work on certain clients, those that are configured with that quote detection method *and* have quote collapsing options, heh.

- Oshyan

[SKesselman]

Of course this will only work on certain clients, those that are configured with that quote detection method *and* have quote collapsing options, heh.
- Oshyan

-JavaJones (February 09, 2010, 12:36 AM)

Let me guess...Lotus Notes, perhaps?
It's the only thing I've seen that could be programmed to do this, and email clients haven't changed much in the past 10 years...
It's so incredibly useful, I can't imagine developers ignoring the beauty of this feature. Hmm. Oh, well.

[JavaJones]

Gmail collapses quotes by default. Thunderbird can do quote collapsing too I believe. Outlook as well, if I recall correctly. Though the specific configs and ways of triggering it may be different in each case.

- Oshyan

[SKesselman]

Gmail collapses quotes by default. Thunderbird can do quote collapsing too I believe. Outlook as well, if I recall correctly. Though the specific configs and ways of triggering it may be different in each case.
- Oshyan

-JavaJones (February 10, 2010, 03:43 PM)

Hi, and thanks for your answer.
What I really want is something where I can control the expand collapse feature, not just have conversation replies collapse.
I'm really looking for the exact feature used here - select something like the Spoiler button, write your text, and...

Spoiler

...the recipient receives your email, spoiler button and function intact.

For example, "Directions to the Party"

Spoiler

blah blah blah

If you don't need the directions, don't hit the button, and the email appears much more neat and organized than in a regular email with a map you don't need and directions you already know. This way, the recipients can find the info they do need much faster. Does that make better sense?

About scripts:
I'm sure the scripts suggested to me will work on my end, I just need a little time and patience to learn how to use them.
But, I wonder how they will come out on the recipient's end. Like getting a red X in an email where a photo was meant to be.
This is difficult, as when I used this feature in Lotus Notes at work, everyone else in the company ran Lotus Notes, too.
We all had the same I/T guys, platforms, programs and servers and all Notes features worked perfectly for all of us, all the time.
But outside of work, people use so many clients with so many different features written in all these different codes, etc.
I can't imagine it working without actually running a script on the recipient's computer.
I'm afraid that this would bring up a warning message, which would have the user say, "No, do not run this script".
Especially since most people I know, myself included, don't even know what script the message is referring to. The script names are too cryptic.
These are all just guesses, though.

Thanks again for your reply, I think I'll check out Thunderbird as you suggested. If that doesn't work, I'm going to just keep on hunting!

[JavaJones]

Ah I understand. Well, I think the bottom line is that A: you may find solutions that will work in some cases but B: like almost everything in the email world that is not just plain text, it will be non-standard and thus not necessarily widely supported, and you will simply not be able to guarantee it working in all browsers, and worse C: the "fail" case may actually look pretty ugly, depending on the email client, e.g. code in-line making the email unreadable, or even blocking in the case of scripting, as many email clients do for security.

So, cool idea, but probably not feasible at this time.

- Oshyan

[SKesselman]

Another thought: try fooling the email client into thinking something is a quote. Some use pretty simplistic ways of determining this, e.g. > character prefix. Of course this will only work on certain clients, those that are configured with that quote detection method *and* have quote collapsing options, heh.

- Oshyan

-JavaJones (February 09, 2010, 12:36 AM)

Just tried this on gmail. No go. But thanks, anyway.