Editing Posting style (section)

==Trimming and reformatting==
When replying to long discussions, particularly in [[newsgroup]] discussions, quoted text from the original message is often trimmed so as to leave only the parts that are relevant to the reply—or only a reminder thereof.  This practice is sometimes called "trim-posting" or "edited posting", and is recommended by some manuals of posting etiquette.<ref name="rfc1855">S. Hambridge (October 1995), [[Network Working Group]] [[Request for Comments|RFC]] 1855 [rfc:1855 ''Netiquette Guidelines'']</ref>

Sometimes an indicator of deleted text is given, usually in the form of a square bracketed tag as: "[snipped]",  "[trimmed]", or simply "[...]". The text that is retained may be edited to some extent, e.g. by re-folding the lines.  For example, if the original message was

  This is a reminder that the project meeting which was canceled
  last week will be held today in the 3rd floor conference room at
  14:30 sharp.  Everybody must attend. --Mary

the reply may be
<syntaxhighlight lang="md">
  > the project meeting [...] will be held today in the 3rd floor
  > conference room
  Mary, be sure to check the mics in that room. --Joe
</syntaxhighlight>
or even just
<syntaxhighlight lang="md">
  > 3rd floor conference room
  Mary, be sure to check the mics in that room. --Joe
</syntaxhighlight>
Deleted text may also be replaced by a summary in brackets:
<syntaxhighlight lang="md">
  On Thursday, Jim wrote:
  > The movie clearly adds a sense of menace to the story
  > which is not present in the original book.
  > [...claim that the darker tone weakens the movie...]
  
  I disagree.  The darker tone works well, once one understands
  the two are aimed at different audiences.
</syntaxhighlight>
Automatically included text (such as [[signature block]]s, free e-mail service ads, and corporate disclaimers) are more likely to be deleted, usually without ellipses, than manually written text.  Some posters may delete any parts of the original message that they are not replying to.  Some posters delete only parts dealing with issues that they see as  "closed", and leave any parts that, in their opinion, deserve further discussion or will be replied to in a later message.{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}}

===How much to trim===
Some style guides recommend that, as a general rule, quoted material in replies should be trimmed or summarized as much as possible, keeping only the parts that are necessary to make the readers understand the replies.<ref name="rfc1855"/>  That of course depends on how much the readers can be assumed to know about the discussion.  For personal e-mail, in particular, the subject line is often sufficient, and no quoting is necessary; unless one is replying to only some points of a long message.<ref name="rfc1855"/>

In particular, when replying to a message that already included quoted text, one should consider whether that quoted material is still relevant.  For example:

 >> [Mary:] Shall we meet this afternoon to discuss the
 >> marketing strategy?<span style="color:red">
 >
 > [Peter:] Perhaps, if we can get all the information we need.
 > Do we have the West Coast sales data yet?</span>
 <br>
 The LA office just sent them in.
 Joe

The quote from Mary's message is relevant to Peter's reply, but not to Joe's reply.  The latter could have been trimmed to
<syntaxhighlight lang="md">
 > [Peter:] Do we have the West Coast sales data yet?
 
 The LA office just sent them in.
 Joe
</syntaxhighlight>
On the other hand, in some situations, any trimming or editing of the original message may be inappropriate. For example, if the reply is being copied to a third person who did not see the original message, it may be advisable to quote it in full; otherwise the trimmed message may be misinterpreted by the new recipient, for lack of context.

Also, when replying to a customer or supplier, it may be advisable to quote the original message in its entirety, in case the other party somehow failed to keep a copy of it.