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**Category:** New Scoutbook Feature Requests\
**Created:** [May 19, 2021, 1:31pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517 "2021-05-19T13:31:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 18\
**Page:** 1
**Author:**  [@ArenCambre](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/ArenCambre)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 1:31pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/1 "2021-05-19T13:31:27Z")
It looks like it has been a while since last discussed ([last time was 2019](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/wysiwyg-messages/127024)), so wanted to request it again: **When can HTML email be supported in Scoutbook?** This would dramatically improve the utility of the email features.
Without HTML support, it’s hard to draft emails that aren’t simply a wall of words.
With HTML support, it’s much easier to slap on a WYSIWYG-like editor.
I know BBCode is supported. However, it’s finicky and not a replacement for WYSIWYG editing.
I’ll wager the vast majority of Scoutbook users aren’t computer nerds, so WYSIWYG functionality would be a great UX improvement.
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**Author:**  [@DonovanMcNeil](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/DonovanMcNeil)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 1:42pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/2 "2021-05-19T13:42:14Z")
It is on the backlog - no idea if or when it will be worked by BSA IT
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**Author:**  [@SteveCagigas](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/SteveCagigas)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 1:50pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/3 "2021-05-19T13:50:00Z")
Bearing in mind what @DonovanMcNeil said, if you have the Feature Assistant add-on enabled, it has a pretty good “preview” feature for messages, so you can get a quick visual check of what you’ve written. It’s not as user-friendly as a WYSIWYG interface, but it does a good job at it until the message module is updated.
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**Author:**  [@Matt.Johnson](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/Matt.Johnson)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 6:37pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/4 "2021-05-19T18:37:51Z")
> [@DonovanMcNeil](#):
>
> It is on the backlog
It is interesting that it is in the backlog. It is powerful, but one of the reasons to do the bbcode thing is to not be so powerful. Full html support brings some risk of scripts and such.
WYSIWYG is more important. I had to explain to two troop scribes what a markup language is/was. They acted like I was programming in FORTRAN.
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**Author:**  [@CharleyHamilton](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/CharleyHamilton)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/5 "2021-05-19T19:11:09Z")
> [@Matt.Johnson](#):
>
> They acted like I was programming in FORTRAN.
What’s wrong with programming in FORTRAN? 😉 I probably would have picked something more obscure like Scheme as the comparator, but that’s just me.
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**Author:**  [@Stephen\_Hornak](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/Stephen_Hornak)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 8:16pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/6 "2021-05-19T20:16:17Z")
Well I started to learn cobol and basic in high school… using punch cards… that would make this fun.
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**Author:**  [@SageLichtenwalner](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/SageLichtenwalner)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 9:10pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/7 "2021-05-19T21:10:44Z")
Well, if you’re going to go back to punch cards, you might as well just publish a print newsletter. Then you can have all the formatting you want 😉
As far as formatting, I wonder if supporting Markdown might make more sense these days, as it’s become fairly standard. And there are certainly plenty of wysiwyg editors for that. That said, for the typical Scoutbook user, it might not be any better either.
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**Author:**  [@ArenCambre](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/ArenCambre)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 9:29pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/8 "2021-05-19T21:29:21Z")
> [@SageLichtenwalner](#):
>
> I wonder if supporting Markdown might make more sense these days, as it’s become fairly standard. And there are certainly plenty of wysiwyg editors for that. That said, for the typical Scoutbook user, it might not be any better either.
I thought about that. I think Markdown may seem easier to more technically adept people, but a WYSIWYG-like editor can’t be beaten for intuitiveness.
If on the back end, BSA wished to use Markdown as the markup language and add a WYSIWYG Markdown editor, I could see that being a reasonable choice, although I suspect the main value may be in ease of eliminating bad code and allowing hand-editing when desired.
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**Author:**  [@MichaelMcGehearty](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/MichaelMcGehearty)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 9:34pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/9 "2021-05-19T21:34:48Z")
IBM 360 Assembly, FORTRAN 4 and PL/1 on Punch Cards, sometimes using 9 track 1/2 in mag tape for intermediate storage would be interesting today. Dating my self.
We had 256 k magnetic core main storage and 4 28 Meg replaceable hard drives (14" platters) for backing store, Operating System, etc.
Ran the whole university. Just had to change out hard drives depending upon what specific University data was being operated on.
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**Author:**  [@Stephen\_Hornak](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/Stephen_Hornak)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 9:59pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/10 "2021-05-19T21:59:01Z")
I was on ibm system32 in high school then became the AS400 guy.
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**Author:**  [@DonovanMcNeil](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/DonovanMcNeil)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 10:09pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/11 "2021-05-19T22:09:53Z")
I will rename thread - “Old Guys talking about SCSI and Floppies”
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**Author:**  [@JenniferOlinger](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/JenniferOlinger)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 10:13pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/12 "2021-05-19T22:13:29Z")
The period of time that came after “life with smoke signals” 😉
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**Author:**  [@Stephen\_Hornak](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/Stephen_Hornak)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 11:12pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/13 "2021-05-19T23:12:43Z")
Well @JenniferOlinger - we still employ smoke signals with great success out in these parts
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**Author:**  [@CharleyHamilton](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/CharleyHamilton)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 11:56pm UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/14 "2021-05-19T23:56:56Z")
> [@DonovanMcNeil](#):
>
> “Old Guys talking about SCSI and Floppies”
Too new. Much of this is pre-SASI (which was pre-SCSI). 🤣
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**Author:**  [@Stephen\_Hornak](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/Stephen_Hornak)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2021, 12:44am UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/15 "2021-05-20T00:44:24Z")
Heck I am not old I am ancient 🙂
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**Author:**  [@SteveCagigas](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/SteveCagigas)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2021, 11:30am UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/16 "2021-05-20T11:30:19Z")
Ha! I remember when we used sticks as registers and piles of pebbles as memory. That system worked great until Thag Simmons made a campfire with the cave’s inventory database.
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**Author:**  [@ZacharyMcCarty](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/ZacharyMcCarty)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2021, 2:39am UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/17 "2021-05-21T02:39:04Z")
Try explaining to an 8 year old, that tray isn’t a retractable cup holder.
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**Author:**  [@system](https://discussions.scouting.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 2:39am UTC](https://discussions.scouting.org/t/html-email/238517/18 "2021-05-22T02:39:29Z")
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