I asked one of my subscribers who sends perfectly normal posts from webtv
how she does it, and here is part of her reply:

> But a lot of webtv people are 'net and computer newbies, which is a big
> part of the problem.  Webtv gives its members all kinds of handy
> instructions on how to set up html sigs, for example, but they don't
> warn their members not to use them in Usenet or on listservs.  Webtv's
> default is plain text, so if people are sending in html, it's likely
> because they've added some complicated html sig.  I'd suggest telling
> webtv'ers to deactivate *any* sig before signing up.
>
> The headers/cut and paste problem (they are related): Webtv only
> recently got cut and paste capability, but it is still pretty primitive.
> So, since many people felt the lack of quote capability in e-mail, webtv
> defaults to include the replied-to e-mail as a sort of attachment,
> headers'n'all. The replied-to message lurks at the bottom of the screen,
> and it's easy to forget it's there.  One can easily send strings of
> useless headers around without realizing it.

> Here's a little instruction sheet on how to quote, cut and paste in
> webtv, which may be useful:
> ***
> For WebTv Users:
> Replying and quoting politely on a computer mailing list:
>
> 1. First, if you don't want to quote any part of the original sender's
> message, click on the "remove" button at the upper right corner of the
> *original* message (under your reply message.) Then just type your
> message and send it as always.
>
> IMPORTANT!  ALWAYS HIT THE "REMOVE" BUTTON BEFORE SENDING ANY E-MAIL
> REPLY TO A MAILING LIST. IF YOU DON'T, YOUR MESSAGE WILL NOT GET
> THROUGH!
>
> 2.  If you want to quote part of the original message, here's how to do
> it:  *Before* hitting the "remove" button, decide what you want to
> quote.  Then, on your keyboard, hit the "find" key.  Type in the first
> word or two of the part you want to quote, and hit "return."  The first
> part of the quote will now be highlighted.  Now, holding down either
> "shift" key, use the down and right arrow keys to highlight the whole
> section you want to quote.
>
> 3.  Now, to copy the section, hit the cmd and C keys at the same time.
>
> 4.  Scroll up until the cursor is in your reply message.  Now hit cmd
> and V (at the same time) to paste the quoted section.
>
> 5.  Be sure to name the person you are quoting in your reply; ie, "John
> Smith said:" or "Mary Allen asked:"  Then type your own comments.
>
> 6.  Now hit the "remove" button.  Let the screen reload.  If
> everything's okay, you'll see a button with "attach original" on it.
> That means you've successfully removed the original message.
>
> 7.  That's it!  Hit "send" as you would with any other e-mail!