# Forcing email context - input requested
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/forcing-email-context-input-requested/25577
**Category:** Feature
**Tags:** email
**Created:** [February 23, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forcing-email-context-input-requested/25577 "2015-02-23T18:08:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2016, 4:54am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forcing-email-context-input-requested/25577/61 "2016-02-19T04:54:47Z")
> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> Minimal context, just the (abbreviated, if need be) post this was in reply to, and even then only if it was an intentional reply to a specific post. ℹ this will be the default
Was this actually implemented as stated?
---
### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2016, 4:57am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forcing-email-context-input-requested/25577/62 "2016-02-19T04:57:40Z")
I did not add post abbreviations, stuff is as it was, except that we now have always and never options.
---
### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forcing-email-context-input-requested/25577/63 "2016-02-19T04:59:26Z")
Well, that is not what was decided. A more minimal default was desired, so perhaps a fourth option should be there “direct reply only” and as the default.
---
### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2016, 5:01am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forcing-email-context-input-requested/25577/64 "2016-02-19T05:01:37Z")
Yeah I can add something like that, it get a bit confusing though cause “Always” ends up being a bit more limited than “direct reply only” It may miss the direct reply.
---
### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2016, 5:04am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forcing-email-context-input-requested/25577/65 "2016-02-19T05:04:36Z")
Direct reply should be the default, what use is echoing last 5 replies when the thing they are replying to was 10 replies upstream? Alternately you could force the reply target to be inserted in addition to “last 5 replies” so it is strictly additive.
> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> We should probably include the thing it is a direct reply to first, before dropping in the 5 prior unread (or read, if you want that) posts
---
### Author:  [@lake54](https://meta.discourse.org/u/lake54)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2016, 10:16pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forcing-email-context-input-requested/25577/66 "2016-02-19T22:16:53Z")
This is great, thanks @sam, @codinghorror! I’ll dust off our test instance next week and put it through its paces with our users, see how we get on.
---
### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forcing-email-context-input-requested/25577/67 "2016-02-26T01:05:18Z")
OK! @sam changed this so **the new email context default for all Discourse instances** is
- no “extra” reply context will be shown
- the email will **include the post this was in direct reply to** , if it was indeed a direct reply (vs. a @name mention or a blockquote)
You can find this setting in your user prefs:
> Include previous replies at the bottom of emails – [never]
> Include an excerpt of replied to post in emails – [checked]
So if your argument was
> [@lake54](#):
>
> They want to see what post something was in reply to
and
> There’s too much stuff in the email, which makes it confusing!
This is win-win because
1. We now include **no extra email context** by default, so there’s less to be confused by, _but_
2. We **always include the thing this post was in reply to** , if it was a direct reply
Based on the year long discussion here and elsewhere, I strongly feel this is a better default for Discourse.
---
### Author:  [@hellekin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/hellekin)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2016, 2:03pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forcing-email-context-input-requested/25577/68 "2016-02-27T14:03:37Z")
> “Include previous replies at the bottom of emails”
Doesn’t it encourage top-posting?
---
### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2016, 2:07pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forcing-email-context-input-requested/25577/69 "2016-02-27T14:07:28Z")
> [@hellekin](#):
>
> Doesn’t it encourage top-posting?
Not following can you expand on what you mean here.
---
### Author:  [@hellekin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/hellekin)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forcing-email-context-input-requested/25577/70 "2016-02-27T14:15:07Z")
If I receive an email with the context at the end of the email, I’m encouraged to top-post. It doesn’t matter on a Web forum, because the email body is “managed” (normally), but encourages bad behavior on mailing-lists.
---
### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forcing-email-context-input-requested/25577/71 "2016-02-27T14:30:37Z")
You can disable both in reply to and previous posts in user options
Our email trimmer handles quite a few posting styles
---
### Author:  [@ashledombos](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ashledombos)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2016, 2:41pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forcing-email-context-input-requested/25577/72 "2016-04-10T14:41:41Z")
Not everybody agrees on the best way to reply to a discussion (top or bottom) And I’m not sure someone will have the final word 🙂
However supporting both, and inline comments is indeed important.
---
### Author:  [@chapoi](https://meta.discourse.org/u/chapoi)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2025, 11:35am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forcing-email-context-input-requested/25577/74 "2025-12-04T11:35:42Z")
[Previous page](https://meta.discourse.org/t/forcing-email-context-input-requested/25577.md?page=3)