Right now the notify script sends out email which contains some HTML like the WebChanges page. So if you are wondering what changed, you have to have a mailer which supports HTML, then click on each link, then hit the "diffs" button on the bottom.

Not very friendly.

Instead, how about attaching, in HTML or plain text, the diffs themselves? Given the way the code is currently organized, including HTML diffs looks fairly easy, and maybe something closer to plain text wouldn't be so bad.

-- GregLindahl - 29 Nov 2001

How about just a link next to the topic name to see the diffs (and a rough indication of the amount of change, such as the number of added/deleted lines?)

-- ColasNahaboo - 09 Mar 2002

I'd rather see the diff itself, as mentioned in WebNotifyToSendActualChanges, because that way I can keep up to date without needing to get to the site.

-- MartinCleaver - 10 Mar 2002

Either the mailer supports HTML, then the links will work. Or it does not support HTML, then adding HTML that properly displays the diffs is pointless.

Comments?

-- JoachimDurchholz - 11 Mar 2002

If the mailer supports HTML, then the current scheme requires too many clicks to view the diffs. Just including the HTML format diff in the email, all of it for all the topics that changed, would be preferable.

If the mailer does not support HTML, the current scheme is just plain unfriendly. And it's not so hard to run "diff" to get text output, since the algorithm used for HTML diffs isn't much more sophisticated.

-- GregLindahl - 22 Mar 2002