SMART HTML ELECTRONIC MAIL

The smart Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) electronic mail system utilizes an intelligent decision algorithm to decide if an addressee is HTML capable or if plain text is required. The user specifies if certain e-mail domains, newsgroups, and individual e-mail addresses are HTML-capable or require plain text e-mail or the invention will query directory servers such as Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) servers as to the HTML capabilities of an e-mail client. The user composes an HTML e-mail document, indicating the addressees in the “to” field and selects the “send” command, the invention examines the document and, if the addressee is known to be HTML-capable, the document is transmitted as is. If the addressee is not known to be HTML-capable and if the document does not contain any HTML formatting that cannot be easily rendered in plain text, the invention automatically converts the document to plain text and transmits the document, thereby taking full advantage of the rich text formatting of HTML. If the document does contain any HTML features that are unique, the invention asks the user if he wants to send the document as is or have it converted over to plain text before sending, thereby providing a smart HTML e-mail system that automatically and intelligently converts and distributes the user's e-mail documents to both HTML-capable and plain text e-mail clients.