Basic Netiquette

[Ysobelle@aol.com]

Sorry it took me so long to get on this, but here it is, Barry. I hope it 
does you some good.



Basic Netiquette

    * To: over-the-rhine at actwin_com
    * Subject: Basic Netiquette
    * From: Ysobelle at aol_com
    * Date: Mon, 18 Mar 2002 13:11:32 EST

Okay, kids. As promised, here it is. Most of these are not 
OtR-List-specific, they're just good manners. I think I covered 
everyone's input, but in case I didn't, email me and I'll include it for 
the next go-round.

Also, I left out content things like watch your manners, mind your 
spelling and grammar, and if you can't say something like an intelligent 
adult, don't say it at all because that's a whooooole other ball game, 
and one on which I personally have pretty much given up. Far be it from 
me to restrict anyone's right to make themselves look like a complete 
moron in public.

Anyway, anyway:


Please remember that some people's in-boxes are small. Have mercy. If 
you're going to quote someone or something, please, for the love of all 
that's holy, only quote those bits which are relevant, not the ENTIRE 
email, which often includes whatever THAT person was replying to. It's 
considered a pretty geeky thing to to do quote an entire post for a 
one-line response. And under NO circumstances should you quote the entire 
Digest. Many people's e-mail programs automatically quote the entirety of 
the message to which they're responding. There are ways to turn this off. 
Please do so-- we will all be grateful and sing hosannahs in your praise.

Relatedly, please make sure you have some sort of attribution line, so we 
know to whom you're responding. Make sure you're crediting the correct 
person. Also, most email programs have a way of indicating what text is a 
quote and what's yours. (Such symbols as > at the beginning of each 
quoted line.) They make life much easier on your readers' brains.

FOR THE LOVE OF BOB, TURN OFF YOUR HTML! There are some lovely folks 
hereabouts whose posts we'd love to read, except we can't find 'em in the 
morass of code in which they're embedded. If you don't know if you're 
guilty, ask. You might not be able to see it in your email box, since 
it's your client that's processing everything, but it's there. 
Thankfully, we currently only have a couple of people unwittingly doing 
this.

Please check your headers. "Reply All" means that people will get not one 
but two copies of your shining prose. Not that it's not worth it, I'm 
sure, but once is really enough. If you have to hit reply-all to get the 
list in your address field, remove everyone else. ESPECIALLY do this if, 
for some reason, there are people in the address field whom you do not 
know. If you want to send your email to many different places, try BCCing 
the recipients. You never know who might be in the Federal Witness 
Protection Plan.

Your subject line should reference that to which you're responding. 
Subjects like "Digest #123134164" make it difficult to follow a 
discussion thread, especially if you're reading the list via the website.

Carriage returns: the rest of us might not notice, but for some people on 
the list, email without carriage returns spreads ever Eastward like a 
reverse Land Rush. To quote our own Rhys:

"usually there is a setting in your email options section that allows you
to specify line length. absolute max is 80 chars, politeness dictates more
along the lines of 76.

"if you use outlook:

"tools: options: send: plain text format (cos we all know you piucked the
plain text only stuff already) - set line wrap to 76. o AND you can pick
right there to indent your replies with the character of your choice, and
the > is nicely defaulted already."

(I'm still trying desperately to figure out how to do this myself, guys. 
Any clue how it works in Claris Emailer?)

Attachments are bad. So are fwd'd jokes, virus warnings-- unless you 
think you've inadvertently infected someone on the list, alas!-- and 
chain letters. Actually, chain letters are the devil and should be 
stomped out whenever you see them, but I digress. If someone sends you a 
frantic virus warning, or anything you think sniffs of a hoax, please 
check it out online (www.snopes.com is a great first line of defense) 
before you inflict it upon others. You're exempt from this entry if 
you're Bru-say.

.sig files longer than the list Digest are...well, usually the exclusive 
domain of DM, but we needn't go there. They're not for us mere mortals.

When someone in an argument (or numerous people not in said argument) 
says, "Take it off list!", please do so. Also, it is considered one of 
the biggest faux pas of our digital age to publically post a private 
email. If someone writes something to you that you might not like, deal 
with it offlist. Your dirty laundry is not something the rest of us want 
to deal with, unless you're going to come here and wash our towels and 
socks and underwear. If someone continues a thread privately and makes an 
interesting point you feel you must share, make sure to get their 
permission first.



I think that covers almost everything. Ironically, I just changed some 
setting on my own email client, so I'm waiting to see if it shows up 
swamped in HTML. Again, if there's anything I left out, let me know.










---------------
Unsubscribe by going to http://www.actwin.com/OtR/