All,
Are there any rules, conventions or etiquette for posting in a newsgroup? Where might I find such? I am new at this and have been reading you for the past six months. For example, I am curious about posting at the top or bottom of a reply. I do not really see any pattern. I do not anticipate posting much but do not want to offend.
--- Karl Warner
If you don't want to offend anybody, you should never ever post anything and juts lurk in the shadows like most of the cowards do.
The very subject of the merits of top posting verses bottom posting will end up in a heated debate.
Your ISP should have provided you with a copy of netiquette to read or at least a link to it.
I prefer bottom posting, others top. Do not post pictures to a group unless "binaries" is in the name (alt.binaries.pictures.gardens) of the group and then keep the size in the 100 to 200KB range so people on dial-up can appreciate your picture. Stay on topic and do not spam the group. I am sure others will offer their opinions.
Some newsgroups have FAQs, I don't know if this one has. A few rules:
---> Single most important rule: Be Paranoid About Security! Use a good virus scanner, and set it to scan all your messages, incoming and outgoing. (This is even more important for e-mail);
--> use a spyware sniffer;
--> use a firewall;
--> scan and clean your machine regularly.
Otherwise, here are a few etiquette guidelines:
a) make your subject line as descriptive as possible, especially when asking for help or information.
b) snip (delete) parts of the post that aren't relevant to your reply.
c) "bottom posting" is preferred, ie below the post you reply to. Some people get foamy at the mouth when they see a top post, I just get mildly irritated.
d) be polite, which means mostly "Give the other poster the benefit of the doubt." OTOH, if someone gets abusive, it's your decision whether to give as good as you got. But I ignore flame-wars, and usually filter out senders of abuse, regardless of who started it.
e) use emoticons: nobody can hear your tone of voice. :-)
f) try to be brief.
g) post pictures to "binaries" newsgroups, not to text-only ones (like this one.) Many ISPs actually remove binaries from posts, or block such posts entirely.
h) set your browser/newsreader to send text only -- not HTML. Some newsreaders treat HTML as attachments, some people have set their newsreaders to reject HTML as possible virus carriers, etc.
That's about it.
HTH
PS: It helps to use a spell checker. :-)
Yes, there are some conventions for newsgroup posting. The conventional term for 'proper' behavior on-line is 'nettiquette.'
Nettiquette sites:
Newsgroup specific:
Here are some links on the web:
One neither top-posts nor bottom-posts. Instead, the correct way to reply is to trim the previous post to just the points you wish to address, and to intersperse comments appropriately.
Sorry guys about top posting i have been doing that. Thanks for the information and links . :=) sheepish grin
Michelle, even more important is to trim. I can stand a top-poster if that person manages to trim out everything but the essential part of the previous posts. You requoted an entire post to insert a couple of lines in the middle. That's worse than top-posting, IMO.
"Claire Petersky" wrote
AhHa! Thank you, Claire. (Now if I can just get the hang of operating this irritating machine.) And thanks to all who replied. Those links are keeping me occupied through an otherwise gloomy winter.
-- Karl
Well, winter just started, so you may have time too read this one too:
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