After following a lively etiquette thread yesterday, I thought I would
put together a number of the comments in case the list feels like having
a written set of guidelines.
The following is a draft for comment. It needs a volunteer to collate
comments and edit it appropriately. If the list can agree on a final
revision, maybe the list owner can post it for new list members to read
before joining.
Mike
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Mailing List Etiquette
Mailing lists which support free open-source software are communities of
real people who help you for free. Mostly these helpers are existing
users of the software who feel that they are contributing -- in return
for the benefit they get from free open source software. No-one forces
anyone to help you on a mailing list.
First Requirement
Gain attention.
To obtain help, you first have to present an interesting problem. What
makes an interesting problem?
1. The problem hasn't been seen before.
NB: this means you have searched and cannot find the answer in the FAQs
or list archives.
NBB: if you see "... google is your friend :) ..." it is a gentle way of
saying you haven't really tried to find the answer
2. It is easy to follow your description of the problem. If English is
not your primary language, the list will definitely make allowances but
native English speakers must always use excellent grammar and spelling.
3. You provide enough data, error messages and/or other background info
to fill in the gaps and permit an appraisal in a single span of attention
4. The subject line does not contain the word "help" or "HELP"
5. The subject line succinctly summarises your message
Second Requirement
Be efficient.
Use the technology sparingly. All lists have their quirks (see Third
Requirement below) which usually stem from the early days when internet
bandwidth was precious and most users were roughly equivalent in
experience. The current situation is almost reversed. What is perhaps
most precious nowadays is the time of the few valuable people who
inhabit lists and help many others. The following aspects always help
them to help you ...
1. Always send plain text emails. Mailing lists for free open source
software are usually anti-fancy-email. Microsoft email users in
particular don't usually get their questions looked at because most
helpers on most mailing lists set up their filters to automatically
trash mail containing HTML. If you don't understand this, just make sure
Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Thunderbird, Groupwise or whatever
other email client you habitually use is set for plain text.
2. Set out your message with short paragraphs.
3. Never ever use upper case unless you want to be heard SHOUTING.
Obviously, when copying and pasting error messages and the like, this
does not apply.
4. Emphasise your point(s) sparingly. Better to use fewer words so those
you do use are naturally more emphatic. A pair of *asterisks* is read as
bold by experienced people even if their mail client doesn't actually
make the text bold. Likewise a pair of _underscores_ works too. Use
white space and short paragraphs primarily and only resort to bold,
underline and exclamation points if really necessary. They usually
detract from your message - which is inefficient.
5. Never post messages with attachments. If you have something to
attach, resist the temptation. Just mention that it is available
off-list if anyone contacts you directly.
Third Requirement
Don't offend.
Put on your guru hat. Imagine that the mailbox has been filling up while
you have been away on assignment or out to lunch. There are 500 messages
filtered into your various list-subscription mail folders. Fortunately,
you are a guru and you are not waiting on an answer to a question of
your own. OK - do you read them all? No way. You trash the lot and relax
with empty folders. Now the pressure is off and and you can trash
incoming list messages one at a time according to your interest in the
subject line. Life is good. Have you breached list etiquette? No way.
No-one is paying you to plough through tons of poorly written,
mis-spelled, obscure nonsense. In fact, if anyone is paying you it will
be to attend to their particular problems and not to newbies and ravers
who inhabit mailing lists.
Put on your newbie hat. If you want helpers to respond to your requests
for assistance you have to make it easy for them. Let's say you have
presented an interesting problem as per the First Requirement above. You
have been careful to use the tools appropriately as per the Second
Requirement. Finally, you need to adhere to the finer points of list
etiquette. Be aware that these finer points vary somewhat between lists
so you need to watch what happens and look for the clues ...
1. Thread hijacking is almost universally hated. If you pick a random
message, click [Reply] to get a new message addressed to the list then
overtype the subject with a new line and delete the content to start a
"new" thread you will be a thread hijacker. This awful practice spoils
list organisation and also makes it difficult to follow threads in the
archives. Such hijacking evil will be forever revealed by Google. Good
mail clients are able to keep threads of postings together so they can
be read in context. Experienced users exploit this functionality because
it makes for efficient use of their time. If you hijack a thread there
will be two immediately negative results ...
* your message will appear in the middle of another discussion and
will not therefore gain the attention of that portion of list members
who are not following that particular thread
* your message will be off-topic in that thread and will therefore
annoy that portion of list members who are following that particular thread
2. Thread hijacking is half-way reasonable if you deliberately want to
hijack it. This is not done frequently. In such a case you would start a
new subject line but retain the original in brackets like this "New
topic [was: Old Topic]". Always consider starting a new thread before
deliberately hijacking one.
3. Top posting is not popular. Top posting is when a reply to a message
appears ahead of the original text. Consider the guru just back from
holidays who (having unsubscribed before heading to the slopes)
re-subscribes. At first glance, the guru sees a comment totally out of
context. In order to assist the original poster, the guru has to read
back and forth to pick up the context. It is too hard. Much easier to
trash the message and see if the next message is more interesting. Don't
top-post. If you are replying to a message do so within the flow of the
accumulated discussion. Keep your comments and contributions
interspersed in context so the message remains both coherent and
interesting. Perhaps the only time top posting is reasonable is after a
problem is solved and you make a final post to thank those who helped.
At that point you are saying something at the top of the message which
is actually in context.
4. Snip messages with oft-repeated parts to limit length. A message
which has been batted back and forth can contain sections which are no
longer interesting and no longer contribute to the context. However, it
is impolite to silently chop stuff out. You should indicate with a
comment (eg., <snip> ) that something has been snipped. People can go
back in the thread to see if they need to refresh their memory.
5. When you reply with a comment inserted in context, add your moniker
after your last comment. This means other readers don't have to look
further down the message if they have been following the thread. Your
name indicates you haven't added anything below.
6. Obviously, you should never flame anyone unless your email persona is
totally anonymous and there is no chance of ever being identified. Not
to mention ever needing the help of the person you flambéed. You
wouldn't do that anyway because you are not an insecure personality who
needs to bolster your self-esteem by attacking others. Like the real
gurus, you trash rubbish.
7. Always unsubscribe from the list if you enable an auto-reply when you
take a vacation. If you forget, others will remember you for a long time.
8. If you care to test tolerance you may ask a question unrelated to the
list-purpose. Should you be so bold, correct etiquette is to precede
your subject with an off-topic indicator. Busy list members frequently
use the off-topic indicator to filter such messages straight to trash.
Some lists use [OT], others prefer [Off Topic] at the beginning of the
subject line. Some light traffic lists actually encourage such OT
messages and levity on Fridays but frown on such things during the week.
Watch and learn.
9. Avoid email disclaimers. It is a good idea to use one of the free
email offerings such as yahoo, gmail etc and set it up for your list
persona without a disclaimer. Disclaimers and/or lengthy signatures take
up space and permanently inflate the archives.
10. Sometimes signatures carry mottoes or promote causes which are
offensive to some. Best to avoid that. Archives let your young
stupidities follow you into old age.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
