Re: HELP! notes/tips on posting to this list

[Guest guest]

Hi folks,

I have a ton of posts from this list that I have yet to read, but as I

am perusing them I have noticed a few things that makes reading them

much more difficult. So below I have listed some suggestions that might

make handling the volume on this list much easier.

Note: these are *suggestions* not orations from Mt. Sinai, so please do

not take personal offense. I'm only trying to help make the experience on

this list as painless as possible. And as always, with everything that

is mentioned on this list, you are free to ignore any and everything I

say.

1. Top posting makes it difficult to read and follow the logic of a

response to a post. It also makes it difficult to keep a logical flow

when responding to a top poster who is responding to someone else.

What is top posting? It is when you respond to a post by putting your

reply at the top of the previous message rather than right after the

part of the message you are responding too.

There seems to be an awful lot of that as of late.

This is particularly annoying when you have a long response and it is

not immediately apparent what you are responding too. Then one has to

read your long post and often an equally long previous message only to

find that the portion you were responding too is buried toward the very

bottom of the previous post.

Unless you are extremely judicious like Idol in your top posting

(and he is the only top poster I have ever come across that I can read

without difficulty) I would suggest you avoid it.

Better for most of us to answer below the section we are responding too.

2. Related to the above is dead posts. Please please please remove all

aspects of the previous post that is not germane to your response. Some

top posters will answer with one line and then leave all the rest of the

previous post intact. Or some folks will answer after the whole body of

a previous message with just a couple of lines that only pertain to a

portion of the message.

Some will answer within the body of the message while still leaving

intact large portions of the message which have nothing to do with their

response. And others have 4 or 5 previous messages following their

response.

To make it easier on all of us, delete the dead portion of the posts.

3. As we learned in the off topic libertarian posts, it is very helpful

when one either changes the subject line to match such a change in the

reply or adds a tag to the current subject line to indicate its emphasis.

And while it is obvious on off topic posts, it is just as helpful for *on

topic* messages.

4. Please make sure you wrap your text when responding. If you don't and

someone is reading your post at the website, then it blows out the

formatting as one cannot see your message in the current window, but has

to scroll across the entire page to read it.

4. And last but not least, if you are replying in the body of a message,

please find a way to clearly set off your current remarks against any

previous remarks by you or someone else. There are many ways to do this

so I'm not going to insult anyone's intelligence by making suggestions.

But I just read two posts where I couldn't tell what was new, what was

old, and who was saying what.

Thanks for listening to my rant,

[Guest guest]

,

your rant is my rant too... I agree with ALL your suggestions... I sometimes

delete large chunks of threads for all the reasons you mentioned...

thanks for expressing your thoughts and exposing my meek side :-)

Dedy

slethnobotanist@... wrote -- <<Hi folks, I have a ton of posts from this

list that I have yet to read, but as I am perusing them I have noticed a few

things that makes reading them much more difficult. So below I have listed some

suggestions that might make handling the volume on this list much easier.>>

[Guest guest]

>

> Hi folks,

>

> I have a ton of posts from this list that I have yet to read,

> but as I am perusing them I have noticed a few things that

> makes reading them much more difficult. So below I have listed

> some suggestions that might make handling the volume on this

> list much easier. . . .

Amen! I think that including previous mile-long

posts (some people even leave in entire digests!)

after a short " L.O.L " , " Me too! " or " Thanks, I'll

try that " , etc. may possibly be a worse offense

than trolling or flaming. No offense to anybody

who is guilty of this, we all forget from time to

time, but you do have to admit that you probably

won't stop until after you've been reminded a few

times. So people please, please, please edit the

messages to which you're responding.

[Guest guest]

> From: slethnobotanist@... wrote:

>I have listed some suggestions that might

> make handling the volume on this list much easier.

Thank you for this suggestion. I'm on several high volume lists and I

just can't keep up when people don't practice the points you listed. I

consider it an act of kindness to change the subject header when

appropriate. When list members change the subject header so it really

relates to the contents then I feel grateful. I've been given more time

in my life and I can read a few more chosen posts before my children

need me. Our family is gaining a great deal of value from this list,

but I miss so much because I can't get through the posts.

And to finish with one more chime. About those OT posts. Bring 'em on!

Just label them correctly please.

Laurel

[Guest guest]

I like top posting because it saves me having to scroll down every email on

my tiny laptop.

Elaine

easier.

>

> 1. Top posting makes it difficult to read and follow the logic of a

> response to a post. It also makes it difficult to keep a logical flow

> when responding to a top poster who is responding to someone else.

>

[Guest guest]

----- Original Message -----

From: <slethnobotanist@...>

What is a slethnobotanist, anyway?

> I have a ton of posts from this list that I have yet to read, but as I

> am perusing them I have noticed a few things that makes reading them

> much more difficult. So below I have listed some suggestions that

might

> make handling the volume on this list much easier.

While we're complaining about annoying posting practices, I'd like to

add one more:

Please make an effort to type your messages in a reasonably competent

manner. Most people here are pretty good about it, but every once in a

while, I come across an e-mail that fails to meet the quality bar that

I'd impose upon on a one-handed six-year-old half an hour into his first

typing lesson. Reading these causes me to experience discomfort that

borders upon physical pain. Before you hit the Send button, please take

a look over your e-mail. If you see three or more errors in any one

sentence, fix them. If you see three or more errors in any one word,

scrap the whole thing and try again.

I realize that typing is hard at first, but you'll only get better

through practice. If you have a backspace key, use it! If you don't, get

a new keyboard! As a general rule, I simply don't reply to these

e-mails. My reasoning is thus: if someone can't be bothered to put

together an e-mail that doesn't make me weep for the future of humanity,

then I can't be bothered to respond.

If anyone has a medical condition that makes it impossible to do this,

the above is not intended to refer to you, and I recommend that you look

into voice recognition software, or at least a spell-checker.

> 1. Top posting makes it difficult to read and follow the logic of a

> response to a post. It also makes it difficult to keep a logical flow

> when responding to a top poster who is responding to someone else.

Or as the old joke goes...

A: It breaks up the logical flow of conversation.

Q: What's wrong with top-posting?

[Guest guest]

> What is a slethnobotanist, anyway?

I have been wondering that myself!

> While we're complaining about annoying posting practices, I'd like to

> add one more:

>

> Please make an effort to type your messages in a reasonably competent

> manner.

I would go further yet than even you:

For elegance in writing is the goal.

I would suggest a reading of The Bard

To learn how best to write as humans speak.

A verse that's blank does mimic well our trait

Of emphasizing every other bit

As if our tongues were riding on a horse;

We go gallumphing in our daily speech.

But now I hear you snorting at your screen,

" What, now she thinks we all must write in verse? "

If one is to be picky, now's the time

As long as we're all finding fault so dear.

So verse it is for me to read your prose.

(Or kindly keep your picking to your nose.)

exeunt,

Lynn S.

-----

Lynn Siprelle * Writer, Mother, Programmer, Fiber Artisan

The New Homemaker: http://www.newhomemaker.com/

Siprelle & Associates: http://www.siprelle.com/

People-Powered ! http://www.deanforamerica.com/

[Guest guest]

4. Please make sure you wrap your text when responding. If you don't and

someone is reading your post at the website, then it blows out the

formatting as one cannot see your message in the current window, but has

to scroll across the entire page to read it.

--------How do you do this?

Joanne

[Guest guest]

Also, if you want to thank someone please do it in the subject line, instead of

this area. It is very time consuming to go into each post and even more time

consuming to go into a post to just see a thank you.

Thanks ....

Jafa

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[Guest guest]

On Fri, 24 Oct 2003 16:23:58 -0500

" Laurel " <laurelmc@...> wrote:

>

>And to finish with one more chime. About those OT posts. Bring 'em on!

>Just label them correctly please.

>

>Laurel

>

LOL! Don't worry, they always come back <g>