Mailing List Rules

Content

  1. No Politics or Religion
  2. Off Topic messages are not permitted.
  3. Don’t post me too! emails – they are not useful in any way
  4. Don’t post Thank you emails
    • Send them directly to the person – not to the list unless they contain additional information that would be useful to anyone following the thread.
    • Also, messages like “Thanks, I will try this” are not useful. Rather try it first, and then report back on whether it worked or not.

Netiquette

  1. Don’t start a new thread / discussion by replying to an old email
    • Decent email programs will consider your message to be part of the old thread and members won’t see your message.
    • Changing the subject isn’t enough – there are headers in your message that link to the one you replied to.
  2. Don’t perpetuate long threads unneccessarily
    • We have lots of members but that doesn’t mean we all want to read 3 screenfuls of mail every day
  3. Research your topic before you post
    • If googling the subject line of your message answers the question, you shouldn’t have posted the message :-)
  4. Write nice text emails
    1. Turn off HTML
      • We don’t want fancy flashing colours and fonts – just your message.
    2. Limit lines to 70 characters
      • If you must use Outlook, you will have to use the Enter key to achieve this.
    3. Don’t attach files
      • (except for small text files where relevent) – i.e. scripts
      • Rather put other files up on your own website.
    4. Edit Quoted Messages
      • Cut out irrelevent sections of the message you are replying to
      • Put your reply below the question. Do not Top-Post.
    5. Choose a descriptive subject
      • i.e. none of “Help!”, “Questions”
    6. Keep your signature short (under 4 lines)
      • No disclaimers please.
    7. Don’t send winmail.dat attachments, send standard MIME attachments. How to disable winmail.dat for Outlook users.
  5. Don’t Cross-post
    • That means don’t send your email to more than one mailing list (any list, anywhere).
  6. Be polite
    • Remember your email is being read by hundreds of people.
    • “Flaming” is far less useful than posting a good solution to a problem.

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