[Klug-general] Mailing list etiquette, again (was: The other side of sympathy (was: Folkestone Earthquake Appeal))

[Colin McCarthy]

On 5/4/07, Shish <shish at shishnet.org> wrote:
> My initial reaction to this was "WTF? Is this spam? It seems to be a
> collection of out of order / totally unrelated messages, posted as a
> new thread with a randomly generated title o_O"
>
>
> To explain:
>
> > [Klug-general] The other side of sympathy
>
> Is a new thread, started as a reply to an existing one. And not only a
> new thread, but with a new title (even though the existing title of
> "Folkestone Earthquake Appeal" was fine). And not only a new thread
> with a new title, but a title which makes no sense without the context
> of the existing thread (which there's no way to link it to)
>
>
> > Oh yuk, actually yuk yuk  :-). It was generally the lesser corner of
> > bedsitland that copped it the most although there was damage all over
> > the town.
>
> Say what? Out of context, this seems to be a collection of random
> words. I've seen spam make more sense...
>
> But a-ha, there IS context! The context is just placed *after* the
> message it gives context to:
>
> > I saw that list of requested relief items when the Birmingham tornado hit.
> > It's a classic and I am sure will be edited for all future natural
> > disasters in the UK.
> > I can't wait for a real life 'The Day After Tomorrow' as it will make
> > for a very interesting news day.
>
> Two messages at the same level of indentation read as though they are
> a single message, reading it as such is very confusing. AND it's top
> posted, so the second paragraph of this seemingly-single message is
> actually supposed to be read before the first!
>
>
> ] > short quote to establish context
> ]
> ] reply to quote
> ]
> ] > short quote to establish context
> ]
> ] reply to quote
>
> is *so* much easier to read than
>
> ] reply to message
> ]
> ] message which comes before reply
> ]
> ] > entire message
> ] >
> ] >> unrelated quote
> ] >>
> ] >> mailing list sig
> ] > mailing list sig
> ] mailing list sig
> ] mailing list sig
>
>     -- Shish
>
> _______________________________________________
> Kent mailing list
> Kent at mailman.lug.org.uk
> https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/kent
>

Shish
Would you be interested in producing a 'Mailing list etiquette' guide
that we could put on the new KLUG site?  Screenshots of examples could
help explain the correct etiquette way of participating in the mailing
list to new members and everyone can refer to it or be referred to it
if there are further problems.

I appreciate I was highlighted as a perpetrator if this top posting
crime and will try and bottom post in future.

Colin