Okay... soapbox time again.
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I am Bob Wright and for those who do not know... I own and control
PCBUILD, PCSOFT & VPLANETS mailing lists. I offer these FREE
tech support mailing lists to you all and only ask they you do one simple
thing... use them in the PROPER form, one that we set out for you in
our Welcome statement & Policy Statement available at our web site.
If you have web access, be sure to stop at: http://nospin.com
First, remember that these mailing lists are moderated. We do this to
make sure that only ON TOPIC messages are sent to you. This also
removes all the nonsense... and keeps these forums civil and usable.
So... I want each of you to take a minute and read my little statement
here about posting. We have been experiencing too many bad posts
that we WILL reject. Posting to our mailing lists is actually only a matter
of ettiquette or Nettiquette.
I want you all to realize the scope of your audience. Your post will be read
by people on six continents... in over 58 countries. Our lists are mirrored.
That means that the messages are sent to systems that show them as
a resource like a News Group. Although our subscriber base for each
list is just over 1,000 subscribers, your post will eventually be available to
over 12,000 readers. Please realize this when you post... you are reaching
a vast audience.
You should understand that the moderators work hard to keep these lists
clean for you. If you would like to view their pictures, they are on our web
site at: http://nospin.com/staff.html
These are the rules we use to approve your posts to the mailing lists:
Deadly sins= You can be removed from the list for these
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NO SPAM : We do not allow anyone to send advertisements to the lists
NO FLAMES: No nasty remarks or anything that is rude... NONE
NO CROSSPOSTING: Only the name of the mailing list will be in the from line
(this helps to stop others from getting your Email addres and adding it to a list)
No OFF TOPIC POSTS: This one is obvious... each list has a topic and only
posts belonging within that topic will be allowed.
NO FORMATTING: If you have a state of the art mail program be sure it is
set to PLAIN/TEXT... no HTML or other formating.
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THE OTHER RULES
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The rest is simple.... real simple. Make your post readable and of value to
the list. REMEMBER THE SIZE OF YOUR AUDIENCE. If you have a question
or a problem... ASK.. we are all here to help you. No question is TOO dumb
or simple, if you do not know the answer... then we all want to help you.
NOW!!!!! Here is where most of your have problems.
Replying to a message:
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Basic rules:
THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: Display your FULL NAME!!!
Display both your first and last name in either the from line or
signed to the bottom of your message. If you do not... the post is
rejected.
Here are the rest:
1) Do not post only a URL or a web site, (unless they need the site of
a file or a driver). If you want to give them a site with a great deal of
information, COPY & PASTE the best part of the answer into your message
and add the URL for additional information. **Exception: VPLANETS
allows URLS, as that is part of the TOPIC... Internet Communications.
2) When answering a question... quote or leave part of the original question
in your message so that it will make sense. REMOVE as much of the
original question as possible to conserve space, but leave enough to make
sense.
3) FOOTERS: Remove the original FOOTER From the message. The Footer
is this: PCBUILD: http://nospin.com or [log in to unmask]
it is there to remind you where to find help if you need it... leaving it in the
quoted text is obnoxious.
4) Be polite. Be polite. Be polite.
5) Before you answer a question, read all the messages you have received that
have that same subject line. Do not repost the same answer. If 15 people
send the same answer... it only wastes space and make the 3rd person
to post it look foolish... the 15th inane.
6) Think about your answer before you post it. You maybe a great computer
geek and maybe the person you are helping is top-of-the-line also... but,
thousands of readers are also learning from your answer. Take a minute
to make sure the answer is clear, concise and understandable. Think of it
in terms of adding to the GREAT BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE... for that is
what you are doing... educating thousands of people. Please remember
this!!!!
7) No one line answers or comments. No "THANK YOU ALL" or "ME TOO"
posts. If you want to thank someone, send an Email to them... not the list.
The most important thing you can do is make each post clear, clean and easily
understood. Your posts are archived for others to reference in the future... so
try to do your best. If you only answer one question, you are doing great. We
would rather you answered only one post a day in this manner, instead of a
dozen snapped-off, quick answers that are one liners... and of little value.
Our mission is simple: We are here to help the least of our subscribers... and
our rules are set to benefit everyone. Posts must be made in the proper format
so everyone can benefit.
If you dislike moderating, we suggest you try some of the other mailing lists
for tech support. After you wade through all the nonsense and discover what
I have learned over the many years I have been doing this... you will appreciate
our method.
Have fun with it...
Bob
List Owner PCBUILD - PCSOFT - VPLANETS - PCBLDFAQ
PCSOFT: http://nospin.com or [log in to unmask]
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