Title: What are some general guidelines for posting messages to lists?

Question: I'm new to discussion lists. Can you give me some general
guidelines for posting messages to lists?

Answer:

The following are general guidelines that should be observed when posting
messages to a mailing list:

o Meaningful Subject Line
  When sending messages to a mailing list, please make sure that they have
  a clear and descriptive entry on the "Subject:" line.

o Include a Signature 
  Please be sure to sign your full name at the bottom of your posting and
  include your affiliation(s) and email address. Some subscribers may
  receive their email messages with the header information stripped away by
  their local system and therefore cannot know the author of a particular
  posting.

o Provide Context
  Every posting should begin with a clear introduction to the topic, or
  offer some kind of reference to the topic or a previous posting. There are
  often several "threads" of discussion going on simultaneously, which makes
  unreferenced postings confusing to readers.
 
o Prune Judiciously
  A popular way of providing context is to quote verbatim from the
  original message.  However, keep the quotations *short* and *relevant.*
  Quoting whole messages, signatures and all, can be inconsiderate.

o Humor
  Humor is appreciated but please remember that humor in email can easily
  be misinterpreted.  One way to express emotion is to use smiley faces. For
  example: humorous :) , ironic ;) , or sad :( .

o Moderation
  Some Mailman mailing lists are "unmoderated" lists. This means that what
  members post goes directly to the other members. In order to keep lists
  unmoderated, it is important that only pertinent messages are posted to the
  list. Members whose messages do not meet minimum expectations will be
  notified, and may be excluded permanently from future participation.

o Personal Mail
  Just as it is important to try to share public information with the
  whole group, private correspondence should remain just that: private. Send
  personal messages directly to individuals, not by way of the list.
  Never forward private email to the list or to any individual without
  permission of the sender.

o Quality of Communication
  If you find something posted on the list objectionable, you have every
  right to voice your objections but you should not do so in public.  
  Please express your complaints directly to the person responsible or
  to the listowner.  If enough complaints are received, it is unlikely 
  that the offender will post those kinds of things again. You can 
  also, of course, simply discard/delete all mail from an offending writer.  

Update: 02/2004 by Mailman Admin
Date: 08/2002  Author: R. Skiver Thompson