russ weakley
Tue, 16 Dec 2003 21:43:37 -0800
Hi all, A few administration items. Apologies for the long post. This email covers: - Errors - Digest Mode - Reporting problems - Ownership - Increased volume and off-topic posts - Our first year
----------------------------- Errors ----------------------------- You may notice that you receive error warnings when you post to the WSG list. This happens infrequently and is due to a list member either having problems with their mail server, or changing their email address/provider. We keep track these errors and warn the relevant member if errors continue. If we receive no response within 48 hours we delete the email address from the system. ----------------------------- Digest Mode ----------------------------- After testing the digest mode for a few weeks, we have come to the conclusion that it is terrible. Depending on your mail system, you may either receive only non-html emails, or receive the digest as a series of attachments (including separate attachments for email separators). The second option is not as bad, as at least each email can be read. We have contacted the vendors about this, but it may be some time before we have an answer. Apologies to those using digest mode! In case you have forgotten: Commands to be sent to [EMAIL PROTECTED] (used in the body of the message NOT the subject line): Help wsg Set mode digest wsg Set mode standard wsg Command descriptions: Using the "Help wsg" command will reply with help associated to the WSG list. Using the "Set mode digest wsg" command will send all messages from lists within one file based on an interval by the moderator (just reset to 5am Sydney Time daily). Using the "Set mode standard wsg" command will send all messages individually and is the standard option. ----------------------------- Reporting problems ----------------------------- If you have problems with anything to do with WSG site or mail list, please notify Peter and I off-list ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). Be aware that we may not respond to you immediately, but we try to respond as quickly as we can. ----------------------------- Ownership ----------------------------- WSG is a community where you all have a say. Peter and I are only facilitators. Our intention is not to RUN the group, just help facilitate interaction between members through meetings, the list and the website. If you have ideas for different directions, or suggestions that you feel may be beneficial to the group, let us know! Please keep adding to the website. Members are often posting great resources to the list and these should also be added to the resources section of the website. We don't do this ourselves, it's up to the group to maintain this website which is why all members have direct access to the content management system. Remember there is a searchable list archive within the members section (as well as the public one at http://www.mail-archive.com/wsg%40webstandardsgroup.org/ In case you haven't noticed, Ben Bishop's "Spiffy" WSG icon has a home now. See http://webstandardsgroup.org/icon/ ----------------------------- Increased volume and off-topic posts ----------------------------- We have had a few complaints from members about (1) off-topic posts and (2) CSS layout or rendering problems being posted to the list in rapid fire form. While these are not major issues, it is better that we are aware of them now as membership is growing al the time. (1) off-topic posts are hard to address as "Web Standards" is such a broad subject. Peter and I do not want to become list-fascists. We would rather this be something the group manages for itself. However, from now on we will step in if we feel a thread is off-topic. You can also notify the group or us if you feel a thread is off-topic. (2) posting CSS layout or rendering problems to the list. One of the primary goals of this group is to help members move towards building sites that are standards compliant, so we do not want to stop members posting questions of this nature to the list - in fact, we encourage it! However, as discussed before, it is preferable to gather all the layout problems you may be having and post them in one clear email rather than many smaller emails. The guidelines for posting problems are: 1. Set up a sample page that shows just the problem in action. 2. Validate your HTML code 3. Validate your CSS code 4. Test the page on a range of browsers - as many as you can get access to. 5. Post you problem to the list with the following info: - a link to the sample url - a link to the css file if it is separate - a short, clear explanation of the problem - a list of browsers and how they render the problem If you have issues or suggestions, contact us off-list ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). ----------------------------- Our first year ----------------------------- The Web Standards Group held its first meeting on 6 March 2003 in Sydney (Australia). We had 8 people attend - all of whom are still active members. In the last 10 months we have grown from 8 members to around 170 members. One of our aims for next year is to get other cities up and running with regular WSG meetings. It looks like Melbourne (Australia) may be the next in line. If you want to find out about setting up meetings in your city, contact us off-list ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). Finally, Peter and I would like to thank everyone who has joined the group, participated via the list or at meetings and stayed with us through our early teething problems. That's all for now. Have a good break! Thanks Russ and Peter ***************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ *****************************************************