Well, not actually new - but in an effort to reduce the List Admin group's chores, I'm resurrecting something that a list volunteer (thanks, Maarten!) did in the distant past, and am going to send out a monthly administrative message with information on using the list.
Please read on... GENERAL INFO: Send a message to everyone on the list by sending mail to: <origami@lists.digitalorigami.com> Get help from the List Admins by sending mail to: <origami-own...@lists.digitalorigami.com> Change your list subscription, unsubscribe, get to the archives, etc. from: http://lists.digitalorigami.com/mailman/listinfo/origami THIS MONTH'S REMINDER: "How to quote when you reply" For a wide variety of reasons, we enforce a specific quoting style here on the list: edited quoted content first, your new message material last. (This is called "top-quoting" in 'Net-speak.) In other words, make your messages look like something like this: ------------ On some-date, some-list-member wrote: > quoted material > more quoted material ...and here's your new content. signed, your name ------------ Details to note: - don't forget that "reply" by default goes to the entire list, not to the author of a particular message - use *some* quoted material to provide context for your reply; remember that people may read your message days, weeks or even longer after you write it - edit the quoted text down to *just* what is needed to provide context; remove headers, footers, signatures, advertisements from lame ISPs that insert them, etc. - mark the quoted material with some plain text (not colored/font/formatting-based) symbol to distinguish it from your new text. The ">" marks in the example work well, but you could also put something at the start and end of the quoted material, instead. - consider signing your name so your fellow list members have some sense of who you are other than your (possibly-cryptic) email address And, yes, we know this is the precise opposite of common practice in one-to-one or small-group email conversations. Having a conversation with 1200+ people is *different*, and different rules apply. Thanks for listening. Now go fold something! (And come back and tell us about it.) Anne for the O-list Admin Gang
