[PHP-DEV] META: Proper quoting
I've noticed a trend to extreme over-quoting on the php developer mailing lists. (Not to mention top-posting, but that's another topic.) In the latest example, Derick' email could have been 88% shorter, if he had just cut down the contents to the essential pieces. While it takes the writer like 5 seconds to remove such parts, each reader will have to scan the non-essential parts and thereby spend a lot more time on it (e.g. 5s compared to n*3 seconds). Helpful links: URL:http://www.math.fu-berlin.de/user/guckes/mail/edit.html#over_quoting URL:http://www.math.fu-berlin.de/user/guckes/mail/edit.html#full_quote Good Example: URL:http://news.php.net/article.php?group=php.devarticle=92888 Bad Examples: URL:http://news.php.net/article.php?group=php.devarticle=92886 URL:http://news.php.net/article.php?group=php.devarticle=92903 URL:http://news.php.net/article.php?group=php.devarticle=92906 - Sascha -- PHP Development Mailing List http://www.php.net/ To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP-DEV] META: Proper quoting
On Sat, 28 Dec 2002, Sascha Schumann wrote: I've noticed a trend to extreme over-quoting on the php developer mailing lists. (Not to mention top-posting, but that's another topic.) I find top-quoting extremely annoying too. In the latest example, Derick' email could have been 88% shorter, if he had just cut down the contents to the essential pieces. While I'm usually quite strict with removing unnecesarry ballast, sometimes I just forget things when sending a small note. While it takes the writer like 5 seconds to remove such parts, each reader will have to scan the non-essential parts and thereby spend a lot more time on it (e.g. 5s compared to n*3 seconds). Removing uncessary stuff is a good thing, unless it would be hard for people who just join the discussion to follow it all. You can also remove too much stuff... (for example just remove everything and write only your reply in a mail), like here: Good Example: URL:http://news.php.net/article.php?group=php.devarticle=92888 Derick -- - Derick Rethans http://derickrethans.nl/ PHP Magazine - PHP Magazine for Professionals http://php-mag.net/ - -- PHP Development Mailing List http://www.php.net/ To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP-DEV] META: Proper quoting
On Sat, Dec 28, 2002 at 02:28:54PM +0100, Sascha Schumann wrote: I've noticed a trend to extreme over-quoting on the php developer mailing lists. (Not to mention top-posting, but that's another topic.) One of the most annoying results of over-quoting is the inclusion of multiple signature blocks in the resulting message. For those vim users out there, the following macro works quite well: normal :g/^ -- *$/,/^$/-1d^M^Lgg It will truncate the message in the current buffer to just before the '-- ' signature delimiter. If you use mutt as your mail client, the following autocmd will automate the process: autocmd BufRead mutt* normal :g/^ -- *$/,/^$/-1d^M^Lgg -- Jon Parise ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) :: The PHP Project (http://www.php.net/) -- PHP Development Mailing List http://www.php.net/ To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
