Re: Newsreader configuration problem

Tech-Archive recommends: Fix windows errors by optimizing your registry

Bob Newman wrote:

I use Windows Mail as my newsreader. By default it places my reply to a
newsgroup note at the top of the new message. I often get angry email from
people telling me the proper etiquette is to put the reply and the end of
the note. Regardless of who is right and who is wrong, is there a way I can
change the default to put replies and the end of messages rather than at the
beginning?

There are options in WM as to where your reply is positioned and also
your signature. While not all-encompassing of what their products can
do, Microsoft does have some web help pages at office.microsoft.com.
For example, go to the following page and click on the link titled
"Change settings for replies and forwards":

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/19583f24-e21f-44b8-a065-45541d75484d1033.mspx
(short URL = http://preview.tinyurl.com/6xgqca)

Whether you top- or bottom-post, the signature ALWAYS goes at the bottom
of your reply. Users, especially of OE or those that don't bother
checking the options of their newsreader, are often lazy and use
whatever are the defaults for their newsreader. They think that the
defaults of their newsreader somehow equate to the de facto standards
(i.e., netiquette) used in newsgroups. The fact is that they are too
lazy to review the options available or make their own decision as to
how best compose their posts. Even MVPs are culprits of those too lazy
to properly configure their newsreader. Even when there are registry
edits or options within their newsreader, they don't bother to spend the
time to properly configure it. They shove their sigdash line and
signature content after their reply but before the quoted post(s) which
means EVERYTHING after the sigdash is in their signature, not in the
body of their post.

Most complaints about top- versus bottom-posting go away if you properly
snip your posts and keep the order of the quoted content in the same
order as you use in your reply. If you want to argue for top-posting
then every quoted post within yours should also be in top-posting order.
That often means that you will need to rearrange the posts so they are
in the same order due to all the lazy posters that don't maintain the
same order. Trying to read a reply that is top-posted but contains a
mix of top- and bottom-posted posts turns your reply into a jumbled
mess. If you want to use a particular order, then do so, and do so for
all the quoted replies, too. If you want to argue that it is faster or
easier to read top-down then DO IT! That includes everything in your
reply, including the quoted posts. If you bottom-post then keep ALL of
it in that same order, including the quoted posts. If you leave the
quoted posts in a jumbled mess of some are top-posted and some are
bottom-posted then any claimed arguments about using top- or
bottom-posting is just you arguing that you want to be lazy. In that
case, just don't bother quoting any posts. Just leave them out since
you aren't willing to actually enforce your claimed preference of top-
or bottom-posting within your own reply.

Snipping is more important than top- versus bottom-posting. Only
include enough of the quoted posts to track the discussion towards your
reply. If the quoted post is short then snipping is somewhat
superfluous. Remember that you want users to see your reply and maybe
read the quoted posts to see to what your reply is applicable. When
someone reviews or critiques a book, they don't quote the entire book
when referencing only portions of it. If you include lots of unrelated
garbage in the quoted posts then your reply is probably just as
unfocused as was all that quoted content. Someone wearing 5 different
outfits to a party looks like an idiot and will be treated as such.

- YOUR signature ALWAYS go at the bottom of your post regardless that
you top- or bottom-post.
- When replying, snip out signatures for OTHERS. Their signatures are
irrelevant to your reply, and quite often irrelevant to their own posts.
- If you top-post then arrange all quoted posts to also be in top-post
order.
- If you bottom-post then arrange all quoted posts to also be in
bottom-post order.
- If you leave the quoted posts in jumbled order, no one cares that you
top- or bottom-post because it is evident that you are lazy and don't
really care about order.
- Snip out content in your reply in the quoted posts that is not
relevant to your reply and/or tracks the discussion towards your reply.
- Don't use quoted-printable format for your posts. While
quoted-printable format is defined by RFC (i.e., it is standardized),
there is no standard on how to reply to quoted-printable posts or even
on how to display them.
- Decide whether you are going to post like a self-centered child (which
come in all ages) or an adult participating in a community.
- Get used to lazy posters. You can try to prod them to embrace your
adopted style based over years of usage, prodding, and community
participation but don't expect them to comply. Those virtual bullets
tossed at you to prod you to comply with someone's preferences inflict
little harm but how much harm depends on how fragile is your ego.
Thin-skinned egos don't last long on Usenet.
- You can self-elect yourself to be a Usenet cop and espousing what you
consider are proper rules for posting in Usenet but expect to get
ignored, incite flame wars, or get killfiled if you are overly
persistent in proselytizing your opinions.
- And, above all, remember that Usenet is an anarchy so there are no
rules, not even mine espoused here. It all depends whether you want to
be seen as part of the community, an adult, a child, a renegade, a
troll, a boob, or just an overly lazy poster.

Below is some info on newsgroups and guidelines about posting but,
again, you get to choose what, if anything, you embrace in your style of
posting.

What is Usenet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsgroups
http://www.masonicinfo.com/newsgroups.htm
http://www.mcfedries.com/Ramblings/usenet-primer.asp

How to post to newsgroups:
http://66.39.69.143/goodpost.htm
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
http://users.tpg.com.au/bzyhjr/liszt.html
.