Top Posting and Reply All

[Simon Wong]

Hi All.

I thought it appropriate to chime in with some comments for the list as
it appears that it may be useful for people who are new to using mailing
lists for communication.

Top Posting is explained in this Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-posting

It is nicely summarised by this quip from that page:

        A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
        Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
        A: Top-posting.
        Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

In a mailing discussion it is most appropriate to use in-line replies
(this sort of includes bottom posting) so that people can easily see to
what you are replying/referring.

As far as Reply All goes the most appropriate method is to send all
replies to the list.  This ensures that everyone benefits from the
replies that are made to people's questions.

Also, replying directly to people is not always welcome.  I find it
annoying to have direct replies because I filter all my mailing list
mail into folders where I can read them together in the right context.
YMMV.

Anyway, I am no expert but just want to share some mailing list
experience learnt over the years especially from the SLUG mailing list.

-- 
Simon Wong BEng MCompSc MACS
Dependable Technologies Pty Ltd

[m] +61 (0)438 609 011 [p] +61 (0)7 3369 3627
[f] +61 7 3009 0431    [e] simon at dt.net.au
[l] http://www.linkedin.com/in/simonwong
[w] http://www.dt.net.au

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