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List:       openoffice-discuss
Subject:    Re: [discuss] Top vs. Bottom Posting - Revisited
From:       David Legg <david_legg () tiscali ! co ! uk>
Date:       2003-02-13 21:21:30
Message-ID: 1045171292.2208.2.camel () cartman ! 22syd ! net
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How you format your e-mails depends on two words - common sense. 

I top AND (mostly) bottom post. It depends on the circumstances. 

I top post when I'm just replying to someone's message (usually more
informally) when I know that the messages will be SHORT and there will
be two or three replies at most. I use their message to me as a
reference underneath so that they know what I have actually replied to,
but that's all it is - a reference. You generally don't need to do this
on a mailing list because there are threads that people can follow and
you shouldn't be leaving in previous messages in their entirety under
these circumstances. 

I bottom post when I am replying to someone who is asking me questions,
or when I want to quote one or two sentences from their previous mail,
and then I put my answer or reply underneath. It's much more logical
that way, especially when you are CCing or where several people will
read your mail who aren't in on the conversation, rather than people
having to scan the whole mail for questions that were asked or sentences
that were quoted. If you are quoting people or answering queries, bottom
post please, especially on a mailing list, and edit your text. 

I couldn't care a less if people top or bottom post as long as it is
appropriate (you should generally bottom post on a mailing list and only
top post when the messages are short and can be read easily), but not
editing things is what really gets on my nerves. I have my mailing lists
sent in a digest and I regularly have to scroll through mails where
someone has just replied and left the whole b****y thread there as part
of their message. This makes me miss a lot of useful messages and
comments. Seriously, if this doesn't improve the list should have a
filter that removes all lines beginning with >. 

Regardless of whether you top or bottom post DO NOT just hit the reply
button and start typing. If someone has sent a lengthy e-mail you will
send a copy of that whole e-mail AND your reply. What's worse if there
have been many replies in the thread you get a copy of the whole e-mail,
and any previous replies, along with the message you are about to write
which will then be replied to...... Get the picture? People who advocate
top posting all the time are generally those who leave in whole messages
as part of their reply. No one is forcing anybody to conform to anything
but just be sensible and cut the rubbish out of your e-mails when you
reply! Not too much to ask. 

Note on footers. You don't need to put all your personal contact
information on an e-mail, especially not to a mailing list - your
organisation may have a policy on this, so beware. You should only be
showing your phone number etc. to people who need to see it and you can
set this in some e-mail clients. If not, edit it out. Plus, take any
unnecessary riddles, quotations or sayings off. I know they seem like a
good idea but they're not when sending e-mails to people you don't know.
On the other hand I like them because it sometimes shows what kind of
person I'm dealing with :). 

Some organisations put footers automatically on all their e-mails
because it is a part of their legal policy and is out of your control. I
fully respect and understand that as long as they appear once at the
bottom. 

On Wed, 2003-02-12 at 07:04, Zaine Ridling wrote: 
> I just finished trying to configure MS Outlook so that it would bottom
> post, and guess what: it doesn't! 
(There were various others, not just Zaine). 
How on earth can an e-mail client stop you from top or bottom posting?
If you are top posting put your little cursor above and start typing. If
you are bottom posting put your little cursor below and start typing. Is
this too simple? Outlook, Mozilla or any other e-mail client does not
'allow' you to top or bottom post - YOU DO. I can't believe people are
talking about this and I'd never even thought about it before until now.
How much should I bet that I'll see this whole message in its entirety
as part of someone's reply? I think it should illustrate my point. 

David 

Some good info (stop using Outlook is one) can be found in the following
locations (these are references): 

http://www.windfalls.net/ukrm/postinghelp.html
http://www.i-hate-computers.demon.co.uk/
http://www.caliburn.nl/topposting.html



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