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Text File | 1990-09-08 | 17KB | 337 lines

Users' Etiquette Guide to InterLink ==================================== Copyright (c) 1990 Bobbie Sumrada All Rights Reserved This document is for the exclusive use of InterLink member systems and is not to be reproduced by any means, transmitted to, or mailed via any other electronic mail network, public or private. --------- Welcome. This is an etiquette guide to the InterLink network. Why do we need an etiquette guide you ask? Simple. Many new callers, as well as our conference hosts and Sysops have asked for it. They feel that giving a new caller an idea of what is expected of them when they post mail in an InterLink conference will make all of our jobs just a bit easier. This guide is not intended to tell you how to get a mail packet, or how to use an offline reader. We're assuming you can either figure that out for yourself, or ask your Sysop to help you. This guide should get you, a new caller, "up-to-speed" quickly and try to point out a few pitfalls that new callers traditionally seem to fall into. It should also serve to clarify some of our network's common practices to our "pro" callers who have been BBSing a long time. Many of these "unwritten rules" come down to us from callers and Sysops who have read thousands of messages and have been BBSing for years. Some have been the direct result of lively discussions from our conference hosts who deal with problems like these on a daily basis. Other items are the result of some of our more memorable fights. :) In any case, if you follow them, you'll fit in with us just fine and well on your way to becoming a member in good standing. If you choose to ignore them, expect to be reminded from time to time by our good hosts! At the end of this document is a short glossary of terms used in this guide in case you are unfamiliar with them. GENERAL GUIDELINES ================== 1. BE HELPFUL AND FRIENDLY The electronic aquaintances you'll make on our network may well turn into lifelong friends. You may see a lot of characters in mail like :-) or :) or ;-). These aren't line noise. They're smiles (if you hold your head right). You'll also see <GRIN>s and other manifestations of this idea everywhere. Many of our callers use these little touches to indicate that the comment was meant to be humorous. 2. READ THE MESSAGE BASE TILL YOU'RE COMFORTABLE Jumping into a message base can be a scary thing at first. Read the conference description (which is available on your board in a bulletin or as a file - ask your Sysop) and understand what type of discussions are welcomed in the conference in which you want to begin participating. Try to read several day's worth of messages before you post that first note. 3. KEEP YOUR MESSAGES ON TOPIC When you do start to post, try not to stray off the topics of the conference. If you are posting about religion in the BASIC conference, you are causing users to download messages they don't want. They're reading BASIC to talk about programming. You are probably also duplicating topics that are under discussion in other, more appropriate conferences. In the above example, it would be a good idea to move your thread to the RELIGION conference and ask the others to join you. Another thing to avoid is posting personal chitchat messages in technical and vendor support areas. If you find you want to chat informally with someone, move your thread to CHITCHAT or pick up a phone. It saves us all the expense of downloading mail of a personal nature that we don't want. Occasional chitchat does happen in conferences. It's to be expected when people are comfortable and are having a good time. But when it threatens to become an unreasonable percentage of the mail, or pulls the focus of the conference off-topic, or goes on a long time, the Host will usually step in and remind you to "Take it to CHITCHAT!". 4. POST ONLY PUBLIC MAIL InterLink does not support private mail. That means that all your mail posted in InterLink message bases should be flagged "public" with the ECHO flag ON or it will not be sent out. When mail isn't sent, you'll naturally never get a reply. It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you do not cross-post captures of mail from other electronic mail networks, nor directly post copyrighted material without express consent of the owner of the material. 5. MIND THE HOST/MODERATOR Hosts have volunteered their valuable time and efforts to be responsible for a conference. By taking their advice, you can help make a conference useful to the maximum number of readers. If they ask you to move a thread or request your cooperation in staying on topic, do it gracefully. They have been empowered to enforce the rules in the conferences, should it become necessary. This is generally done by discussing your behavior with your local Sysop. You should know that access to conferences can be revoked, although this is not frequently done. What's a conference host or moderator, you ask? The moderator is a caller or Sysop appointed by Interlink to be responsible for a conference. The host: * "chairs" the conference * helps spur new discussions and takes part in old ones * answers your questions on conference topics/policies * keeps conversation on topic and limits personal or "chitchat" messages, especially in technical, vendor- supported or specialty conferences * guides you to other conferences when you require additional information not available in the current one * routinely advises IL administration on the state of their conference and is responsible for keeping order when necessary 6. NO PERSONAL FLAMES OR PROFANITY Although users are encouraged to express personal opinion in conferences where appropriate (such as Opinion, Politics, etc), the use of personal flames in messages directed at other members of the conference is prohibited, and can result in formal suspension and expulsion from InterLink by your Sysop. There is a difference between direct, personal attack directed toward an individual, and lively discussion or expression of personal opinion. We encourage *idea* exchange, but if you cannot communicate those ideas without attacking another caller personally, you will be better off dropping the conference. Your moderator will let you know what is acceptable. Remember, treat people as you would have them treat you. The issue of profanity is clear as well. We all know the "Seven Dirty Words". Avoid them in our conference message bases. 7. AVOID DUPLICATIONS YOU can help us! These hints will help your Sysop and all the other callers who download mail save money when they transfer your messages. Remember, a LARGE percentage of our callers use long-distance or measured service to get their mail and all Sysops call long-distance to get the board's mail. * AVOID UPLOADING DUPLICATE MESSAGES. Ensure that your .REP packet created by your offline reader is erased once it is uploaded successfully. There are a number of good scripts and utilities available on the BBS that will help you do this. Ask your Sysop for help in finding them. * DON'T QUOTE EXCESSIVELY All offline readers offer "quote" functions. Quotes are parts of the original message that you copy into your reply to help maintain the continuity of a thread. Big quotes mean big phone bills for InterLink's member sysops, since these messages are effectively duplicates. Experience also shows that people just DON'T READ posts with lots of big quotes. Quote sparingly!! Of all, this is the biggest and most blatant problem plaguing private e-mail systems. Help us stamp out big quotes! QUOTE GUIDES: * Whenever possible limit yourself to 2 or 3 lines of quote from the previous message to establish the context of your reply. Although there will be times when it makes sense to provide larger quotations, if you find your message is 15-20% quote, you are probably quoting more than you need to. * 50% or more quotation is almost certainly unnecessary. Trim it down! It goes without saying that the following is urgently requested: DO NOT QUOTE THE ENTIRE MESSAGE. * Don't copy in a huge quote and leave a single line or short reply like "Right" or "I agree." Think about all the bulk we all had to download to see this single line! 8. HOW TO BUG YOUR FELLOW BBSer The following are small irritations in the big scheme of things, but after you have read thousands of messages little things tend to mean a lot. * CUTE SIGNATURES. Don't add 'extras' to your messages, like large fancy signatures, large quotes or pictures. They are cute once, but people get annoyed seeing them over and over again. They also waste message space. If you must add a signature, make it small and tasteful. * ANSI MESSAGES. InterLink supports ANSI messages ONLY in one special conference, ANSI-ART, where you will be warmly welcomed. Most mail doors will filter out/replace ANSI in mail, and without a 'translator' program such as VILANSI, your message will look like garbage. * PCBOARD @-VARIABLES. Use of PCBoard "@-variables" in network mail is reserved for hosts or Sysops - not callers. * KEEP YOUR TAGLINES SHORT. If you use taglines at the bottom of your messages keep them to 1 line. Some sysops don't like them at all and object VERY strongly if they take up extra space. Use of encrypted taglines is prohibited. * USE UPPER AND LOWER CASE LETTERS IN MAIL. A message in all-caps comes across to the reader as shouting since all caps are used for emphasis. A message without any capital letters looks childish. Both are harder to read and invite the reader to skip your posts. * DON'T REPLY TO EVERY MESSAGE. A lot of new callers (and some of our experienced messagers) want to get mail, so they reply to everything. This is silly. Make your posts COUNT - put something substantive in your messages, not drivel. * COMBINE THANK YOU NOTES. When you get help from other callers combine your 'thanks' messages into one and thank EVERYONE at once or add it to a post that has information or more discussion in it. This saves precious message space. * BE AWARE OF THE ECHO FLAG. This flag on your message determines if it is to be sent out on InterLink (see glossary). If you intend your message to stay local (not echoed) be sure the message has NO echo flag. Examples of local-only messages are: "The file is on this board" or "Meet me at Joe's at six". Those reading these messages are scattered all over the world; it wastes their time to read traffic meant for the local crowd. 9. NO ADVERTISING Advertising is only accepted in the BUY-SELL conference(s). This does not prohibit messages that say, "You can buy this widget for about $50." It DOES prohibit messages that say, "I'll sell you this widget for $50. Call me at ... ." This type of sale must ONLY be handled in BUY-SELL. Why? Because buying and selling is considered advertising, and just like commercials on TV, it disrupts the program (the conference). People are reading the conference for technical information or are there to socialize (depending on the conference). That's ALL they want. If they want to read ads, they go to BUY-SELL. Advertising for BBSs is also limited. Some member systems require that all BBS ads be posted in a special BBS-ADS conference. Make sure you know what is acceptable in each conference before you post. Hit-and-run advertising may get you locked out of the network. ----------------------------------------------------------------- GLOSSARY ======== @-VARIABLE A collection of special words that are substituted online by PCBoard or your offline reader with your personal user information. The original intent of these variables was to allow a Sysop to send "generic" messages with specific user information in them without having to type individual messages. These variables are restricted to use by Sysops and hosts on InterLink. BBS ACRONYMS In addition to the smiley faces: :) :-) ;-) and friends, there are several shortcut ways of saying certain frequently-used phrases, such as: BTW = by the way OTOH = on the other hand.. IOW = in other words IMO = in my opinion IMHO = in my humble opinion FWIW = for what it's worth.. FYI = for your information CONFERENCE A message base devoted to discussion of a specific topic. Conferences may be local or internationally echoed. ECHO CONFERENCE A message base that is echoed internationally among a number of boards. ECHO FLAG A flag or toggle on a message that marks it as capable of being sent internationally to all other InterLink boards. You set this flag when you enter or reply to a message online, and ECHO ON is the default for many offline readers. If you set an Echo flag "OFF" the message is not sent out over the network, but all local callers can see it. FLAMES This term originated at MIT and migrated to the Arpanet and Internet computer networks. The story was that the term was taken from a comic book character who could turn himself into a superbeing by uttering, "FLAME ON!" at which point he flamed the bad guys, then turned back into a normal person by saying, "FLAME OFF!". The analogy has stuck in BBSing. When we in InterLink talk about flames we mean nasty, personal attacks that go directly at people rather than at their *ideas*. MODERATOR A sysop or caller that is appointed by InterLink to OR HOST monitor a conference on behalf of the member Sysops. NETUSERS CONFERENCE A netwide conference for the feedback and comments of InterLink callers. This is the conference where you can suggest new conference ideas and ask questions and get answers about the network. OFFLINE READER A program that allows you to read mail packets prepared in one of your BBS's mail doors (Qmail or Markmail). These readers include: QMAIL DELUXE, EZ-READER and others. QUOTES When you reply to a message on PCBoard (online) or via an offline reader, you have the option of importing a section of the original message into your reply. This part of that message is called a "quote". MESSAGE BASE A file on the BBS that contains all the messages posted in a particular conference. THREAD A collection of messages sorted by SUBJECT and DATE. Offline readers will often sort messages by thread to make it easier to follow a conversation. VENDOR CONFERENCE A support conference specifically devoted to questions and answers about a particular software product. Vendor conferences on InterLink include: PKWARE, QMAIL, EZ-READER, 4DOS, etc..