Re: [tdf-discuss] Re: Top Posting... Can we have an LO Mailing List Guidelines Page?

On 09/09/2011 06:05 PM, Ken Springer wrote:
> On 9/9/11 3:40 PM, Andrew Douglas Pitonyak wrote:
> > The links do not lead me to assume that top posting is expected. If the
> > documentation group desires bottom posting only, the user should be
> > informed when the register. Even then, I expect that most people will
> > miss it. Expecting someone to follow a link and then follow another link
> > seems a wee bit unlikely.
> >
> > Bottom posting is great when a message is not read in context of the
> > other messages. When I read threaded messages, it is annoying to wade
> > through the message history before I arrive at the content of interest.
> > I might prefer, therefore, that people be prodded into seriously
> > shortening content from all previous posters to only contain the
> > portions relevant to their reply.
>
> If you read the Learn to Quote link on the netiquette page, it gets 
> into why bottom posting and interspersion is or should be the desired 
> way.

Read it many times. I remain unconvinced. Their points assume a single 
style of reading email.

I read my email in a threaded view. Usually, I have already read 
everything but the latest reply, so, the the top portion of the message 
is not required (and is therefore ignored). Unfortunately, it is common 
for there to be so much of the message included, that I need to scroll 
to view the new text. In other words, it is less efficient and it wastes 
my time. (to put it into context, I have counted the steps required to 
get to my car when I leave work by different routes)

I receive a very large volume of email. It is usually less than 1000 
messages a day, but, still, the time and physical movements to scroll to 
the bottom of each message is sufficient to stress my wrists and hands. 
So, if I can skim the new content in less than two seconds, and it takes 
me longer than that to even get to the new content, well, then I more 
than double the time I spend skimming email.

The bigger concern for me is neither bottom nor top posting, it is 
trimming the message if you do not top post. With a top post, I can 
trivially see the response.

> But like you, I think the LO people need to specify it directly on the 
> page, even better would be for them to actually write their own 
> netiquette page.

If they care, they should write it. Yes.

--
Andrew Pitonyak
My Macro Document: http://www.pitonyak.org/AndrewMacro.odt
Info:  http://www.pitonyak.org/oo.php


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