***Posting FAQ*** Please read

Posted by BEI Design on April 29, 2009, 5:18 pm

Welcome Sewists and new posters! Here are some guidelines
to posting to the sewing newsgroups. In case you are
wondering where you are and how you got here, you are in a
newsgroup, AKA "Usenet" which is a part of the internet
that has been around much much longer than the WWW, which
it is not a part of. These groups are not moderated.

This information is protocol and etiquette that has been in
use for over *20* years on Usenet (newsgroups are Usenet).
I have edited this from these sites:
http://metalab.unc.edu/usenet-i/usenet-help.html
http://www.aptalaska.net/~kmorgan/nnqlinks.html

Also, link to the news.newusers.questions web site,
http://www.geocities.com/nnqweb/nnqlinks.html

If you are seeking information on a common topic, try doing
search at:
http://groups.google.com/groups/advanced_search?q=alt.sewing
Then, if you don't find your subject, post a basic question
to the group.

Be precise in your requests for information. If you are
seeking help on a technique, or are having a problem, the
more information you give, the more someone will be likely
to be able to help you with your request. Put some thought
into your header: "problem" or "I need help" are much more
likely to be ignored than a specific header such as " Help:
facing has wrinkles" or "Where can I find fine linen".

There is a "what machine should I buy" FAQ.
http://www.cet.com/~pennys/faq/smfaq.htm

NO Advertising. NONE. No commercial ads, no auction
notices, no eBay announcements, no "for sale" private party
ads, no links to a commercial site; nothing. There are
marketplace groups for ads.(rec.crafts.textiles.marketplace)
Ever been to a Usenet group that has more ads than posts?
This also includes one line posts announcing commercial
sites. And yes, this is a grey area, but in past
discussions the overwhelming majority is in agreement that
all ads need to go the marketplace sites. If you would like
to know more about advertising on Usenet, here's a link to
it:
Advertising on Usenet: How To Do It, How Not To Do It
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/advertising/how-to/part1/

Please don't argue with us about it should be OK for **you**
to do it.

Edit your replies. If you are replying to a post that is
rather lengthy, use your editing functions to pare the
message down. If you reply without leaving a portion of
the request in, and the header isn't clear, many people
will not know what you are posting about. If the subject
changes in the course of a reply, change your header so
that people will know what your post is about.

The sewing newsgroups are pretty chatty. Keep in mind that
not everyone may be interested in the non-sewing chatter
about kids, cooking, pets, parenting, religion, or whatever.
It's polite to put an [OT] for OFF TOPIC in the header,
either if the thread has "derailed" to not be about sewing
anymore, or if it's obviously not sewing related.

Please do not top post: this is putting your answer above
the comment you are replying to. It's hard to track the
conversation when you do this.

This is a public forum, and an international one. There
may be hundreds of people reading your posts. Many people
have to pay for their download/online time by the minute
which is the main reason for keeping headers concise and
posts succinct. Also, don't assume that everyone is in the
USA; they are not!!

No photos. This is not a binary group. Please post photos
to the web and put up a link. NO HTML either, this is a text
only forum.

Signature files: No more than 4 lines please. ( bandwidth
again) If someone is a participant in the group, it is
considered acceptable to list business information in the
signature file.

No "me-too-ism": it's a waste of bandwidth. So is, "I know
I saw something somewhere...."

Remember this is a public, unmoderated forum that reflects
each of us as individuals. If someone's posts really drive
you nuts on a regular basis, you can make them "go away"
using a killfile. This is an option in most newsreader
software that will block any posts by a specified sender.

Spam is any form of unwanted posts or email, usually
unsolicited, commercial, and bulk.

Please don't ask for an email only reply. DL put it very
well:
"I don't normally send an email copy unless it's
specifically requested, and I usually won't respond at all
to someone who says, "I don't normally read this group, so
please send me an email copy," but I don't mind at all
sending a copy to someone who says, "I read this group
regularly, but a lot of posts never make it to my server."

The difference is that the first person is basically
saying, "I'm too busy and too important to be bothered with
checking in the newsgroup for answers. I don't value your
time in composing a response, and maybe spending some
time doing research to answer the question, but _my_ time
is too valuable to waste coming back here to read it. I
also don't care if anyone else is able to benefit from the
responses -- just send me the email."

Many many people have contributed to this over the years.
Thanks to all for links, editorial comments and input.
show/hide quoted text

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