ENTERING MESSAGES INTO A CONFERENCE ----------------------------------- Please see below for guidelines on appropriate behaviour when entering messages in conferences. Entering/Replying to a message ------------------------------ The message reader allows you to enter a new message using the 'E' command (in either the LuBBs main menu or the appropriate conference menu), or reply to the current message using the 'R' command in the message menu. When you enter a new message you will be asked for: 1. The name of conference the message is to go in. Press RETURN for the current conference specified in capitals (e.g. SPORT). PLEASE be thoughtful about this. Many replies should really go in PRIVATE or TALK. 2. Who the message is to. This can be left blank, in which case the message will be to EVERYONE and will not have a 'To:' line. 3. The subject. Please pick your subject carefully. If you are making a reply and the subject has changed, you can edit the subject line. In some conferences you may be given a list of categories in which you can place the message. Please choose the correct one from the list given. At present you cannot start off a new category. [9/12/96]. The name of the category should be typed all in lower case letters. When all the details have been entered you will be shown the message editor where you can type your message. When you have finished type 'Esc' 'z' to quit the editor (this will be different if you have changed the default editor). You are then given 4 options to choose from, which are explained below (some are not displayed). Key Function --- -------- S Send the message to the user. R Re-edit the message to correct a mistake. H Edit the header information of the message. You can change the 'c'onference the message is in, the 's'ubject, who the message is 't'o or open a 'v'ote on the message (see separate help file on voting). C Check the spelling in your message. This will only bring up the words that are incorrectly spelt. You can then type 'r' to re-edit the message. A Abort sending the message if you no longer wish to send it. P Pipe to a command. ? Displays a brief summary of the commands available. You can change the editor LuBBs uses to enter messages with (the default is Microemacs) by putting the following in your shell file: setenv UAEDITOR vi MESSAGE GUIDELINES ------------------ When you are entering a message please ensure the following:- The message is directed at the correct person? The subject field is correct? The message is in the correct conference? Is it the right category (where applicable)? In addition to this we request that you observe the following points when entering messages into a conference. A more detailed description of each point is given below. 1. Choose the most appropriate conference for your message carefully. 2. Try to appeal to as many people as possible in your post. 3. Make sure there is a point to your post. 4. Make sure the message/reply is easy for others to read. 5 Do not include too much text in a message/reply. 6. Try to include spoilers marks where appropriate. 7. Do not be offensive to other users. 8. Do not paste in ASCII art. 9. Try to maintain your own messages. 10. Do not repeat messages across conferences. Additional information on non-permitted language, offensive behaviour and offensive material can be found in the General Guidelines for LuBBs Usage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Choose the most appropriate conference for your message carefully. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Many messages are read by HUNDREDS of people. Please ask yourself how many of them are likely to be interested before you post anything. In particular, chit-chat/gossip should ONLY be in the TALK conference. Messages should be relevant to the conference they are being entered in. Each conference has an INFO file which can be read by pressing 'I' while reading that conference and describes what is and is not allowed. Messages relevant only to one person should be posted in the PRIVATE conference. These can only be read by the person the message is addressed to (although FairWitness/SysOp can access them if there is a valid reason). When replying to a PRIVATE message into another conference (e.g. to TALK) please obtain the permission of the other user as they may have said things that they do not wish others to know. This applies to pages too. Posting irrelevant threads or messages to 'serious' conferences is inconsiderate to other users and simply WON'T be tolerated. Therefore, such threads and messages are subject to be discontinued or limbo'd. In addition you may also receive a warning from a member of the admin team. Posting messages which clearly belong in another conference, and the said message has been deliberately posted in that conference because the author has reached his posting limit, may result in restrictions being placed on the offenders account. If there should be several complaints about certain threads, then the discussion of such topics may be disallowed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Try to appeal to as many people as possible in your post. --------------------------------------------------------- Messages in the more serious conference should allow different groups of users to join in the discussion and put forward their views. By keeping the 'attractiveness' of the thread to within a small group, the messages themselves often become more boring and more offensive to those that have opposing interest in the subject being discussed. This is mainly caused by there being no 'appropriate' entry point for them to enter their opinion. If an opposing message is then entered, it usually comes across as being an insult, and things can start to get out of hand. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Make sure there is a point to your post. ---------------------------------------- Messages that are just agreeing/disagreeing with another message without any further explanation are likely to be removed. Such messages don't add anything to the discussion and will often be transferred to POINTLESS or LIMBO. Continual posting of these types of message may result in you being given warnings and restrictions on Lubbs access applied. Place reasoning for any assertions you make. Instead of saying 'Bros are brilliant' you should say why.. e.g. 'Bros are brilliant because the drummer plays really well' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Make sure the message/reply is easy for others to read. ------------------------------------------------------- Please try to make your reply easy to read. For example o leaving a line between your reply and the previous message o breaking up your reply (if sufficiently long) etc These help in making the text easier to read. The easier a message is to read - the more likely it is for the reader to finish reading it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 Do not include too much text in a message/reply. ------------------------------------------------ Please try to edit down the amount of text from the previous message you include to only that relevant to the point you are making. For long paragraphs, simply leave in the first and last lines and replace the centre section of text with '[etc]' or '......' to show that text has been removed. In addition, please do not cut and pasting large volumes of text, especially from TALK channels, into the conferences. Disk space is the issue here. Having large amounts of included text only serves to frustrate other users (especially those logging in from off-campus) as they have to pick their way through your message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Try to include spoilers marks where appropriate. ------------------------------------------------ Messages which contain information that some people consider to spoil their enjoyment should make use of spoilers. Spoilers allow you to warn users about the contents of the message, without displaying the message straight away. Instead the user has the option of exiting that message without reading the rest. The character which is used to provide the pause in displaying the message is ` (not the quote mark ')!! This spoiler character should be placed at the start of a line and placed AFTER the warning, but BEFORE the actual message. e.g. ------ WARNING: This message contains the plots of future episodes of Emmerdale. ` The sheep die and the series will be stopped blah blah blah ------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Do not be offensive to other users. ----------------------------------- Please NEVER post anything *ANYWHERE* on LuBBs which might be considered offensive by anyone or is illegal (e.g. any form of computer abuse). Do not make statements which could be seen as potentially offensive (racist, sexist, etc). Obviously, at times, such statements may well be necessary for a point to be made. If such a statement is required then please try to phrase things as in-offensively as possible and include sufficient reasoning to support what you have stated. Messages entered in order to bait other users into replying with, for example, a message which runs along the lines of a personal attack, will be limbo'd and the person who set the 'bait' may face restrictions on his/her account. Some examples of such baitings would be messages like: ' is for Geeks, Nerds, and brain dead people, all of which should be taken away and shot.' If you feel so strongly against such things and have no interest in such conferences, then unsubscribe from them, and let the subscribers enjoy their conference. After all - not everyone likes the same sort of thing. Please read the General Guidelines for LuBBs Usage for additional information on non-permitted language, offensive behaviour and offensive material. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Do not paste in ASCII art. -------------------------- No ASCII Art, please. The only conference this will be permitted in is the VALENTINES conference. We do have a quota on disk space. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Try to maintain your own messages. ---------------------------------- When a message you have entered is no longer relevant (e.g. in FOR-SALE-OR- WANTED after an item has been sold), please kill off the message as this will prevent further users from contacting you, and can help remove old messages from the conference. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. Do not repeat messages across conferences. ------------------------------------------ Please do not repeat messages across multiple conferences - this serves only to annoy other users, and gives the admin team even more work than they already have.