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Posted by Schraalhans Keukenmeester on 05/14/07 08:31
At Mon, 14 May 2007 07:31:26 +0100, Johny Begood let his monkeys type:
>
> PS what is top posting? I've been slapped a few times for this, but don't
> fully understand
>
>
Top posting is what you'd normally do when replying to an email: you
put your reply ABOVE the quoted message.
In usenet (newsgroups) it is a widely accepted standard to put your reply
BELOW the quoted text. This makes it easier for people to follow the
thread order. Whilst it isn't THAT big a deal for someone using a
newsreader to track back in the thread, others may be viewing the message
in a web browser, without the full thread. For them, a top-posted reply
has no meaning, so they'd have to scroll down first, read the previously
contributed bits and then scroll back up again.
Outlook/Outlook Express unfortunately defaults news-replies to be written
above the quoted text. This setting can easily be changed however.
It is also acceptable to break your reply in pieces, each part
immediately following *below* the part of the quoted text it relates to.
Another thing to keep in mind: only quote what's relevant to your reply.
Cut out the irrelevant bits to keep the message short and to the point.
(e.g.: You may have noticed I cut out the part of your question I am not
replying to)
If you're interested (one might argue every usenetter should be) look up
'usenet etiquette' or usenetiquette' for an elaboration on what (not) to
do using newsgroups.
Many people will 'fix' wrongly ordered replies and ask the person in
question (nicely) to quit top-posting in the future. Simply because many,
especially google-groups users, who often haven't even got a clue they are
in fact entering stuff in a newsgroups (Google has a way of making it all
look like 'their own'), aren't aware of that fact.
And then there are some that ask not so nicely. It's just like with real
people. A few will even PLONK the author altogether if he/she keeps
ignoring the hints. (Google: plonk)
HTH
Sh.
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