[RE-wrenches] more housekeeping

[Michael Welch]

A little more housekeeping. Please contact me off-list if you have questions or comments. 

I should have had a #5 in my housekeeping list I sent awhile back. For those that did not notice the previous message, it is quoted below.

I've had several contacts by wrenches about this one. All non-wrenching posts and idle chit-chat are strongly discouraged. Thank-yous, jokes, and basically anything that has no useful Wrenching content should not be sent to the list.

Yes, this means you.

I understand that it may seem fairly innocuous to have these pop up on the list every now and then, but just imagine if everyone did them -- it could quickly become overwhelming.

Just as importantly, off-topic posting affects the usefulness of the archives. One member complained to me that they recently searched the archives for certain key words they recalled from past posts they were looking for, and there was a bunch of what he too-politely called "jocular asides." Of course, it is impossible to sort the junk out without viewing each message during your research, an added hassle. My own goal is to keep the list at maximum usefulness, so "jocular asides" just get in the way of that goal.

Here is a recent good example of that potential problem: Now every time someone tries to find the thread about the best shoes to use on a roof, they are also going to have to wade through several messages about not being able to access a web site.

So please keep the "jocular asides" and other posts devoid of useful Wrenching content off the list. If you want to thank someone for their incredibly wonderful post, please do it to them directly.

If someone posts a non-wrenching topic, and you wish to respond, please do it off list. If you are not sure if your post is appropriate, please contact me off list.

Marketing stuff goes to the RE-markets list, and anything (and I mean ANYTHING) goes on the RE-Bitching list.

Considering the number of wrenches on the list, you all have been great about staying on-topic. Thanks, gang.

Michael Welch wrote at 11:26 AM 11/13/2008:
 
>Good morning gang. I sure do feel privileged to be in on these excellent discussions you all have.
>
>Anyway, a few things to pay attention to. If you have any questions, please contact me off list.
>
>1. You must use the address that you find in the From: or Reply-To: headers for your message to be accepted by the list. 
>
>In each incoming message there are three headers that have an address that is similar to the list address. They are Return-Path:, Sender:, and Errors-To: and they all append "-bounces" to the address. It is for internal use only, and if you send a message to that address, it will not make it to the list.
>
>2. You must send mail FROM the address that is subscribed to the list. So, if you have more than one address, be sure to use the one that is subscribed as your From address.
>
>3. Try to trim back the quoting on your messages to decrease message size and increase convenience. Just try to quote the most recent parts and/or the parts that you are responding to.
>
>4. When we moved the list from Topica last summer, I enabled the ability to have html and file attachments as an experiment. It seems to be OK, and some of you like it so I probably will not change back. But please only include file attachments if you think a lot of Wrenches will appreciate the file being handed to them. If you think only a few might like the file, it is better to give list members a choice by putting the file somewhere on the internet and merely sending the URL and description to the list. Yes, even in this day and age of high bandwidth, we actually have some members that are still on painfully slow dialup and semi-slow satellite.
>
>Some of the messages with layers of quoting can be come quite colorful, can't they?  I hope this drab B&W message has not been too boring.
>
>Peace.