Guidelines for use of Usenet News

Be polite

Please think carefully before posting a news article. Articles go to many thousands of news servers and are available for millions of people to read. They are also archived on sites like groups.google.com.

In general, if you feel the need to vent your spleen online, write the message, go and moan about the issue to your friends, then if you still feel it's appropriate, send it.

Another aspect of courtesy involves lurking (reading, but not posting) on newsgroups. It is sensible to lurk for at least a week on an unfamiliar group — longer on some, so you can gauge the appropriate style.

Think which newsgroups are appropriate

There are many newsgroups in the dur.* hierarchy including college, society and general groups. Consider whether your article is more appropriate for a society newsgroup or a general discussion group. If you wish to test anything, for example a new news reader, use the dur.test newsgroup.

Don't SHOUT

Articles written in capitals (shouting) are both difficult to read and make people think that you are ranting incoherently.

Avoid excessive cross posting

If a message is appropriate to many groups of people, consider whether a general group such as dur.general or dur.dsu.general would be more appropriate than cross posting to several society newsgroups. In addition, if you do cross post to several groups remember to set the Followup-to header so that any replies go to the appropriate groups.

Don't multipost

Don't send an identical (or almost identical) message separately to multiple newsgroups. Instead, cross-post a single message to the groups, and pick an appropriate newsgroup to set a Followup-to.

Quote parts of the message you're replying to

Don't assume that your message will be read at the same time as the post you are replying to, and don't assume that all readers will be using a threaded newsreader. By quoting the relevant parts of the message you are replying to, you provide a context for your reply.

Don't reply above the original message

Your message will make more sense to readers if you reply below quoted text — if the reader has not seen the post to which you are replying, or read it too long ago, it is more natural to read the quoted context first before the reply.

Don't fan flame-wars

Some people post controversial messages purely for the purpose of starting arguments. Be aware of this and don't encourage them. In general, if you state your point of view rationally and without getting annoyed, so-called trolls will go elsewhere for their entertainment.

Avoid posting binaries

Many people read mail and news from home on a slow link and so are unable or unwilling to download large messages. If you wish to post a binary, the preferred method is to place it on the web and post the URL. For example, to place image.jpg on the web, copy it to your public_html directory on your J: drive, which will put the image at http://www.dur.ac.uk/email.address/image.jpg. You can not post binaries to groups outside of the dur.* hierarchy.

Pay attention to spelling and grammar

Your message will be easier to read and understand if you pay appropriate attention to spelling and grammar. A post full of spelling and punctuation errors is difficult to read an likely to be ignored by many readers.

Keep your signature short

Four lines should be the longest signature file you would consider. Bear in mind that your name and email address are available in the From: line of your message. As an aside, make sure that your signature has a line consisting of exactly "-- " (dash dash space) immediately before it.