Admin-type reminder ahead of Friday

[Richard]

The Mods don't pay too much attention to what goes on this list, mainly 
because it's fairly low-trafffic. However, this will definitely change 
quite dramatically over this weekend, when large numbers of infrequent 
posters will turn up and everyone will want to give their opinion on the 
new movie.

While I am not a Mod, but as a user who reads almost every message posted 
here (even though I've not posted anything for ages), I would like to 
request that everyone really should follow the fairly straightforward rules 
for posting.

I have no intention of getting personal or embarrassing anyone, but several 
recent messages (and indeed, almost all messages from at least one poster I 
can think of) have fallen foul of one or more of the most basic, simple 
rules set out in the Netiquette Tips which everyone here received when they 
first joined.

Here's a link (which will, of course, break up for most - if not all - 
people):
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-Movie/files/Admin%20Files/Text-Ne 
tiquette-movie.txt (alternatively, from the font page, go to Files -> Admin 
Files -> netiquetteTIPS-Movie.htm for the HTML version).

In particular, I would like to remind members of the following (within the 
last week alone, there have been contraventions of each of these):

- No one-line posts please (e.g. posts which don't go beyond "metoo", or 
"LOL") - if you have nothing more to add, then an email  direct to the 
poster is usually a good idea (as there may be no other indication that 
anyone's read the original text), without clogging up the list and making 
life impossible for Digest readers;

- Use clear attributions (i.e. identify the poster by name or screen-name) 
of text to which you are responding, and trim the quoted text to the 
MINIMUM required for someone new to the thread to be able to understand 
what you mean;

- In particular, cut out the "signatures" at the end of posts to which 
you're replying (unless, of course, it's the .sig you're commenting 
upon...) AND the huge Yahoo-generated sig at the bottom of every post;

- Corollary of above: Don't "agree"/"disagree" with what someone else has 
said without making it clear with WHOM you're (dis)agreeing and WHAT 
statement you are (dis)agreeing with;

- DO NOT top-post! In other words, do not add your own comments at the top 
of a "reply" post: intersperse the original comments with your replies, 
making it clear in one way or another which is which. This way, you should 
naturally comply with the above rules by reading/deleting/typing as you go 
along;

- Read what other people have said before posting your own comments: this 
list (like all others) has a habit of having exactly the same comments 
coming up time and time and time again. It's boring, it's a waste of time 
and bandwidth and it's downright rude because it implies that some people 
really don't care what other people think - in particular, before posting a 
reply (especially factual corrections), please ensure that someone else 
hasn't already made the point you intend to make;

(There is one specific exception to the above: as each of the previous 
movies have been released, some of us - I can immediately think of at least 
three people - have posted our own detailed and complete reviews here; of 
course, these are likely to cover similar ground and so a certain amount of 
duplication is inevitable, but part of the point with our reviews is to 
write completely fresh perspectives, untainted by other opinions. For 
instance, I have kept myself as unspoiled as possible in terms of clips, 
interviews, etc, and haven't read a single review of the finished movie. I 
won't do that until after I've written my own some time on Friday. 
Incidentally, a suggestion: when posting a review, perhaps it would be a 
good idea to include (y)our name/identifier in the subject line, so that if 
discussion ensues, people can easily tell which one's which, rather than 
having a dozen different threads all entitled "GOF Review".)

Finally, before posting messages, please do two things; firstly, browse 
through your text for obvious typos, etc, and try to ensure that the text 
makes sense. Secondly, please make sure that the "Subject" is appropriate. 
In particular, Digest readers please change the title from "Digest #XYZ" to 
something more descriptive.  Not everyone is interested in all aspects of 
the movies, so please make the subject line clear enough to allow a certain 
amount of pre-filtering.

If we all follow these fairly simple rules of co-existence, the list will 
flow smoothly, and we can all enjoy the cut and thrust of exchanging 
opinions, however deep and meaningful or "fannish" as they may be, with a 
minimum of fuss and nastiness, and hopefully no misunderstandings.

I hope everyone enjoys the film whenever they see it, and I look forward to 
reading everyone's views, staring in, um, about 48 hours!

--
Richard, previously AKA GulPlum, who won't have time/opportunity to read 
this list until after the movie