For WebTv Users:
Replying and quoting politely on a computer mailing list or in Usenet:
Before posting to Usenet or to a computer mailing list, make sure
that your message is in plain text. That means that your message should
have no colors, pictures or music in it; it should contain only
characters you see on your keyboard.
If you haven't made any changes to your e-mail settings, you're fine.
Webtv's default setting is plain text.
But if you've used your "Settings" menu to add a signature with
pictures, colors or music, you MUST disable your signature before
posting to Usenet or to an e-mail mailing list. Why?
In the case of Usenet, it's because Usenet is a text-based system.
Posting pictures and other add-ons is considered very rude, as these
slow-loading elements will cost people who pay for their Internet time
by the minute (almost everyone outside the United States) extra money.
Also, your message can crash older systems which are not set up to
accept pictures and music in Usenet. Neither of these is likely to make
you very popular; in fact, inappropriate posting of pictures and music
in text-based groups is one of the most common complaints about Webtv
users.
Mailing lists are also nearly always text-based. This is to keep
message size and loading time down, and so as many people as possible
can participate without having to worry about system compatibility and
message size. Most mailing lists will simply not let your message
through if it has any elements other than plain text. If a message does
get through with pics and music, you'll hear complaints!
So now that you know why you need to disable your pics and music, here's
how -- in order of best option to least desirable:
The easiest way to handle this is to set up a separate username just for
Usenet and mailing lists. Webtv lets you have up to six usernames at a
time at no extra charge. If you want to do it this way, just go to the
home page on your main account, click on "Add User" and follow the
instructions. Then, if you don't change any of the mail settings, you
should have no problem posting anywhere.
If this doesn't work for you, the next-best option is to decide that you
can live without your pictures, music and other stuff and delete your
signature. To do it, go to your main mail screen, choose "Settings,"
then choose "Signature." Go into the Signature box, hit Cmd-A (which
will highlight the signature, including HTML codes) and then hit
"Delete." Hit "Done." Your setting is now back to plain text. You can
then type in a new signature if you want to, but make sure it only has
plain text! And even a plain text signature should be kept short; not
more than a few lines.
The least desirable option: Keep your pictures and music for some
e-mails and not others. If you do this, you'll have to remember each
time you post whether your pictures are "turned on" or not. Also, the
codes you used to add the pics will show up, but not the pics
themselves. So a lot of "gobbledegook" with HTML tags
will be stuck at the bottom of your posts. It's ugly, and many list
admins and netiquette gurus frown on it.
But if you still want to do it that way, here's how: Go to your mail
screen, then "Settings," then "Signature." At the VERY BEGINNING of
your signature, add a couple of spaces before the first code. Not the
first word; the first code; which should be <HTML>. This will work, but
again, it's not the best option.
Cutting and pasting in WebTv:
First, if you don't want to quote any part of the original sender's
message, just type your message and send it as always. Be sure that
what you're replying to is clear, though. You may want to paraphrase
part of what the person you're replying to said: "Susan asked why some
men wear red sneakers" or "Joe said he hates tangerines."
If you want to quote part of the original message, here's how to do
it: Decide what you want to quote. Then, before you click on "Reply" (in
e-mail) or "Respond" (in Usenet), hit the "find" key on your keyboard.
Type in the first word or two of the part you want to quote, and hit
"return." The first part of the quote will now be highlighted. Now,
holding down either "shift" key, use the down and right arrow keys to
highlight the whole section you want to quote. Quote only as much as
you need to show what you're replying to!
Now, to copy the section, hit the cmd and C keys at the same time.
Now, click on "Reply" in e-mail, "Respond" on Usenet. The reply screen
will load. Now, go into the body of the message and hit cmd and V (at
the same time) to paste the quoted section.
Be sure to name the person you are quoting in your reply; ie, "John
Smith said:" or "Mary Allen asked:" Then type your own comments, and hit
"Send" as always.
A word of warning: When you hit "Reply" in e-mail, there is a button at
the bottom of the screen which says "Attach Original Message." Never
use this button when you're writing to a mailing list; it will cause the
mailing system to think you're trying to send an improper file
attachment and your message WILL NOT GET THROUGH! You may even get
thrown off the list. So just pretend it isn't there!
There's an excellent newsgroup for just these matters called
alt.discuss.webtv.html.
The information on this page was kindly contributed by Tartancat
Feedback and suggestions will be welcome.
Send all comments by email to
netmiser@cryogen.com
Last updated: 3rd May 1999.
