Re: Newsgroup Reply Format Request....

but I think others are right, it is in this ng!
I know I find it annoying when the ocassional message shows where I have to scroll down because normally I only use the left hand for clicking the next header, and the way I have my window set if the anwer is on the bottom it changes my routine!

IMS wrote:

On Mon, 9 Jan 2006 14:26:16 -0500, "Kate G."
<REMOVEgrovespcME@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


I know that some people always include the original post with their response... and some never do. And either is okay by me (but then again -- I don't pay by the kb)

However....

If you include the original message -- could you please see that your response is at the TOP of your reply ... and not way down after all the repeated text.... This really makes reading messages cumbersome... bouncing back and forth to scroll down to read what YOU have to say -- and almost always we have already read the post your are replying to. If we forgot or need to clarify -- we can always scroll down...

But please .... put your reply first!

I'm probably not alone in this request -- but this is just my 2 cents... and my request. (or is there some reason why you do this? if so I'd welcome an explanation so I could better understand. )

Thanks...


Kate in MI 




Kate, the problem is, top posting, which is what you are referring to,
is *not* usenet standard. (This is a Usenet group.)   Here are some
reasons why:

http://www.html-faq.com/etiquette/?toppost


Why should I not top-post?

Top-posting severely inhibits others from understanding the
conversation, because the context of the conversation is lost.

One reason why top-posting is so disliked is that those who do it very
rarely bother to snip any of the preceding post(s) - they leave masses
of quoted text trailing underneath their (frequently very brief) reply.
This is very wasteful of resources, especially for those with slow
dial-up connections, or those who may be downloading to a laptop from a
mobile phone. It is a habit which many people get into when using e-mail
(when it does have some logic to support it, especially when the e-mails
are taking place within a large organisation), and which they carry over
into news without realising that the two mediums are very different in
their nature, or that there could be any other way of doing it. The days
when people were required to lurk and learn for six months before
posting are long gone!

The next reason is that it is actually logical that the question should
come before the answer. To quote a poster in another newsgroup:

A.  No.
Q.  Does top-posting make sense?

A third reason is that it is often better for a reply to be interleaved
with the quoted text, paragraph by paragraph, as each individual point
is answered. Imagine if this were to be done with the reply before the
quote, rather than after it!

A fourth reason is that, although there are some groups where
top-posting is tolerated or even encouraged, it is generally
discouraged, and it is good manners in any social situation to go along
with what the majority are already doing when you arrive - e.g. not
lighting up in a non-smoking room, or complaining about smoke in a
designated smoking area, or stripping to the buff in a convent, or
hugging your overcoat around you at a nudist camp.

A knock-on effect of this is that the content of a top-poster's post is
less likely to be given attention than if they had posted in accordance
with custom and practice in the group.




--------------
You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. --Mae West -------------- 

--
Dr. Quilter
http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali
(take the dog out for a walk)
.

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