8.4 Newsgroup (and mailing list) netiquette
Here's a good page on snipping as you go: http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote.html .
Another good page is among the FAQs found in news:news.announce.newusers , a resource all usenet (= newsgroup) newbies should make themselves familiar with: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/posting-rules/part1/
The main rule is, contributors to these forums are real live people - so don't be a jerk. And remember, Things get Archived.
All of usenet (except binary groups, but read their FAQs), and most mailing lists are plain text. Email, too, is plain text. That means you should not use any kind of html nor any kind of graphics in your posts and/or emails. Also please note that most people who've been around for a while use email and/or usenet programs that don't even see your nicely formatted text - they see the html code instead. <ht ml><body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><font size="2">It's gibberish. Take my word for it.</font></body></h tml>
Also, a lot of people (including most Europeans) still pay for their online time and/or their phone by the minute. Yes, European phone companies charge for local calls, too. Some Europeans even pay their ISP (internet service provider) by the byte. Html code and graphics in your posts and emails make for longer downloads, and thus, for higher cost.
So change your habits -- and your email program settings. People on slow lines, people who pay by the minute or by the byte, and usenet and email "oldbies" will thank you for your consideration.
