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The Most Important Guideline!: Should you ever need any help, advice or reassurance, for *ANY* reason, whether it be a technical matter, a personal matter or a problem that you need help with, then please don't be afraid to get in touch with one (or all) of us and we will be glad to help you out, any way we can. Don't *ever* think you'd be causing us problems by doing so, as helping you is what we are here for. Quoting and Trimming: When replying to a post, your comments should go BELOW the text you are quoting, with a blank line between the two. Trim any extraneous text from the original message so that you only leave enough to keep your reply in context. (Click HERE for a full explanation of how to Quote and Trim properly.) Posting In HTML: Please *DO NOT* post in HTML. Text should be sent using 'plain text' *only*. For information on this and instructions on how to stop your e-mail client posting in HTML, click HERE. What Can and Can't be Discussed on CFS-20s: As we are all adults on CFS-20s, so long as it doesn't break any of the List Rules, any topic, however sensitive, can be disused on CFS-20s. However when discussing things we do ask that everyone respects their fellow list members, no matter what their gender, colour, nationality, religion, sexuality, etc. may be. Remember CFS-20s has members from all over the world and it's our individual differences that make us stronger as a whole. For further explanation of this policy, click HERE. Strong Language: Bad language is to be expected from time to time, especially when venting about the problems caused by our disease. However, as there are some on the list who find this kind of language very offensive, we do ask that a little restraint is shown at times when this language isn't necessary. Jokes: When posting jokes, please use the Humour Topic (HUM: ) and remember that CFS-20s is an international list, so just because something isn't offensive to you, doesn't mean that it won't be offensive to someone else. Certain topics such as gender (*esp.* 'Blonde' jokes), race and religion are particularly sensitive areas. Also, remember that most jokes on the net, especially those from humour mailing lists, have already done the rounds *many* times before, even if they are new to you. Finally, use common sense, if the list has been busy, or if there have already been several recent humour posts, it may be better to wait a day or two, before posting your joke to the list, so that normal posts do not get 'drowned out' by humour posts. Personal e-mail: When replying to a post, think whether it is better sent to the list as a whole or just to the person themselves. Sometimes some messages are better sent in private. For a further explanation and tips on how to reply in private to list mail, go HERE. Short Messages: There is no problem sending short messages to CFS-20s, especially as some people are too sick to type much. However, simple "Me too!" posts are sometimes better sent privately. Or, if several people have responded to your post and you want to thank them, it is far better to send one e-mail to the list thanking them all, than to send several individual "Thank you" messages to the list. Virus Warnings: Please *DO NOT* post *ANY* Virus Warnings to CFS-20s. False warnings can be just as damaging and distressing as real viruses, and can cause no end of unnecessary panic, so we'd rather no warnings were sent at all. If there are any new viruses doing the rounds, then the BOD, or one of our resident computer geeks will send a warning to the list. To find out more about hoax viruses and for links to sites where genuine virus information can be found, click HERE. Or if you have received a warning that you think the List should know about, then send it to one of us first and we will verify it for you. Chain Letters & Hoax Messages: Please *DO NOT* send any Chain Letters or Hoax Messages to the list, for ANY reason, however well intentioned. If a chain letter contains an inspirational message, or joke you want to share, them trim off any references to the chain letter part, and any e-mail addresses, or left over quote tags ('>'), before sending it on to the List. The following pages give a full explanation as to why we ban chain letters and hoax messages, as well as tips on how to spot them... If you are still not sure whether something is a chain letter or a hoax, then send it to us instead of the list and we will find out whether it is genuine or not. Attachments: Please *DO NOT* post ANY attachments for ANY reason. If you want to send something as an attachment, put it up on the web, and just post the URL to the list. If you do not have web space, contact one of us and we should be able to help you out. Photos for the Photo Gallery and Sound files for the Voice Gallery should be sent directly to Nichole. Subject Headers: Please try and keep subject headers relevant. If a thread starts out talking about one topic but then diverts to a different one, make sure your subject header reflects this change - put something like: "New Topic (WAS: Original Topic)". There are five Topic Prefixes that you may see used on the list (don't forget to include a space after the colon), and they are:
For information on these topic prefixes and how to set up your subscription so that you only receive (or exclude) HUM: and/or SOC: Posts, see the CFS-20s Welcome Message. Cross Posting: Although we do not ban people from Cross Posting, due to privacy and other problems that can occur due to cross posting messages, we do ask that you keep it to a bare minimum and only do so when absolutely necessary. Please remember it is against List Rules to forward private posts from CFS-20s, to any other person/source not subscribed to CFS-20s, without the express permission of the author(s) involved. Non-English Languages: Although CFS-20s is an International Mailing List, we unfortunately do not have the resources to be a multi-lingual list. However, if English is not your first Language, and you have difficulty expressing a certain question or comment in English, it is ok to use your native language for that part of your message and hopefully someone will be able to translate for you. Or, if upon joining the list you wish to add a sentence or two in your native language to find out if there is anyone else on the list from your country, that is fine too. Writing Style: For most of our members, reading long pieces of unbroken text can be at best, very tiring, or at worst, impossible. So to make sure the maximum number of people are reading your posts, try to break your posts up into short paragraphs, separated by a blank line. Also when replying to a post, leave a blank line between the text you are quoting and your own comments. Pacing Yourself: Please be careful and pace yourself. If you are not well enough to respond to a post, then DON'T. No one will quibble if you reply days, weeks or even months later. If you miss a thread that you particularly wanted to reply to you can always bring it up at a later date. Also the members on the list are constantly changing so before long the topic is either liable to come up again or there will be some new people on the list grateful for you restarting the topic. Ascii Art: To post and/or read messages that contain ASCII art, you need to use a 'non-proportional' or 'mono-spaced' font, as these display the same number of characters per inch, no matter what the actual width of the characters. e.g. Courier, Courier New, FixedSys, Line Printer, Monaco, Screen, System, Terminal, TTY, Video Terminal, or VT100. Proportional fonts will distort the picture and make it look like a complete mess. "I know I probably shouldn't post this, but...": Then DON'T post it!!! If you are not sure whether something you want to post, or forward to the list, should be sent or not, then it is far better to send to one of us first, and let us decide, than run the risk of causing possible offence or problems on the list. Return to the Top, the Guidelines/Resources Index or the CFS-20s Home Page. |