HAIKUTALK & HAIKUTALK2

Forums for news and views on haiku and related genres.



| Reply address |Mail settings |Subject lines |Bottom-posting |Over-quoting |Attachments |Bounces |Tolerance |Renga |Publication Status |Attributing Quotes |Forwarding |Crossposting |Netiquette |How to Join |



List Handbook

1. Who to reply to:
Some people have to pay for incoming mail based on the size and amount of that mail. Please remember this when you reply to a message. Stop first and consider whether your response is really of interest to the whole group, or should be privately addressed to the author of the message.

Messages to haikutalk should be sent to haikutalk@lists.spunge.org

Messages to haikutalk2 should be sent to haikutalk2@yahoogroups.com

Only members of haikutalk or haikutalk-digest may post to haikutalk. If you wish to post to the list from more than one address, each must by subscribed either to the main list or the digest-list.

Only members of haikutalk2 may post to haikutalk2. If you wish to post to the list from more than one address, you should create a "yahoo profile" and manage your own settings.

See also Mailing-list differences

Make sure the "reply to" address is the one you want. The default reply address points to the list so it's very easy to address private replies to the whole list without noticing, while sometimes messages intended for the whole list go only to a single email address.

2. Mail settings:
Please set your mail program so that you post messages in plain/text with "No coding" and not in HTML or other settings such as "multipart/alternative". In particular avoid the so-called "quoted/printable" setting in MS Outlook. For further information see
changing mail settings in Outlook Express.

Some email systems strip the headers off, so people on those systems can only reply to you directly if you sign your message with your name AND email address. This is much appreciated!

A number of mail-servers cannot accept mail with 8-bit ascii characters in the message header (areas such as "from" and "subject" and the beginning of the message). Please be aware that some members may not get your messages if you use these characters, which include umlauted characters, accent marks, etc.


| Reply address |Mail settings |Subject lines |Bottom-posting |Over-quoting |Attachments |Bounces |Tolerance |Renga |Publication Status |Attributing Quotes |Forwarding |Crossposting |Netiquette |How to Join |


3. Subject lines:
Please try to be specific in your subject line. Our interests vary widely; this will help those not interested in your particular topic to move through their mail more quickly. This is especially true of topics (or, "threads") which have been under discussion for a while. Sometimes the subject of later messages wanders far afield from that of the original posting and the subject heading needs to be updated!

4. Bottom-posting
When replying to posts, it is normally preferable to "bottom-post" rather than "top-post". In other words, write your message below the quoted message to which you are replying, rather than above it. For more information on why this practice is prefered, see
http://www.caliburn.nl/topposting.html.

5. Quoting previous messages:
It is often necessary to quote PART of a letter in order to put your reply into context. The usual rule is that you should never quote more than your reply, but it depends on circumstances. Over-quoting of previous messages is especially annoying to digest subscribers. It is not difficult and only takes a moment to edit out all but the essential parts of the quoted message to which you are replying.

In particular, on haikutalk you should edit out the bottom banner with details of how to unsubscribe from the list as majordomo will add a new banner to your post before distributing it, and on haikutalk2 you should edit out the yahoo advertising.

6. No attachments:
Please do not send attachments; on haikutalk they appear as an undecodable lump in the digest and on haikutalk2 they are stripped out. If you have an attachment you would like to share, make the offer to send it privately to those interested or post it on a website and supply the URL.


| Reply address |Mail settings |Subject lines |Bottom-posting |Over-quoting |Attachments |Bounces |Tolerance |Renga |Publication Status |Attributing Quotes |Forwarding |Crossposting |Netiquette |How to Join |


7. Bounced messages:
If your mail gateway goes down for several days, or if your address becomes undeliverable for some reason (like "mailbox full") for more than a short while you will be unsubscribed from the list and will need to resubscribe.

8. Tolerance:
We need to be patient with our fellow subscribers. Sometimes we make mistakes and post messages we should not have posted, or sent them to the wrong address. Since the message comes back to us as a subscriber, we quickly discover our own mistakes. Unless the offence is repeated, it need not be pointed out. Such helpful messages, despite being sent with the best of intentions, only cause hard feelings, particularly if they arrive after an apology has been made to the list.

Debate is welcome; flaming is not. Members who indulge in flaming will be deleted.

9. Renga on the list:
Whilst is good to see people creating renga, there is a problem when trying to do so through the medium of a mailing list. Everyone reads their email at different times and digest readers only twice a day to two-or-three days depending on the volume of mail. So it is easy for someone to say write a 5th link when someone else has already taken it to a 7th or 8th link.

Those interested in joining in a renga or two do best inviting others to join them and to correspond between themselves privately until their renga is complete. Then by all means mail the resulting work to the whole list for comment.

10. Publication status:
Whilst it is the opinion of the list owner that anything sent to haikutalk or haikutalk2 is not "published" in the usual sense of that word, not all persons, including some editors, are of the same opinion and would consider work so posted as being published, and, as a consequence, the work might not be eligible for consideration by editors who request "unpublished" submissions only. Many editors do not consider such postings as being publications, but writers need to check with individual editors on this matter.


| Reply address |Mail settings |Subject lines |Bottom-posting |Over-quoting |Attachments |Bounces |Tolerance |Renga |Publication Status |Attributing Quotes |Forwarding |Crossposting |Netiquette |How to Join |


11. Attributing quotes:
When responding to haiku on the list it is essential that all writing is correctly attributed to the author concerned. Haiku Talk cannot accept responsibility if an author's failure to correctly identify authors of works quoted in their messages subsequently leads to charges of plagiarism or breach of copyright.

12. Forwarding messages:
Messages on this list are private to this list. Messages posted to Haiku Talk must not be forwarded to anyone off the list.

The only exceptions are: —

The only types of messages that should be forwarded TO the list are ones related to new publications or genuine competitions. The names of the original recipients (but not the original sender) should be removed before forwarding and a foreword included stating why you are forwarding the information to the list.

If in doubt, send the message to the list-owner, who will then decide whether or not it is appropriate to forward it to the list.

13. Crossposting:
Cross-posting is not allowed. Do not send messages simultaneously to the list and to other lists or groups of addresses which may include non-members. Send your message to the list as a separate email to the list only.

14. Netiquette:
We want you to enjoy this list! These netiquette guidelines are intended to make it pleasant for everyone, not scare you into permanent lurking! They are GUIDELINES, not RULES!!!


| Reply address |Mail settings |Subject lines |Bottom-posting |Over-quoting |Attachments |Bounces |Tolerance |Renga |Publication Status |Attributing Quotes |Forwarding |Crossposting |Netiquette |How to Join |


15. Instructions for joining or leaving:


| Reply address |Mail settings |Subject lines |Bottom-posting |Over-quoting |Attachments |Bounces |Tolerance |Renga |Publication Status |Attributing Quotes |Forwarding |Crossposting |Netiquette |How to Join |


|Front Page| FAQs| Mailing-list differences| Links| The Art of Haiku|
Webdesign by Gerald England
This page last updated: 1st September 2004.