From ns.itep.ru!CERN.ch!EU.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!in3.uu.net!delphi.com!usenet Sun Aug 4 18:24:13 1996 Path: ns.itep.ru!CERN.ch!EU.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!in3.uu.net!delphi.com!usenet From: lfirrantello@BIX.com (Mick Brown c.o.o.a Moderator) Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.announce Subject: ** Problems with Submissions Followup-To: comp.os.os2.misc Date: 4 Aug 1996 09:35:11 GMT Organization: BIX Online Service Lines: 87 Approved: lfirrantello@bix.com Message-ID: Reply-To: lfirrantello@BIX.com (Mick Brown c.o.o.a Moderator) Reply-to: lfirrantello@BIX.com (Mick Brown c.o.o.a Moderator) --------------------------------------------------------------------- I am receiving increasing number of complaints about articles which leave out important information. I am also currently receiving about 50% of the submissions with invalid email addresses somewhere in their headers. 1) User Groups ============== a) the subject line should contain something like the following: UG: June 17 meeting, topic, city and state or city and country This is information important to potential visitors and new members and should be placed where everyone who might be interested can see it. It is something that is a PITA for me to find, cut and paste out of the bodies of the article. b) Users' groups with long established web sites are often not supplying the URLs for their sites or BBSes. This information can help new or prospective members find out more about your group, obtain street maps, contact numbers or other information useful in their process of determining whether to visit or join your group. c) User's groups are not supplying the next three or four meeting dates, nor the usual meeting day, so that potential visitors or members can make future plans to visit when they cannot make the announced meeting. 2) SOFTWARE, FREEWARE, VENDOR ============================= a) Subject lines are missing keywords. The keywords help readers determine whether they want to download an article or not, by indicating a general category the announcement falls into. b) Subject lines are often just a product name. While this is sufficient to inform someone who already has read about your product, it usually is insufficient for new readers or those not yet customers. Please indicate a general product category like: VENDOR: XYZ releases PM xyz 1.2 (file management utility suite) GAME: Monster Mash v 2.4 a fast action/strategy I'net game. *************************************************************************** The biggest complaint I get is that the post doesn't contain a product description. While you may be familiar with your product--it may even be relatively famous with many positive reviews in the computer press, there are going to be many who read this newsgroup who don't know your product. Please include brief descriptions of what your product does and what other software or hardware is necessary to use it. Technical details and brief descriptions of enhancements from previous versions are fine, but please supply a brief overview for the non-technical reader or the novice. Doing this may help a reader see a need your product fulfills and net you a customer you'd never have otherwise. 3) EMAIL ADDRESS PROBLEMS ========================= I am currently receiving about 50% of submissions with illegal or bouncing email addresses somewhere in the headers. I can often figure out eventually how to contact the poster, but *NOT* always. If I cannot send you a email reply your submission is rejected without notice. a) Please ensure that your email address is correctly set in your news reader before submitting a post to comp.os.os2.announce. I cannot offer advice on how to do this, because there are too many different news readers. b) Please include a line at the top of the body of your message with the following: submitted by: your name (userid@domain.com) --or-- submitted by: userid@domain.com (Your Name) for example, in my case: submitted by: lfirrantello@bix.com (Mick Brown) c) For some reason, people seem to be configuring their email addresses in their mail clients properly much more often than they do in their news readers. I still suggest adding the line in 3) b) above to the top of your email submissions. It seems that if your news reader's email address setting is misconfigured, your news server is very likely to mangle it further. ===================================================================== -- To submit to c.o.os2.announce: POST (or email os2_ann_req@bix.com) -- For comments to the moderator: email lfirrantello@bix.com. - for posting guidelines see: http://www.bix.com/pub/os2ann/pindex.htm