a humble suggestion for newbie guidance

[Robert P. J. Day]

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004, Robert Locke wrote:

> On Sat, 2004-09-11 at 05:27, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
>>    undoubtedly making myself even more unpopular, let me throw out a
>> short suggestion that will help newbies acclimate themselves here more
>> quickly.
>
> <snip>
>
> Some sort of welcoming email like yours (I like the tone, but one should
> use some capitalization... <big grin>) coupled with a few hyperlinks to
> say the FAQ, both search engines, Lisa's new "README" page, and perhaps
> even esr's "more detailed netiquette" is a good idea....  The key of
> course is to make it short enough to get people started without any long
> diatribes that no-one will read.

exactly.  i wasn't trying to lay out an entire newbie guide -- just 
what one would consider the absolutely basic, fundamental and 
non-negotiable starting point for further participation.

after all, a large number of the complaints on this list (and most 
lists) are:

   1) poor subject lines
   2) top posting
   3) HTML
   4) not cutting out enough of the quoted reply

start here, and work your way up.

rday