[tlug] top posting

[Charles Muller <acmuller@example.com>]

I posted this on TLUG about a year ago, and it was warmly received by
many of the TLUG old-timers and steering committee members. It seems
like a good time to bring it out again.

The gist is, I moderate (there, known as "list editing" as the task
involves considerably more than simple acceptance or rejection) a couple
of humanities lists where I have a zero-tolerance rule on top
posting. Anyone who top-posts gets their post rejected, receiving the
below notice:

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H-Net -- Top Posting Rejection Notice

Your message to H-Net has been rejected due to the following:

Reason: "Top Posting"

Explanation: This means that you have hit your reply button and simply
written a response at the top of the message, leaving whatever remains
at the bottom. When this happens in a series, messages end up
with confusing and unnecessary accretions in their latter
portions, which corrupt the archiving process due to redundancies. The
list editors *could* clean up each one of these, but we feel that this
should be your responsibility and not ours.

Therefore: Please rewrite your post so that there is no additional text
after your own signature and then resend. You can either delete the old
portions of the original post/prior discussion, or skillfully
incorporate them into your own response.

The only exception to this case is when the remainder of the message is
specifically referenced data, or a forwarded message.

If you do a Google search for the keywords "top posting," you will find
ample explanation of this matter.

If, after reading this, the point is still unclear, please feel free to write
back for further clarification.

H-Net List Editor
Charles Muller

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