• If your words are important enough to write, they're important enough to write properly. 

• Do's and dont's of e-mail are discussed and are presented in informal "rules of the road."  The following segments are based upon information gathered from a variety of sources including, but not limited to, the Internet and discussions with others.

Comments?

• A personal name attached to your address identifies you better than  your e-mail address can on its own., e.g.

                 conveys less information than if it were written as

 From: "Ford Prefect" <344188@foo.chaos.com>
 
• Use a sensible personal name.  "Guess who", initials, acronyms, and such are annoying as personal names and hinder the recipient's quick identification of you and your message.

• Single person - put the e-mail address in the To: field.

• Few people - use the To: and CC: fields keeping in mind that everyone can see all the names and e-mail addresses.  Thus it's possible that private e-mail addresses may be made public.  When a message has many To: and CC: names and e-mail addresses, it's hard to read because of the clutter.

• Many people (1-time basis) - reduce the clutter by putting your name and e-mail address in the To: field and all other names in the BCC: field.  Another issue when sending mail to a large group of people is the increased possibility that one or more of these people's computers is infected with a virus or worm which could harvest non-BCC addresses for spammers.

• Many people (regular basis) - use a Distribution List in the To field; recipients will only see the name and e-mail address you give the Distribution List. 

• Many people (personalized message) - use Mail Merge, assuming your mailer supports it.

• Almost all mailers present you with the Subject: field when you browse your mailbox.  Since it's often the only clue you have about the contents when filing and searching for messages, make the Subject meaningful, e.g. a message:

              with the

       Subject: WordPerfect

              is practically as unhelpful as having no subject at all.

• If you're replying to a message and are changing the subject of the conversation, change  the Subject field too.  The Subject is usually the easiest way to follow a conversation thread, so changing the conversation without changing the subject can be confusing and   can make filing difficult; when changing the Subject, a format along the lines of the following is generally acceptable:

• Keep to the Subject as much as possible.  If you need to branch off onto a totally new a  nd different topic, it's often better to send a new message which allows the recipient the option of filing it separately.

• Try to break your message into logical paragraphs and restrict your sentences to sensible lengths.  To improve readability, use a blank line between paragraphs.

• Use correct grammar and spelling.  E-mail is about  communication; poorly worded messages and misspelled words make messages hard to read and potentially confusing.  Just because e-mail is fast doesn't mean that it should be slipshod; some of the worst language mashing is often found in e-mail messages.  If your words are important enough to write, they're also important enough to write properly.

In general e-mail messages should not be sent in HTML which was designed for web pages.  Among other things HTML includes formatting like bold, italic, color,  specific fonts).  Most mail lists prohibit messages in HTML; Plain Text (ASCII characters 0-127 with characters 32-127 being printable) should be used instead. 

Messages sent with the following:
    Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
    Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
are NOT true Plain Text.  While many mailers  support High ASCII (ASCII characters 128-255), keep in mind that not all font sets render these characters the same. 

If you do send messages in HTML make sure that the recipient can handle them properly.  Some users prefer messages with fancy formatting as an attached file (word processor or PDF).

Plain Text messages are considerably smaller than those in HTML.  http://www.expita.com/nomime.html has detailed instructions on how to set your mailer to send messages as Plain Text.  The default setting in many mailers is to send HTML.  :-(

• Set your Line Wrap to 65/72 characters.  This improves the readability of your message and tends to eliminate (or least minimize) "picket fencing" when quoted:

> In general, keep to the Subject as much as possible.  If you
> need to branch
> off onto a totally new and different topic then it's often
> better to send
> a new message, which allows the recipient the option of
> filing it separately.

When sending a message referencing a URL, do not send the page itself, send only the URL.  Include the "http://" prefix since with some mailers you cannot click through without it.

• Before sending a file, make sure the recipient wants it, can open it, and has sufficient mail box space.  When a mail box is filled, new messages are bounced.  Zipping files often reduces their size, and adds an integrity test feature.

• Be very careful about including credit card numbers in electronic mail messages.  Electronic mail can be intercepted in transit and a valid credit card number is like money in the bank for someone unscrupulous enough to use it.

• Avoid public "flames" - messages sent in anger. Messages sent in the heat of the moment generally only exacerbate the situation and are usually regretted later.  Settle down and think about it for a while before starting a flame war.

• EMPHASIS! - Following are some Do's and Don'ts:

Do's:

To emphasize a word, following are generally acceptable:

• Put a "*" or "+" at each end, e.g. *danger*  -or-  +danger+

• Write in uppercase, e.g. DANGER

To emphasize a phrase a short stretch of uppercase may serve to emphasize a point heavily, e.g.  DON'T PLAY WITH FIRE

To underline a word or phrase, put a "_" at each end, e.g.   _This line is underlined._

Don'ts:

When writing a message use conventional capitalization and punctuation.  All uppercase is considered shouting and is difficult to read.  All lowercase is also difficult to read.

Don't use multiple exclamation marks.  An exclamation mark ends a sentence with emphasis.  Usually, ending a sentence once is enough.  You use one point, one question mark, one exclamation mark, one comma, etc.  Of course, if you end every sentence with an exclamation mark, you have to end emphasized sentences with at least two exclamation marks.  This is one reason why you should minimize the use of the exclamation mark and only use it when you really feel like having that huge exclamation point above you (if you were a cartoon figure, of course).

Don't use multiple >'s for emphasis since this character is used to mark quoted material.

1) Top-Posting: The reply consists of the response followed by the parent message.  Also called Jeopardy style posting, referring to the TV quiz show "Jeopardy!" where contestants respond in the form of a question:

Your response

Parent message

Pro: Top-Posting is the better reply style since it shows immediately what has been added, saving time and making it easy to at least get the sense of most recent replies or additions.  This style seems to be the format used by most persons.  While it's a matter of choice, there seem to be more who Top-Post than who Botton-Post.

Bottom-Posting requires reading or scrolling down, sometimes through lengthy messages which is tedious and annoying.

2) Bottom-posting: The reply consists of relevant quotes from the parent message before each of your comments respectively:

> Quote 1 from the parent message

 Your response to the preceding

> Quote 2 from the parent message

Your response to the preceding

Pro: In an interactive email exchange the Bottom-Posting reply style context is key.  In a good discussion you interact rather than keep up separate monologues.  Thus it's very natural to quote a point, respond, quote the second point, respond and so forth,  respectively.  Normally this can be achieved by judicious quoting from the parent message; often a sentence or two is sufficient; non-relevant material is edited out.

Many haven't given the purpose of quoting much thought.  While Instant Messaging and Chat are almost real-time exchanges much like a verbal discussion, email exchanges resemble snail mail in that the time between readings is much longer.  This makes the maintaining of context difficult when the relevant parts of the conversation are not kept in proximity.

When Top-Posting, often times all of the parent message is quoted resulting in unnecessary clutter. Some say that this style became popular when the masses started using email.  Today many quote all of an article because it requires less time (for the sender but not necessarily for the reader) and is promoted since some (many?) mailers have that as the default.

When replying to a message make sure that the Subject Line has a "Re:" prefix.  Without a "Re:" the reader  (and some mail clients) may conclude that the message is the start of a new message thread.

To improve readability:

• Insert a blank line between quoted text and your reply:

• When forwarding jokes, stories, etc., edit out headers, the To: and CC: from prior messages, and quote prefix characters, e.g. ">".  Some Clipboard utilities include a provision to do the latter easily.  StripMail, a free program,  will do this too.  It works with the Clipboard,  http://www.dsoft.com.tr/stripmail/

• E-mail hoaxes and frauds are common, http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-009.html To check, one especially good resource is the "Urban Legends Reference Pages", http://www.snopes.com/

• Keep your signature short - unnecessarily long signatures waste bandwidth (especially when distributed to mail lists) and can be annoying.  Some mail lists do not accept signatures with advertising. 

• Many mailers have a provision to add a signature via a file you select from a group of such files.  When using this feature, make sure you select a file appropriate to your message.

While E-mail has some of the immediacy of a conversation, it's totally devoid of "body language".  The Internet "counter-culture" has had an answer to this problem for years - "smiley faces", or groups of ASCII characters that are meant to look like a face turned on its side.

The most common smiley faces are probably these:

There are hundreds of others, some more recognizable than others.

Using the common smiley faces carefully can markedly improve the clarity of your message, since they convey nuances which approximate "body language".  Like any embellishment, however, overuse destroys their value - use them sparingly.

• Keep it short.  The length of your quote adds to the length of your signature.  A 5,000 word excerpt from Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason' used as a signature will not win you many friends.

• Definitions of "offensive" vary widely; avoid quotes that might offend people on the grounds of religion, race,  politics or sexuality.

• Avoid topical or local quotes, since they may be meaningless to recipients in other towns, countries or cultures.

• Variable signatures are usually best if they're amusing; polemical outbursts on politics or other such topics will turn most people off, but a one liner that brings a smile can make someone's day.

When replying to a message on a Mail List, do you reply to the list or reply to the author?

• General: Customs are relative; what is OK in one place is an affront otherwise.  Respected behavior on one mailing lists will immediately get you off another one.  That's why it's a good idea to follow the conversation on a mailing list for some time before posting yourself.  This behavior is called lurking (and, of course, on some lists it isn't something other members like to see...)

Pay careful attention to where your reply is going to end up; it can be embarrassing for you if a personal message ends up on a mailing list, and it's generally annoying for the other list members.

• LACS: For general announcements, no reply is necessary unless requested.  If a reply is requested the author should specify the reply-to address.

  ---

  A message which only says "I agree" or "Thank you" is better sent privately to the originator.

When replying with the answer to a question, replying to the mail list is often recommended since other members may learn something.  In addition if a question has been answered, it's clear that no additional answers are needed unless the respondent can add something of significance.

Remember that there is no such thing as a secure mail system.  It is unwise to send very personal or sensitive information by e-mail unless you encrypt it using a reliable encryptor. 

Remember the recipient; you're not the only person who could be embarrassed if a delicate message falls into the wrong hands.Include enough information: if you are asking a question to which you expect a response, make sure to include enough information to make the response possible.

• When requesting technical support, include a description of the problem and the version of the program you're using.

• When following up on an order, include the order number, your name and organization, and any other details that might assist in tracing your order.

• If you're asking for something, don't forget to say "please".  Similarly, if someone does something for you, it never hurts to say "thank you".  While this might sound trivial, or even insulting, it's astonishing how many people who are perfectly polite in everyday life seem to forget their manners in their e-mail.  Some sign their messages with TIA (Thanks In Advance) to reduce message traffic.

1. Thou shalt not type in all caps: for this is perceived as shouting and is hard to read.

 2. Thou shalt write or forward messages in plain (ASCII) text only: for some email programs do not understand HTML or other formatting, and thy recipient might see different formatting or fonts than thou intended; HTML was designed for web pages.

 3. Thou shalt limit line length to 65 characters: for otherwise some email programs will wrap the text at wrong points or not wrap it at all.

 4. Thou shalt not attach files larger than 50K without first getting permission from thy recipient: for large files that take a long time to download may not respect thy recipient's time if thy recipient has a low connection speed, and thy recipient's email box size may be limited; thy recipient may not agree that thy photo or file is cute or cool.

 5. Thou shalt not send entire web pages in thy email, but shalt include only the URL in the form "http://..." so thy recipient need only click on the URL to go right there.

 6. Thou shalt never forward virus warnings: for they may be hoaxes and may themselves contain viruses.

 7. Thou shalt not forward chain letters: for chain letters are  forbidden on the Internet; thy network privileges will be revoked; notify thy ISP if thou ever receivest one.

 8. Thou shalt not forward any dumb joke emails to thy friends, for most folks have seen them a million times and find them very annoying, and thou may offend people who do not share thy sense of humor or who are sick of having those stupid emails forwarded to them each time a Newbie hops online.

 9. Thou shalt not quote back an entire message when replying to only one or two points: delete the excess, but retain enough to maintain the thread; do not overuse Reply to All.

10. Thou shalt keep cool if thou repliest to nasty email: for the sender is just a plain jerk; if thou dost not have something nice to say, just hit delete.