The Blue Tigress pulls out an old soapbox and stands on it. After cracking
her whip to get everyone's attention, she clears her throat and starts to
speak....

"On the topic of FLAMES..."

       "DON'T!"

"Or if you must, do it privately, mail that person directly. The rest of
us don't want to hear it." 

"Also, if people are flaming and you're tired of it, mail those people
DIRECTLY! Public complaints usually just add to the fire and SPAM."

"That brings up another topic... SPAM..."

"If you think there's too much of it, follow these directions..."

   1.  Identify the major perpetrators.
   2.  Mail them PRIVATELY, asking them to tone it down.
   3.  DON'T, I repeat, DON'T complain to the whole ML.
       (unless you're WW, of course) These complaints generate a lot of
       "me too" posts.

"Also, when you're replying to something, make sure what you quote is less
than what you say, especially if what you say is at the bottom. People
don't like to go through screenfuls of quoted material just to read a
single added line at the bottom. However, it does help to quote key
passages or mention what you're replying to if your reply goes to the
whole list and you don't change the subject line."

"And as WW has said over and over again, DON'T send test messages to the
ML. If you really want to know if you've been unsubbed, mail one or two
friends on the list and ask them about the last few posts they've received
from the ML. I didn't say the _last_ post they received because everyone's
mail server seems to receive things in different orders."

"On another note, some people have been having problems reading fics
because of format. Authors, please remember to use US-ASCII character
format and wrap your lines about 75 to 79 characters per line. Also, send
the fic in the body of the message and not as an attachment. This will
make it easier for more people to read it."

"Thank you for listening (if you've made it this far)."

Saf steps down and puts the soapbox away (hopefully for good).


Saf (who just couldn't keep quiet any longer)

**********************************************
*  =^.^=  Sapphire, The Blue Tigress  =^.^=  *
*     Co-Maintainer of the Fanfic ML FAQ     *
* --{@   sapphire@uclink.berkeley.edu   @}-- *
**********************************************