comp.sys.acorn.announce Charter 

Revision History

DateVersionAuthorComments
2002-09-071.1.0NGBRevised version of old charter 1.21.
2002-09-081.1.1AMCNew moderation addresses at owlart.co.uk.
2002-09-141.1.2NGBSpelling, grammar and orthography corrections.
2002-09-151.1.3NGBRemoved "endorsement by the Acorn Group" warning.
2002-09-191.1.4NGBVarious minor layout & orthography fixes.
2002-09-191.1.5NGBChanging references to 'Acorn computers' to 'RISC OS computers' throughout.

Contents

1. Moderators
2. Introduction
3. Submitting Articles
4. Follow-ups
5. Is Your Article Suitable?
6. Special Arrangements
7. Special Points
8. Further Discussions
9. Acknowledgements and Thanks

1. Moderators

Moderator: Andrew Conroy (a.m.conroy@argonet.co.uk)
Backup Moderator: Nick Boalch (n.g.boalch@durham.ac.uk)

Submissions to: csaa@owlart.net
Related mail to: csaa-request@owlart.net

2. Introduction

This charter specifies the guidelines for submissions to the newsgroup comp.sys.acorn.announce. csaa is a moderated newsgroup, this means that any postings have to be manually approved by a moderator before they will appear.

The reason for moderated newsgroups is a simple one, only in a moderated newsgroup can you (the reader) be sure that all postings relate to the original topic - this is because anything that does not conform to this will be discarded by the moderator.

In the case of csaa, the purpose is to create a forum for announcements related to RISC OS computers. Further definitions of this subject matter are explored in more detail later.

For more information on moderated newsgroups please see the moderated newsgroup FAQ at http://www.swcp.com/~dmckeon/mod-faq.html.

3. Submitting Articles

If you have ever posted a message to any other newsgroup then posting to csaa is very straight forward - in fact, it's the same! The only difference is that your article will not appear in the group immediately.

This is because csaa is a moderated newsgroup. All submissions (postings) have to be manually checked and approved by a moderator - only after this process has been completed will your article appear. The usual turn-around time between your original submission and your article appearing is 24 hours (though please allow up to 72).

When sending your submission, you may feel that it belongs in other groups as well as csaa, this is only generally required if the groups you are cross-posting to are outside of the comp.sys.acorn.* tree. If this is the case, simply crosspost (x-post) your message accordingly - DO NOT POST TO THE OTHER GROUPS SEPARATELY. The moderator will honour your x-posted message where appropriate (if any of the x-posted groups are also moderated ones then the moderator will attempt to gain permission for these groups for you), if the moderator does not think your message warrants the x-posting then you will be informed of this (See special point 1). Please note also, that messages x-posted to additional groups will not appear in ANY of the groups until approval has been given. In such cases where the submission has been rejected by the moderator it will be returned to the sender, the moderator will, where appropriate suggest an alternative group(s). The sender may then wish to post to the alternative group(s).

An alternative method for submitting articles exists, which you may prefer to use. Simply email your submission to the special submission address (csaa@owlart.net). Many people prefer this method because email tends to be more reliable than news. Again, as before, you will receive an automatic acknowledgement confirming your message has been successfully delivered.

NB. Many Newsreaders can be configured so that they will automatically email a submission if the group is flagged as moderated. However, please don't assume your software does this - if you are unsure simply email your submission manually.

You can also submit articles via the csaa website at http://www.owlart.net/csaa/. Simply choose Submit Article from the navigation options and complete the submission form appropriately.

4. Follow-ups

A follow-up allows the original sender (or moderator) to define another newsgroup where a resultant discussion may commence as a result of an article posted in csaa.

csaa is a low volume newsgroup where discussions are not best suited, hence an alternative location must be specified.

For example if a new computer is announced it is very likely that this will spawn a great deal of conversation, therefore any follow-up articles will be set to appear in an alternative group (e.g. comp.sys.acorn.hardware). The message header for this would look something like :-

Followup-To: comp.sys.acorn.hardware

Your newsreader should cope quite happily with this, if you try and follow-up the message your reply should automatically be sent to the specified newsgroup.

For this reason, a follow-up header will be set on ALL articles posted into csaa. The original sender may specify their preferred follow-up location - and this will be honoured by the moderator. If however, no follow-up is specified then the moderator will select the most suitable one available. Note, it is possible to specify a follow-up of poster so that any follow-ups are automatically directed via email to the original sender.

5. Is your article suitable?

This question, is probably the single most notable reason why this charter was written. Different people have very different ideas about what is and what is not a valid message for this group.

It is strongly recommended that you read the Welcome to the Comp.Sys.Acorn newsgroups document created by Philip Banks, this not only covers the basics for csaa but covers the whole range of the comp.sys.acorn.* newsgroups. This message is posted weekly to csaa.

It is hoped that the following guidelines, together with the above document will help you decide whether your posting is appropriate in csaa.

The most important, thing to consider is the name of the group, comp.sys.acorn.announce is for announcements related to Acorn or RISC OS computers. Therefore, if your submission doesn't relate to RISC OS computers (or their associated technology) then it probably isn't valid.

Despite its simplicity, the group name gives the clearest indication as to the validity of any submissions. The following more specific guidelines should be obeyed wherever possible :-

  1. Dos
    1. Always try and keep your announcement short and to the point, use bullet points where possible.
    2. If you are advertising a freeware product which is available from an Internet source try and offer a link to it.
    3. Give concise information about your new product/service/program etc., rather than just announcing it exists and pointing to a website. Remember, not everyone has access to the World Wide Web!
    4. Always limit your x-posting to the minimum necessary.
  2. Don'ts
    1. NO BINARIES
    2. Do not use false or fake email addresses.
    3. No top bit characters may be used (eg. pound sign), and no MIME encoding should be used.
    4. No pricelists, sales & wants etc. Prices for products may obviously be given - but only alongside a suitable announcement.
    5. No messages from Sales@yourcompany.com (Sales Dept.), use a more meaningful name, for example Stuart@yourcompany.com (Stuart Marshall). If you need to direct replies to a generic email address, you can use the Reply-To: header.
    6. No messages for minor web site updates. People don't want to know if you've just added another link onto your site!
    7. Messages will be rejected if they have already been posted separately to other csa.* groups, unless prior arrangement has been made with the moderator.
    8. "Coming soon" announcements may be rejected. Please don't announce something that might be available next week - if possible wait until it is available then announce it!
    9. Your subject may not be preceded with three hash characters (###), these are reserved for use by the moderator(s).

6. Special Arrangements

From time to time a special agreement may be granted allowing users to post directly to csaa. A good example of this is the Acorn FAQ by Paul Vigay, Paul posts the FAQ directly to csaa (bypassing the approval system). For further details, please contact the moderator.

7. Special Points

Please note, the moderator has no control whatsoever as to the contents of any newsgroups other than csaa. Any comments the moderator may make about x-posting to other groups should be taken merely as advice. If you disagree with the moderators view then you are free to post your message to other groups as you choose.

8. Further Discussions

If you wish to comment on anything detailed in this charter, please do so by emailing the moderators at csaa-request@owlart.net.

Should a public discussion take place about any part of this charter, this discussion should take place in comp.sys.acorn.misc.

9. Acknowledgements and Thanks

Philip Banks, Andrew Conroy, Angus Mackenzie, Daniel Shimmin, Martin Tillman, Richard Walker and Stuart Marshall for valuable feedback.

Valid XHTML 1.0! Nick Boalch (N.G.Boalch@durham.ac.uk)
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