(1) Read all unread messages in your inbox, to avoid sending

superfluous messages.

(2) Think before you write. Is your message relevant and appropriate?

(3) Think after you write. Re-read your message. Is it clear, concise

and (again) relevant? Off-topic comments (sometimes flagged OT in

the subject line) may be acceptable in some online communities,

but not in others.

(4) Write properly. Many people will not take you seriously if you write

messages without capitalization or punctuation (i dont like that). Use

abbreviations only if you are sure everyone will understand them

(imho or btw, for example).

(5) Break your writing into paragraphs: screenfuls of text are

off-putting. "White space" separates your ideas, makes it

easier to quote selectively (see #9 below) and encourages

recipients to read your message in full.

(6) If you have nothing to say, say nothing. Unless your fellow users

are very patient, emails that just say "me too", "me neither", "I agree"

or (worse) "I don't know anything about this subject, but ..." are likely

to irritate. Such messages might be better sent as a private email to

the sender (do this by copying and pasting the private party's

address into your mailer - most YahooGroups are set to

reply to the whole list).

(7) Give your message a clear subject title. If you read your

messages as a daily digest, try to refer to the subject of the

thread to which you are replying, rather than digest #4203,

as appropriate.

(8) Do not quote lengthy messages or entire digests in

your reply. It is more annoying than you probably realize for

users who read their messages in a daily digest, and it increases

the time and cost of downloads for others. Similarly, a two line

"signature" should suffice -- especially if you are frequent

correspodent (we all know who you are! - and put your profile

into the Yahoo Group site so we do!).

(9) Write for the lowest common denominator. Assume your reader

is using telnet across a 12k dial-up modem on a slow 386 or an

Apple II. Don't use html, don't use fancy graphics and colours and

don't assume that links are clickable. Remember that internet

access is expensive in some parts of the world, and many

people pay per minute.

(10) Break one of these rules rather than go against your

COMMON SENSE -- the best guide to (n)etiquette ever discovered.