Meta-Proposal: Write *above* quotations in mailing list replies

[Yo-Yo Ma]

If you're posting to this list by logging in to https://groups.google.com/ rather than via email, I'd like to propose that you write your reply above the quoted message to which you're replying. If you do this, the digest emails that most subscribers get will be easily previewable from their email client (e.g., iPhone's Mail app). The way it stands now, about half of the messages that I can see (without clicking to the Google Groups website) are just:

> So and So said:
>> This that the other
>> and the other

> So and So said:
>> This that the other
>> and the other

Thoughts?

[Donald Stufft]

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I think trying to get anyone to change their posting habit is a futile effort.

-----------------

Donald Stufft

PGP: 0x6E3CBCE93372DCFA // 7C6B 7C5D 5E2B 6356 A926 F04F 6E3C BCE9 3372 DCFA

[Andre Terra]

I think I just posted a quick reply and I wasn't sure whether to quote above or below, but from now on I'll be glad to post in the way that provides easier readability for everyone.

For long proposals, I'll keep replying below quotes for exactly the same reason.

On Tue, Jun 4, 2013 at 2:18 PM, Donald Stufft <don...@stufft.io> wrote:

I think trying to get anyone to change their posting habit is a futile effort.

Cheers,

AT

[Javier Guerra Giraldez]

On Tue, Jun 4, 2013 at 5:14 PM, Yo-Yo Ma <baxters...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thoughts?


A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?



--
Javier

[Yo-Yo Ma]

Certainly, when a user is replying to portions of a quoted text separately (as Russel often does) it is helpful to break up the quoted text into actionable sections and reply below each. However, when a user is simply clicking the "Post Reply" button, chances are, it's going to be easier to read as:

Post 1

Post 2
>> noise

Post 3
>> noise

Rather than as:

Post 1

>>Post 1
Post 2

>> Post 1
>> Post 2
Post 3

>> Post 1
>> Post 2
>> Post 3
Post 4

>> Post 1
>> Post 2
>> Post 3
>> Post 4
Post 5

Also to reiterate, in email digests the latter format results in the reply not even being included in the email. Since this is a mailing list, it's sometimes useful to be able to actually read a digest of it it in your email.

Cheers
Yo-Yo

[Daniele Procida]

On Tue, Jun 4, 2013, Yo-Yo Ma <baxters...@gmail.com> wrote:

>If you're posting to this list by logging in to https://groups.google.com/
>rather than via email, I'd like to propose that you write your reply above
>the quoted message to which you're replying.

I think that would be a bad idea.

>The way it stands now, about half
>of the messages that I can see (without clicking to the Google Groups
>website) are just:
>
>> So and So said:
>>> This that the other
>>> and the other

That looks as though other people have been doing upside-down quoting too, but I'm not sure because I'm not sure what the digest does.

>Thoughts?

I propose the opposite:

* quote what needs to be quoted for context
* don't quote anything that doesn't need to be quoted
* replies to particular points go immediately below quoted material

This makes it easier to read and follow a thread, and is a far more comfortable way to understand who is saying what, and in reply to whom.

Daniele

[Michael Manfre]

On Tue, Jun 4, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Yo-Yo Ma <baxters...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thoughts?

I think we should all continue to write messages the way we deem best on an email by email basis. The content of the message is more important than whether we reply above or below and it's basically impossible for everyone to consistently adhere to the same style without enforcement. Trying to enforce guidelines would be more futile than trying to keep people from posting django-users questions here.

Regards,

Michael Manfre

[Wim Lewis]

On 4 Jun 2013, at 12:00 PM, Daniele Procida wrote:
> * quote what needs to be quoted for context
> * don't quote anything that doesn't need to be quoted

This is, I think, the most useful/important point. There's no need to include a whole string of previous messages in later ones; this isn't 1985, we all have access to the rest of the thread if we want to go look. Trim the quotes to what's immediately relevant or don't even include them.

> * replies to particular points go immediately below quoted material

This is certainly my preference, but as Michael Manfre says, I think it's not something we need to be particularly uniform or strict about. I'd much rather people put their effort into writing clearly than worrying about local quoting customs.

[Jacob Kaplan-Moss]

Can we PLEASE not have this argument? It's literally as old as email
itself, and totally futile.

Drop it. Now.

Jacob

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