what is top posting and how do i avoid doing it?

Top posting is typing your reply above the message you are replying to.
It makes it hard to follow a thread.

paranoid paul wrote:

::Your Name Here:: wrote:
Start your reply beneath the message.
See how easy it is to follow the thread?

Cheers

Top-posting is replying on top of a message. If you want to avoid it (a
longstanding Usenet controversy on which I have no official or
unofficial position) and risk being accused of bottom-posting, then
post on the bottom.

::Your Name Here::" <"::Your Name Here:: wrote:
Sure is. And as an added bonus, I get to re-read what I just read.

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

dadiOH wrote:
Not if you install this and use with OE as I see that's what you're using
(and a very old one at that - v5.50.
It color coats the conversation so you know what you've read already.
http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/oe-quotefix/

On Sat, 04 Feb 2006 13:59:47 GMT, dadiOH wrote:

<snip>

Only if it's relevant in the context of what the next poster wishes to say.
Bottom posting ain't just about adding your comments on the end of
everything else that's been added to the original post. It's all about
cutting away the chaff, and adding your reply only to the bit you're making
a comment about. It's known as snipping[1] and attributing[2].



[1] Cutting away bits that you're not commenting on, to leave just the bit
that you want to make a comment about.

[2] Making sure that you include the previous poster's details. It might be
that you include the words of two or more porevious posters, and you should
include the relevant attributions as a courtesy.



--
the dot wanderer at tesco dot net

On 4 Feb 2006 04:50:25 -0800, paranoid paul wrote:

Assuming you're not just trolling to start a flame war, ditch google groups
for posting to usenet.

Use your ISP's news server, or subscribe to a decent commercial one (News
Individual Net costs a few Euros per year) and get a dedicated news reader.

By default GG doesn't include the previous contextual material when you
make a new post, you need to tell it to show the previous material when
replying. Otherwise you'll always appear to be top posting.

There's no 'law' that says you mustn't top post, but many regular poster
will kill file top posters - or GG posters, for that matter - so your words
of wisdom just won't get read by many of your target audience. It's your
choice.






--
the dot wanderer at tesco dot net

paranoid paul wrote:
Stereotypical top posting is untrimmed, non-contextualized corporate
email type TOFU where tofu is text over full quote under.

That type posting is the opposite of proper newsgroup posting^1 which is
trimmed and contextualized. Trimmed means removing everything
previously posted which you aren't using to reference the exact words to
which you are replying, and contextualized means placing your reply
below those words to which the reply refers.

Trimming and contextualizing makes your reply more clearly applied to
what was said before and reduces the ambiguity and 'fuzziness' which
result from topposting.

^1 http://members.fortunecity.com/nnqweb/nquote.html
news.newusers.questions - Quoting Style in Newsgroup Postings

You can cite and quote correctly with trimming and contextualizing and
using googlegroups by clicking on 'show options' before you reply.
Preview your post if necessary.

http://groups.google.com/support/bin...4213&topic=250
How can I automatically quote the previous message when I post a
ply? - To quote the previous message in your reply, click the "show
options" link then the blue "Reply" link at the top of the post. The
full text of the previous message is included in the composition box and
marked with angle brackets (>) at the start of each line. You can place
your comments between lines of the quote or simply add your thoughts at
the bottom.



--
Mike Easter

Just looked at quotefix as I thought it would SHADE (text and background)
the entire preceding conversation but it only COLOURS the text. This can
lead to more visual mayhem at the readers end who may wonder why the sender
coloured this text. The only real solution is top posting and edit out what
follows leaving just enough to continue the thread.
Paul

dis-service, by cutting themselves off from what you just said
(quote)..words of wisdom. If they cease kill file they just might learn
something.
Paul

The Wanderer wrote:

...or at the very least, have a read of this page:
http://safalra.com/special/googlegroupsreply/

I do agree that using an NNTP service and a proper newsreader is best.

--
-bts
-Warning: I brake for lawn deer

"dadiOH" <dadiOH@wherever.com> wrote in message
news:nr2Ff.187$0i1.113@trnddc04...

In news:1L3Ff.19261$Sk1.383549@news20.bellglobal.com,
Paul spewed forth:

The "receiver" isn't going to see any color unless they have Quotefix
installed. If they do, they they already *know* why the colors are there.

--
If at first you don't succeed, redefine success.

::Your Name Here:: <"::Your Name Here::"@dotcomdotaudotcom> wrote in
news:43e4a4bb$0$31245$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au:

Like you just did. Didn't we just have this discussion a few weeks ago?
Wasn't the post that started that thread exactly the same as the post that
started this one?

"Paul" <ninetyfive&holding@sympathy.ca> wrote in
news:ZP3Ff.19269$Sk1.384071@news20.bellglobal.com:

I've been reading dozens of groups for a number of years, and I can count
on the fingers of one hand the number of top posts that had any words of
wisdom in them. Most top posters specialize in "me, too" replies.

If you're not dedicated enough to learn and use the accepted way of doing
things, you're not likely to have much of value to say that anyone wants to
read to begin with.

p-nut wrote:
Yes, I know, been using it for some years (which is the *only* reason I
post at the bottom) but one still has to scroll through interminable
blather because most people either don't understand snipping or simply
don't bother to do so.

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

The Wanderer wrote:
Ah, if only...

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

"dadiOH" <dadiOH@wherever.com> wrote in
news:uD7Ff.565$Gg1.63@trnddc03:


I thought it fixed sigs

elaich wrote:
I was making a point.
Read my second post to the OP and it may enlighten you a tad!