Twelve Tips That Will Make You a Welcome Genealaogy Poster

1. HOT WORDS. Run your spell checker before posting. Your messages will look foolish if you misspell "genealogy." Proper punctuation is essential for clarity - and that includes using your shift key at the proper times.

2. FREQUENCY OF POSTS. Don't be a bandwidth hog. If you are stumped and have exhausted other reasonable approaches, then accurately frame your question(s) and post it/them to the appropriate venue - that is, make sure message is appropriate to the topic of the mailing list or newsgroup in which you post. There are many genealogy mailing lists and newsgroups and it's up to you to properly direct your questions. If you are using the newsgroups, don't post them in several different groups except over a reasonable interval. Since many participate in a number of different genealogy lists or groups, they can become irritated if they see the same message several times the same day.

3. WHAT TO QUOTE: Be sure to reference the question you are responding to by quoting from it - but only quote what is actually needed to convey that message and delete other portions of the previous message(s), especially the "trailers." Quotes of quotes of quotes make messages incomprehensible and take up unnecessary bandwidth.

4. SIGNATURES. Include as much information as you are comfortable with, but try to stay within the acceptable guidelines for signature length. That means a maximum of 5 lines, 3 preferred - and no "art work." Using your real full name in genealogy newsgroups is usually a plus in making solid contacts.

5. CHOICE SUBJECTS. Describe as fully and accurately as you can what your message seeks in the subject line of your message. Nondescriptive subjects are often ignored. Subjects like "Help Needed" won't tell the reader much and often will earn the message a trip to the "Deleted" file.

6. SURNAME QUERIES. We don't often realize it, but lots of people have the same name. If you don't identify the persons you are looking for completely, no one can help you. Full name, time and place are essential to proper identification.

7. SEARCH SHY. For heaven's sake, do your homework before you post. Often it is easier to do a quick web search than it is to post a message. And if you ask a question before you try to locate an answer on your own, not only will you sometimes look silly, over time people will just quit answering your questions because they will resent doing your work for you. Besides search engines, there are dictionaries, glossaries, encyclopedias, calendars, maps and place finders galore on the Internet. Learn to use them. Cyndi's List is a great starting point. Familiarize yourself with it and you'll soon learn how to find the sites that will help you.

8. FAITHFUL PARTICIPATION. The "faithful" participant is not the one who posts the most, but the one who posts the wisest. It's sometimes tempting, but try not to comment on every issue. If you don't know the answer, don't guess. That usually confuses the issue. If possible, cite the source of your response.

9. INFORMING THE CROWD. It is often not necessary to post your answers for all to see. Evaluate your response. If it's primarily of interest only to the person to whom you are responding, the preference is to send it e-mail. If others might benefit from it also, by all means post to the group. If you are asking a question, don't make it difficult for others to respond directly to you by intentionally using an invalid return address (sometimes referred to as an "anti-spam address"). 10. MAKING SURE. Test messages to a newsgroup are a last resort. Don't do it. If you ABSOLUTELY must "test" the system, do it with an actual message.

11. CRAFTING REPLIES. We're all authors at heart or we wouldn't be participants - but do weigh whether it is really necessary to respond to a question that has already been answered or to add your "amen" to it. There is no limit to how often you can post, but there is a limit to other people's tolerance of what they see as abuse. There is no need to clog the list with unneeded responses.

12. INTERNET TRUTH. Not everything you see on the 'Net is the truth. In fact, a good bit of it is ill-informed and undocumented. Don't pass on information that you haven't verified. Myths and hoaxes abound, but these are easy to check. Even a trusted friend sometimes can pass on faulty information and, besides, is it your responsibility to be Chicken Little? If you do decide to pass something on to a group, keep in mind that the material is likely copyrighted and therefore should only be sent privately, not to a list or group.