Here is a long list of things that everyone can do to make the ASPAlliance lists dramatically better than other listservs out there:

• Unethical or Illegal Use of the Lists is Prohibited - The ASPAlliance List moderators reserve the right to unsubscribe and/or ban a list member from the lists if they are suspected of unethical or illegal use of the lists. Unethical or illegal use of the lists would be (but is not limited to) one of the following activities:
• Sending SPAM or non-technical questions to the list(s)
• Using the lists to obtain answers or code for an academic project, test, assignment, etc. You may, however, use the lists in a mentor fashion (specific technical questions on things that have you stumped are acceptable). We will not allow you to ask someone to do the project for you or provide code in this manner.
• Verbal abuse or threatening of a fellow list member. Verbal abuse includes (but is not limited to) racist, sexist, etc. comments.
• Reduce Reply Quotations - When you respond to a message, please edit your reply to quote only enough of the pertinent message to place your comment in perspective. Most e-mail readers have an option for quoting the previous message in a reply. Then all you have to do is cut out the parts that aren't necessary, and write your reply in the message body. Indicate omissions with ellipsis or the bracketed snip ( ... or [snip] ). Also note that it is never necessary to send a reply to both the listserv and the sender, because doing so will result in the original sender getting two copies of your reply, since the original sender is already subscribed to the listserv.
• Proofread - Please proofread your message and look for spelling and grammar errors, since it will be read by hundreds and in some cases thousands of users. DO NOT USE ALL CAPS! It will look like you are shouting. Also, review the tone of your message. Ask yourself what your reaction would be if you received it. Look for any areas that might be misunderstood and rewrite these sentences to remove any ambiguity. If you are asking a question, be sure to include details about the problem and specifications, such as model and version numbers. Keep your message terse and to the point. Be clear and be polite, but get to the point. Remember, people do not like to read large blocks of text.
• The Subject Field - Always enter a descriptive phrase in the subject field of the e-mail message. This phrase should give an indication of the message's content. If you have more than one topic, send separate messages for each topic. This allows the recipient to reply separately to each topic and more easily "file" the message under the proper category. When you use the reply function, but digress from the original subject, modify the "Subject" field accordingly. This keeps the body information in sync with its topic. Example: "ASP.NET Caching [was Global Error Hanlder]"
• Reply Address - When replying to a message, pay attention to where the message is going. Remember, the default reply address is to the ASPAlliance List, and not to the person who wrote the message. Sending a message to the wrong address can be embarrassing.
• Long Lines - If the line lengths in your messages are too wide, they become unreadable in many mail readers. Try setting your window to less than 80 characters (72 is a common number), and set the font to a fixed-width font such as Courier. This will insure that your messages can be read by the broadest number of mail readers and computing platforms.
• Commercial Messages/Attachments - Commercial messages are not permitted, nor are attachments, except by prior arrangement with the ASPAlliance Lists. If you want to send someone an attached file, please do so in a private e-mail message, not by sending it to the listserv. You can also upload the file to a Web site or FTP site and post the URL on the listserv.
• Copyrighted Materials - Do not send copyrighted material unless you own the copyright or have explicit permission from the author to do so. Instead, write a short description about the item and post the URL or Web address of where the copyrighted material can be found.
• HTML - Although you may send HTML-formatted messages to the listserv, doing so may reduce the number of responses to your message. Many modern e-mail programs (including Eudora, Netscape, and Microsoft products) can produce e-mail messages formatted with fonts, italics, bold, underlining, justification, colors, and even images. Although HTML-formatted messages are the wave of the future, many readers still use plain text e-mail readers, and they will not be able to read your message if it has formatting codes in it. You should note that some e-mail programs may send formatted messages by default. If your e-mail program is setup that way, you will need to turn off that feature before sending a message to the listserv.
• Technical problems with the list or difficulties unsubscribing from the list should go to the list administrator.