We are a community and we expect our compatriots in the community to behave in a civilized manner and to practice Netiquette.  "Netiquette" means good manners for Email on the InterNet.  You will be removed from the SARtalk distribution list if you don't satisfy this community's requirements to follow the guidelines.  This page describes the basic rules we have established for participating in SARtalk.

The basic rules are:

1.  Use a subject line that describes the message.

2.  Keep your message short and to the point.  Long, windy messages are often ignored.

3.  Note your identity by putting your name, chapter, and state at the end of your message.

4.  Do not use SARTalk to advertise any commercial endeavors.  If you have a product which you think will be of interest to everyone in the group, you may briefly describe that product and link to the website where it may be found.
Do NOT provide any pricing or ordering information in any emails to SARTalk.

5.  Messages posted to SARTalk should be specifically about items or events of interest to SAR.  Do not use SARTalk for general items of discussion such as religion or sports, for which there are many varied opinions and which can result in heated discussions.

6.  As a 501 3(c) non-profit organization, SAR is required to be non-political.   Please do not discuss items of a political nature on SARTalk.

7.  Posting of items which are intended to offend or are offensive in nature may cause the sender to receive a reprimand from the listowner or may result in removal from the list.

8.  Do not use SARTalk for posting online petitions or to forward mass messages of a "chain-letter" type.  This includes messages of a political nature.

Read our notes on hoaxes before you forward a such a "just-gotta-pass-it-on" message to all your friends.

Netiquette is the "good manners" expected of participants in list-server communities such as SARtalk.  We have appointed monitors to remind (privately, gently and constructively) those Compatriots who go astray about such things as

• the difference between replying to the entire list and replying to the person who sent the message
• straying from the topic under discussion
• otherwise not conforming with the requirements of good order and taste in this community

A copy of any such reminder will be sent to the Chairman of the NSSAR Information Technology Committee to serve as a check on the monitor.

When you are replying to a message posted on the list, DO NOT click on the "reply to all" button on your browser (Netscape or whatever) unless you really do want to send your reply to everyone on the SARtalk distribution list.   Before posting your reply to the entire list, consider whether your reply should be private and directed to only the poster (the person who posted the message).  Many subscribers to SARtalk have only a limited amount of time to read e-mail and do not appreciate getting messages intended for a single recipient (the poster).  All messages directed to the whole SARtalk list (which is what the reply function will do) should be of general interest.

By default you can reply to only the Compatriot who posted the message to which you are replying if you click on the "reply" button on your browser.

Always fill in the subject line in your Email.  This allows others on the list to save the messages and later sort and retrieve them by subject matter.  If you are replying to a post, think about whether your reply actually is on the same subject as the original post.  If it is not, change the Subject line to accurately reflect the content of your reply.

Give the reader some idea of the message to which you are replying.  They may have missed the original posting or forgotten what it said.  One way to do this is to include in your reply a quotation from the original message.   Put it AFTER your reply so that the reader won't have to scroll down through quoted material from the original message to get to your reply.

Quote only the relevant portion of the original message.   Most browser programs automatically quote the entire message (if you have set your e-mail preferences to include that in your reply).  Strip out what is not relevant, keeping only enough of the original message to let the reader understand your reply, and to know the identity of the original poster.  If you are deleting substantive material, insert a <snip> to indicate you have done so.

Be sure to use a "signature" ending that identifies you and notes your SAR Chapter and state.  If you want people to have your postal (s-mail, or snail-mail) address and telephone number, include these as well.