Why don't you organise (organize) things such that the first time someone posts
to this server, they get the VFAQ mailed to them ? As long as it's only once it
shouldn't be an issue (if it's big then perhaps only mail them the location).

This would have to be done at least partially manually due to despammed email
addresses, but the rest could be automated.

Post a reply to this message

povray.org admin team <new### [at] despampovrayorg> wrote:
: This would have to be done at least partially manually due to despammed email
: addresses, but the rest could be automated.

  I think they have despammed their email address for a reason... I think
it would be a good idea to respect it.

-- 
main(i){char*_="BdsyFBThhHFBThhHFRz]NFTITQF|DJIFHQhhF";while(i=
*_++)for(;i>1;printf("%s",i-70?i&1?"[]":" ":(i=0,"\n")),i/=2);} /*- Warp. -*/

Post a reply to this message

"povray.org admin team" wrote:
> 
> Why don't you organise (organize) things such that the first time someone posts
> to this server, they get the VFAQ mailed to them ? As long as it's only once it
> shouldn't be an issue (if it's big then perhaps only mail them the location).
> 
> This would have to be done at least partially manually due to despammed email
> addresses, but the rest could be automated.
Is there a possibility to setup a Greeting script on the news server, that replies to
the
FIRST message someone sends with the VFAQ address???
The sender could then be stored in a database or something so it won't be replied to
again....


I'm not at all sure if it'll work, since I don't have a clue on how to run a news
server..


//Spider

Post a reply to this message

Nieminen Mika wrote:
> 
> povray.org admin team <new### [at] despampovrayorg> wrote:
> : This would have to be done at least partially manually due to despammed email
> : addresses, but the rest could be automated.
> 
>   I think they have despammed their email address for a reason... I think
> it would be a good idea to respect it.
> 
> --
> main(i){char*_="BdsyFBThhHFBThhHFRz]NFTITQF|DJIFHQhhF";while(i=
> *_++)for(;i>1;printf("%s",i-70?i&1?"[]":" ":(i=0,"\n")),i/=2);} /*- Warp. -*/

How about a public announcement once a month on .general,
, .windows , .newusers, and .moray indicating the availability
of the VFAQ. This would probably be enough to get it's presence
advertized without private invasion and still reach a lot of
the ocassional visitors.

Just a thought.

-- 
Ken Tyler

tyl### [at] pacbellnet

Post a reply to this message

Ken Tyler wrote:
> How about a public announcement once a month on .general,
> , .windows , .newusers, and .moray indicating the availability
> of the VFAQ. This would probably be enough to get it's presence
> advertized without private invasion and still reach a lot of
> the ocassional visitors.


That's done in other newsgroups, and as one who is often ignorant, it's
great to see an announcement about a FAQ, but in many busy newsgroups
such announcements roll out of view too soon for anyone to see. 

There really ought to be some standard way for everone to find out about
FAQs, like a new internet protocol
faq://www.how-to-change-a-light-bulb.com,  or specialized search
engines.   The problem would be solved if everyone were smart enough to
go to Alta Vista and search for "+FAQ +somefavoritesubject"  but this
isn't so.  Some genius will think of something...

Still, a monthly or weekly announcement is better than a kick in the
butt.

-- 
Daren Scot Wilson
dar### [at] pipelinecom 
www.newcolor.com
----
"A ship in a harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for"
                                            -- William Shedd

Post a reply to this message

Nieminen Mika <war### [at] cctutfi> wrote:

>povray.org admin team <new### [at] despampovrayorg> wrote:
>: This would have to be done at least partially manually due to despammed email
>: addresses, but the rest could be automated.
>
>  I think they have despammed their email address for a reason... I think
>it would be a good idea to respect it.

People despam email addresses to stop spammers, not us. If they don't want
email -at all- then they simply don't include any email address. At least, that
makes sense to me. It may not do so to you.

Post a reply to this message

What does the C code do in your sig.??

Nieminen Mika wrote:
> 
> In povray.newusers Remco de Korte <rem### [at] xs4allnl> wrote:
> : I've seen some questions pop up here more then once, I've also seen different
> : answers to questions. That's why I like to keep reading the solutions to
> : problems I think are already solved a zillion times and learning new stuff once
> : in a while.
> 
>   That's a good point...
> 
> : Perhaps you could simply change your sig and add the VFAQ-URL so you could reply
> : to each question with an empty message? That might add to the obfuscatedness of
> : the message ;-)
> 
>   I want to answer with the _exact_ location to the answer (ie. with the
> #-parameter after the url).
>   And besides, do you know how much work I did to type that sig? I'm not
> changing it! ;)
> 
>   Perhaps I'll make some day the same thing with pov-code instead of C...
> 
> --
> main(i){char*_="BdsyFBThhHFBThhHFRz]NFTITQF|DJIFHQhhF";while(i=
> *_++)for(;i>1;printf("%s",i-70?i&1?"[]":" ":(i=0,"\n")),i/=2);} /*- Warp. -*/

-- 
Bryan M. Smith
bms### [at] teleportcom
bms### [at] emailcom
http://members.tripod.com/~bmsmith/index.html
ICQ# 24750265
PGP key available upon request

 -----------------------------------------------------------
|For a good prime, call: 391581 * 2^216193 -1               |
|                                                           |
|The nice thing about Windows is - It does not just crash,  |
|it displays a dialog box and lets you press 'OK' first.    |
 -----------------------------------------------------------

Post a reply to this message

In povray.newusers Bryan M. Smith <bms### [at] teleportcom> wrote:
: What does the C code do in your sig.??

  It prints:

 []      []  [][][]  [][][]  [][][]
 []      [] []    [] []   [] []   []  
 []      [] []    [] []   [] []   []  
 []  []  [] [][][][] [][][]  [][][]  
  [] [] []  []    [] [] []   [] 
  [][][][]  []    [] []  []  []  
   []  []   []    [] []   [] []


-- 
main(i){char*_="BdsyFBThhHFBThhHFRz]NFTITQF|DJIFHQhhF";while(i=
*_++)for(;i>1;printf("%s",i-70?i&1?"[]":" ":(i=0,"\n")),i/=2);} /*- Warp. -*/

Post a reply to this message

OK,

    As the person who seems to have kicked all this off by asking what I
thought was a relatively simple question (which the responses have shown it
was) I thought I would throw my 2c back into the mill.

    If I had known of the existence of the VFAQ then I wouldn't have asked
the question... I would have gone there instead, but I didn't so I did (does
that make sense to anyone?).  So I think really the problem is that the
existence of the VFAQ is not as widely known as it should be, especially to
people like me who are new to the newsgroup.

    There....

    Neil.

P.S. Thanks to those who responded with thoughts and ideas... although I
haven't got back to that project yet, I can see that it'll help a lot.
Nieminen Mika wrote in message <369e3964.0@news.povray.org>...
>In povray.newusers Johannes Hubert <jhu### [at] algonetse> wrote:
>: BUT: With creating the VFAQ you simply create a voluntary service
maintained
>: by yourself, which may or may not be used by other people, at *their*
>: discretion - not yours! The mere existance of the VFAQ does in no way
compel
>: people to *use* it - of course they should (if they know about it), but
if
>: they don't, it's their problem.
>
>  You understood me wrong. I wasn't asking people to use the VFAQ. I wasn't
>saying that "you contributed? you should use it as well!".
>  I was just wondering _why_ people aren't using it.
>
>  So my message was not this: "Hey, nobody is using the VFAQ. Please, use
it."
>but instead: "I wonder why nobody is using the VFAQ although it got a good
>feedback".
>
>: Quite frankly: I don't have the time to study the VFAQ, so I don't
>: know which questions are answered in it, so I can't point people to it
>: either...
>
>  But you have time to answer the same questions again and again?
>
>: It is only the requlars that read the same question for the 100th time
who
>: get annoyed, while the poster is not even aware of what he is doing.
>
>  The point in the VFAQ was not avoiding the annoyance of seeing the same
>questions and answers many times. Its goal is to minimize your typing work
>and valuable time. Instead of having to type a 10-20 lines answer, you
>can answer with a couple of lines (one of which is copypasted from the
>browser).
>
>: Replying to such an "innocent" frequently-recurring posting in a way that
>: berates or scoldes the asker is not the way. Simply point him to the FAQ
or
>: ignore him. No more. It is not really friendly to give a new member of a
>: newsgroup a welcome of the sort that he feels stupid and "newbie" right
>: away, nor is it the best way to introduce yourself (as a regular he will
>: probably "meet" later again) to him.
>
>  I'm sorry if I have offended someone with a thing like this.
>
>: Now, that said, I grant you that you probably had the best intentions of
>: helping the original poster, and I also know that you post frequently and
>: helpfully, so please don't see my comments to your replies like I would
try
>: to imply that you are a rude, unhelpful, generally annyoing person - no
at
>: all!
>
>  I know, although sometimes I feel like that (ie. a rude person).
>
>--
>main(i){char*_="BdsyFBThhHFBThhHFRz]NFTITQF|DJIFHQhhF";while(i=
>*_++)for(;i>1;printf("%s",i-70?i&1?"[]":" ":(i=0,"\n")),i/=2);} /*-
Warp. -*/

Post a reply to this message

Neil Mercer wrote:

>     If I had known of the existence of the VFAQ then I wouldn't have asked
> the question... I would have gone there instead, but I didn't so I did (does
> that make sense to anyone?).  So I think really the problem is that the
> existence of the VFAQ is not as widely known as it should be, especially to
> people like me who are new to the newsgroup.
> 
>     There....
> 
>     Neil.

 The fact that it is not widely known is not true. There was an entire
newsgroup formed just so that it would be know. Look at the newsgroup
formed on this server called:

povray.announce.frequently-asked-questions

  This came about specificaly to let new people to these groups know
where to find important information. The VFAQ I believe is the first
enrty in that group and would be one of the first things a person new
to this server should look at.
 The steps have been taken to get this information out to the people.
It's up to the people to do the right thing and look for it in the
appropriate forums.

-- 
Ken Tyler

mailto://tylereng@pacbell.net

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