Guidelines to the Sickthings Mailing list

This is a general statement, as agreed by list moderators Leighton and
myself, about the running of the Sickthings list.

As of April 2004 the Sickthings list is a fully moderated list. This means that anybody can post to the list but all posts will be checked before being forwarded to the list. In most cases this should simply mean a short delay between your posting the message and it arriving at the list but depending on time differences between your country and the UK it could delay it by a few hours as even we have to sleep sometimes.

Messages are checked to ensure that content is on topic and does not feature attacks or inaccuracies towards other people. This has become needed after some members could not be trusted to keep to the topic or speak with respect about others.

Discussion is encouraged but please make sure you are adding something relevent to the conversation. Post of "me too" or "that`s cool" serve no real purpose and as such simply take up peoples time and bandwidth. The moderators will attempt to explain why a post is stopped directly to you unless we feel the reason is obvious. You always have the option of re-writing a refused post to make it acceptable.

It is also recommened that unless you know absolutely 100% that what you are saying is fact, you always state things as "in my opinion", "I believe" or "I think" as oppossed to stating it as fact. This serves two purposes. Firstly it allows people to correct you if needed without the need to make you look like you don`t know what your are talking about, and secondly it avoids embaressment if you are wrong which happens to everyone on occasion. It also removes any reason for someone to attack you for spreading disinformation or accusing you of lying.

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THE OT: FILTER

After a group vote on the future of the list some time back, a 'OT:' filter system was adopted to allow those not interested in general chit chat on the list to be able to filter it out in their email programme. The filter did work to a degree and we're happy for people to continue using it although the moderators do reserve the right to refuse things that we deem are of little interest to the 300+ members of an Alice Cooper mailing list. Posts about Alice related artists such as Richie Scarlet, B.D.S., band members etc are always fine. 

What is the OT: filter:

The OT: filter (note the ":" after the "OT") is a way that people can self filter less on topic messages if they aren`t interested in them. By adding "OT:" to the subject of a message it can be filtered out by members using the 'message rules' feature in their email software.

How to use the OT: filter
(Note: I know of no way to do this if you are in digest mode using Outlook.
You can on a Mac(using the burst function), and certain PC email programs have an option to 'burst' digests, but there seems to be no way to do it with Outlook)

1. People who wish to use the filter will need to make a few adjustments to
their email program to do so. I`ll include Outlook instructions below. If
you use a different email program and have problems, let me know off list
and I`ll try and help, although I have little familiairity of other such
programs.

2. People who wish to post on subjects not directly related to Alice MUST
please remember to put the 'OT:' (and exactly that, including the ':') in the
subject line of the message. This is simple consideration to those who use
the filter. I would also request that if a thread goes off topic, that you
add the filter for the same reason.

Now, the OT: filter does NOT mean that ANY subject is free game for the
list. This is still an Alice Cooper list, not a general chat, however it
does allow people to post messages that while not directly related to
Alice, could be of interest to a group of Alice fans. It allows for people
to ask for help if they need it and wish to ask friends. Of course, such
things should generally be replied to off list via private email.

FLAMING

The number one rule on the list is "Do NOT flame other people. Now that the list is fully moderated flaming will simply not get through to the list. Period. Word you posts carefully and respectfully and you should never have a problem.

BAD LANGUAGE

In respect to profanity/swearing on the list, our standpoint is simply this.

1. There are children on the list.
2. It isn`t pleasent to read.
3. It has been an unwritten rule on most Alice lists since the original
Sickthings started.
4. It makes a more pleasent atmosphere if it doesn`t happen.

Now while one persons opinion on what is swearing and what isn`t may differ,
there are certain words that would surely be agreed with from the vast
majority, mainly sexual swear words.  For example, I don`t personally see
'damn', 'crap', 'hell' etc as swearing. Others do. However there are certain
obvious expressions that shouldn`t be used on an all ages list and I would
expect everyone not to use them. This has never been a huge problem I know,
but felt it worth reiterating it in this statement.

GRAMMER/SPELLING/LANGUAGE

On the matter of grammer and spelling. This list is an english language
list. That doesn`t mean people should be slammed for English not being their
first language. We have members from all over the world and most do an
excellent job of joining in. Certainly they do far better then I could
do in another language. It is fine to ask for clarification, politely, if
you don`t understand something, but it`s best to do this direct to the
poster, not on the list. I`ve noticed that many times clarification has been
asked on list when the meaning of the original message was clear,
even if the language wasn`t. Don`t make people look silly by questioning
each and every misuse of words. Do it in private please.
I`m always happy to help people correct their posts for such things off list
if they wish and will also on occasion try and help when a post comes in for moderation.

So, there you have it. I hope that was all reasonably clear. This is an updated version of the Sickthings guidelines based on the original document and is likely to be updated and added to over the next few weeks and months as things need fixing.
Any comments, feel free to email us off list.

Si Halley
Leighton Rees
Moderators
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Now, for Outlook users, here is what you do to use the OT: filter.

Go to Tools menu ->message rules -> Mail.

Click on 'new'

In box '1. select the conditions for your rule', tick the second line down
which says "where the subject line contains specific words". This will make
a new entry in the third box at the bottom with the words "contains specific
 words" highlighted.
Click on "contains specific words". This will take you to a new window
where, in the top box, you type:

OT:

(The ':' is important, as without it, you would also lose anything with 'ot'
in the title like 'hOT news' or 'Alice plays nOTingham'.)

Click add, then OK to get back to the main rules window.

Next, you ned to decide what you wish to do with OT: messages.
You can:
1. 'delete it'
This means you download all messages, but Outlook will automatically delete
anything with OT: in the subject. This is normally the quickest way.

2. 'delete from server'
This connects to your mail server as normal, but before downloading your
mail, it checks for OT: messages and deletes them BEFORE Outlook downloads
them.

3. 'move to the specified folder'
This option downloads all post, and then sorts it into on and OT: mails,
putting the OT: mails in a seperate folder which you can create. This allows
you to read OT: mails later at your leisure.

The choice you make is up to you. You can change it at any time.

Tick the choice you wish to use and it will appear in the bottom box. If you
select either of the 'delete' rules, that`s it all set up and you can just
click on OK to get out of the dialogue. The rule should be ste up now and
all future mail will be subject to that rule.

If you chose the 'move' option, you then click on the move command in the
bottom window and in the new window, you can create a folder and specify
that that is where you wish OT: mail to go. Then click Ok on each window to
confirm and return to Outlook.

With this dialogue, you can also block specific peoples posts if you so wish
using the 'Where the From line contains people' option and inputing the
email address or yahoo ID of the person you don`t want to see messages from.

Any questions, mail me off list and I`ll try to help.

Si