Lists

The mailing list on our server (generously donated and hosted by the St. Louis Unix User's Groupn) uses the Mailman system. To join it, visit the listinfopage. (You can also interact with Mailman on that pageand change options for your subscription there.)

Our mailing list allows you to discuss a wide variety of topics concerning new media and the Internet industry. Please read the following information before joining:

About the list

The general stlwebdev.org discussion list and any other lists we may provide from time to time are unmoderated forums for the members and guests of the St. Louis Web Developers Organization to discuss topics related to Internet development and design and New Media industries, as well as the particular topics of interest to the SIGs. These lists are the best way to communicate with other members between monthly meetings.

Almost no official organization information is posted on the general discussion list. Subscribing to any of our discussion lists is not restricted to organization members.

Mostly, we discuss design for the World Wide Web, the Internet and New Media industries, and share questions and answers, techniques, and other information as it relates to the Web.

Common abbreviations

Here are the definitions of some acronyms and abbreviations commonly seen on the mailing lists:

  • AFAIK = As far as I know
  • BTW = By the way
  • HTH = Hope that helps
  • FWIW = For what it's worth
  • <g> = Grin
  • IAAL = I am a lawyer
  • IANAL = I am not a lawyer
  • IIRC = If I recall correctly
  • IMHO = In my humble opinion
  • IMNSHO = In my not-so-humble opinion
  • LOL = Laughing out loud
  • OTOH = On the other hand
  • ROTFL = Rolling on the floor with laughter
  • RTFM = Read the (fine|fabulous|feeble|etc.) manual
  • TIA = Thanks in advance
  • YMMV = Your mileage may vary

Guidelines for posting

The primary purpose of the lists is to facilitate member communication between the monthly meetings of the St. Louis Web Developers Organization and its Special Interest Groups (SIGs). Since membership to the lists is not restricted to members, the lists provide a forum for discussion of ideas important to stlwebdev.org and its SIGs.

Other items of local interest to Web professionals may be posted, but are limited to one post per event or meeting.

As expected, each individual is responsible for their own postings; the lists are not moderated or censored, except in extreme cases of violating the posted rules.

To conserve bandwidth and to keep the incidental annoyance of subscribers to a minimum, please:

  • Don't include the full text of a previous post if you just want to agree with the email.
  • Rather than including a long passage of quoted text, post a link to that text.
  • Be aware that when you click the "Reply" button in your email program, you will be replying to the entiregroup &mdash; not just the person who originally sent the message. If your reply is not relevant or appropriate to the entire group, reply to the original sender directly.
  • Adjust the "out of office" feature of your email program so that it does not send messages to the list.

Self-promotion is allowed so long as it is tactful.

Some things that should never be sent to the list:

  • Attached files (send a link to them instead).
  • Spam, or unsolicited commercial email.
  • Chain letters.
  • Full resumes. *
  • Classified ads.
  • Messages containing inappropriate language or personal attacks.
  • Malicious posts, such as those constructed to damage another's computer, network or software. It is also prohibited to intentionally construct posts in such a way as to unnecessarily inconvenience other list members.
  • Continued posts to the group on a thread after that topic has been deemed by an stlwebdev.org board member to be in violation of any of the above rules.

* For job postings or resumes, please use a hypertext link to a Web page. Job postings and resumes are only allowed if they are under 40 lines. Members of stlwebdev.org, however, should instead announce job openings or candidacy on our own Job Board.

Our list manager will enforce these rules with the following actions (in order):

  1. A warning
  2. Suspension from the list for 90 days
  3. Banning from the list

How to get maximum benefit from the lists

We value the feedback of our members and realize that it helps us create a better group for all of you. The best way to express ideas, comments or complaints to the board is through our feedback page.

Please note that the stlwebdev.org group and its lists are run by volunteers. We want to provide the maximum amount of benefit to our members with the least amount of administrative overhead required. To that end, we hope that the list members can practice self-moderation, based on the guidelines posted above.

The board feels it is unnecessary and futile to rewrite our list policy in an attempt to list every behavior that will annoy others on the lists. These lists are not officially moderated (except in extreme circumstances, as provided for in the list policy above). Therefore, we hope that members will keep these things in mind when posting to the group:

  1. Insults, flames and confrontation are not good ways of getting someone to share your viewpoint.
  2. Treat others as you wish to be treated.
  3. When only two or three people are participating in a thread, particularly if the posts on that thread are numerous, you should take that discussion offline.
  4. Treat others as you wish to be treated.
  5. Consider the tone of your posts, and whether they could be expressed in a way that will be more helpful to list members.
  6. Realize that your posts reflect how hundreds of other local Web professionals view you. It also reflects, to a lesser degree, how they see our group and its entire membership. With each post comes the opportunity to either enhance or degrade your professional reputation; please choose wisely.
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