Update: Another article about "effective" emailing.
And another update: http://www.43folders.com/2005/09/19/writing-sensible-email-messages/
(thanks to boingboing).
If you're having problems mailing me (mailto:rich@annexia.org), then it might do to read this FAQ first.
Computers don't print error messages just for fun. If there was an error message, then it's very likely it was an important one. Hence bug reports like:
are unhelpful and are likely to be ignored. Include the error message (all of it, not just stuff which you think might be relevant).
The correct way to quote a reply to a message is:
In message you wrote: > This is the text of the original message, trimmed > down to just the relevant stuff. This is your reply to that original message.
Certain email clients have problems generating messages in this format, but that is not my fault, and I tend to ignore you if you don't use the correct quoting style, since you're wasting my time and my bandwidth.
If you're using Microsoft Outlook, then I feel sorry for you having to put up with all of those viruses and worms. But you can at least stop yourself from looking like a clueless wombat when replying to email by reading these two helpful webpages: Using Internet-style quoting and Controlling line length in Internet messages.
I don't have the software required to read proprietary formats, including:
In addition, my primary computer is a salvaged 486 laptop. It's very difficult for me to view anything other than text, and that includes:
Therefore if you send me mail in any of these formats, it is very likely that I will silently ignore it.
I use the subject line of the message to decide whether to read it now or later. A good subject line summarises the body of the email in 10 words or fewer. A bad subject line wastes my time, makes me angry and reduces the chance that I will reply to your email. Spend time to compose a suitable subject line. This is particularly important, given the next section ...
I currently operate a whitelist for email. This means if you're on my whitelist, you go straight into my inbox. If you're not, you go into a temporary holding area. Every few days I inspect the temporary holding area, and based on subject line alone I decide which emails to read and which go straight into the Great Spam Archive. As you can imagine, if you email me for the first time, and your subject line looks anything like spam, you go straight into the bin.
Limit your signatures to the standard format, which is maximum 72 characters wide and maximum 4 lines long. If your company requires you to include a verbose disclaimer in all your outgoing emails, then I suggest using an external email service (such as Postmaster) so you don't look like such an idiot.
Configure your email client to wrap all lines at or before 72 characters. If your email client cannot do this, then people are laughing behind your back, and I suggest you replace it with one such as mutt which won't make you look so much like a clueless newbie.