I need to know how to create paragraphing and other formatting in my
revised versions of some of the Listserv "list templates".
When I first discovered, some years ago, that the canned automatic
replies (list templates) provided by the L-Soft Corporation's Listserv
staff could be altered, I
seized upon them eagerly as a device for bringing order to the chaos
that completely unregulated lists can provide. I was able to provide
(to persons who had just posted messages, for example) advice about
off-topic postings, etc.
However, I soon noticed that I had no control over formatting of my
additions. The
messages are sent out as one continuous paragraph and are VERY difficult
to read.
The problem is that the L-Soft software seems to delete automatically
any sequence consisting of multiple spaces, and also ignores attempts at
paragraphing. Almost immediately after beginning to revise some of the
templates, I realized I had to insert sets of five asterisks between
paragraphs in order to provide even a minimal sense of order. The five
asterisks are recognizable to subscribers as an attempt at
paragraphing. This is a workable solution to the problem when the
messages are short.
About two months ago, I revised one of the canned messages routinely,
and, to my amazement, I discovered that it reaches our members
BEAUTIFULLY FORMATTED. A few days later, I revised "Message Sent to
User When Posting Is Forwarded to Editor" in hopes that the paragraphing
and blank lines I inserted would appear each time the L-Soft software
sent it out to Alpine-L members. To my dismay, nothing changed. To
date, there is only one canned template that is nicely formatted, and I
haven't the slightest idea how to reproduce that single success. My
last letter seeking help did not receive a response. So I'm trying
again. This is a very important matter to me, and I will be very
grateful for any advice anyone can provide.
With best wishes to all
Harry Dewey, listowner, Alpine-L
Here is an example of how the template reaches my subscribers, even
though I have included a blank line before AND after each set of five
asterisks.
> >Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 03:35:50 +0100
> >From: "L-Soft list server at SURFnet (The Netherlands) (1.8d)"
> <[log in to unmask]>
> >Subject: Message ("An Important Message to Listowner-Monitored Members of Alpine-L")
> >To: "Thomas Dickenharry" <[log in to unmask]>
> >
> >An Important Message to Listowner-Monitored Members of Alpine-L. *****
> >Revised October 12, 2001. Parts A & B of this message also appear at
> >http://www.yahoogroups.com/files/AlpineFAQs as FAQ-93SS (Staying
> >Self-Monitored). ***** Part 1. What Is About to Happen to Your Posting. Part
> >2. Would You Like to Become Self-Monitored? Part A. Four Reasons Why You
> >Might STILL (or AGAIN) Be Listowner Monitored. Even Though You've Tried to
> >Become (or Were Once) Self-Monitored Part B. A Guaranteed Recipe for
> >Becoming Self-Monitored. ***** TEXT of this message: ***** Part 1. What Is
> >About to Happen to Your Posting. ***** Thank you for the message you have
> >just sent to Alpine-L. If, as a number of Alpine=Lves have written us, you
> >want to remain listowner-monitored because you prefer that we catch private
> >messages you might absent-mindedly send to the list, you may now stop
> >reading this message. However, if you are a newcomer (a member for only a
> >few months), or a member who posts rarely, we want you to know that your
> >just-posted message now awaits review by a listowner, who will, within
> >hours, emerge from the garden and release it to all the other members of
> >Alpine-L. ***** This delay in posting your message can be eliminated if you
> >should decide to become SELF-monitored. If you are content to remain
> >listowner-monitored, stop reading this message NOW, and relax. Your message
> >will be posted; listowner-monitored delays average six hours per message. A
> >six-hour delay is not long when you consider that most Alpine-Lves are
> >"digest" subscribers, and receive Alpine-L messages only once each day. If
> >you wish to become SELF-monitored, please continue reading: ***** Your
> >message dated Tue, 13 Nov 2001 12:37:56 +1100 with subject "Re: growing on
> >the roof" has been submitted to the moderator of the ALPINE-L list: "Harry
> >Dewey,Beltsville,MarylandUS zone7" <[log in to unmask]>. ***** Part 2. Would
> >You Like to Become Self-Monitored? ***** You would not be receiving this
> >message if you were self-monitored. The listowner(s) would like everyone to
> >be self- monitored, as self-monitored mail is not subject to delays. If you
> >would like to become self-monitored, please read our FAQ-03S at
> >http://www.yahoogroups.com/files/AlpineFAQs and stop reading here. BUT if
> >you have read it, and IF YOU HAVE TRIED TO BECOME SELF-MONITORED, AND ARE
> >STILL LISTOWNER-MONITORED, please continue reading: ***** Part A. Four
> >Reasons Why You Might STILL (or AGAIN) Be Listowner Monitored Even Though
> >You've Tried to Become (or Were Once) Self-Monitored: ***** (1) Have We
> >Failed to Communicate Our Guidelines for Identifying Your Location/Climate
> >in Your Postings? If so, we would like to try again by asking you to read
> >part AA, below. ***** (2) Have We Failed to Communicate Our Requirement That
> >Replies to OmniHorti MUST Be Posted to [log in to unmask] and NOT to
> >Alpine-L? If so, we would like to try again by asking you to read part AB,
> >below: ***** If you are NOT a digest subscriber, you may skip paragraphs
> >(AC) and (AD) below. Please read Part B now. ***** (3) Have We Failed to
> >Explain How to Change the Subject Headers of Your Responses from "Subject:
> >Alpine-L Digest ...." to "Subject: Phlox subulata" (or whatever is the
> >specific subject of your message)? If we have failed, please read part AC
> >below. ***** (4) Have We Failed to Explain How to Avoid Quoting in Your
> >Reply All the Messages That Appeared in the Entire Digest? If we have
> >failed, please read part AD below. ***** Part AA. Have We Failed to
> >Communicate Our Guidelines for Identifying Your Location/Climate in Your
> >Postings? ***** Are you sure that everyone on the other side of the world
> >understands the abbreviations that you may still be using? Everyone has
> >heard of London, but Americans may not understand that LON refers to that
> >city. Everyone has heard of California, but CA is the Internet abbreviation
> >for Canada. Our non-English- speaking members can look up the word "zone" if
> >they don't recognize it, but how can they look up "z5"? PLEASE CONFINE YOUR
> >ABBREVIATIONS TO "USA" and to C or F for Celsius or Fahrenheit. The
> >abbreviation "UK" -- though acceptable -- is not necessary, as all UK
> >residents are asked to tell our less sophisticated members that they garden
> >in either England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales. Please don't use the
> >abbreviation "Co."; it can stand for many words besides "company," and can
> >be baffling to our many members whose native language is not English. *****
> >Are you sure you are supplying (1) the name of the city (or county) in which
> >you garden, (2) the political subdivision of your country in which your city
> >is located, and (3) the name of your country -- all in unabbreviated form
> >(except for US or USA)? ***** Please give your climate in terms of hardiness
> >zone, e. g. zone 4 (NOT Z4, not easily understood by a newcomer), or average
> >minimum winter temperature (MinTemp, an Alpine-L word deemed to be
> >self-explanatory), e. g. MinTemp: -6C Today's weather is not an indication
> >of your climate. ***** Please read our FAQ-03SB at
> >http://www.yahoogroups.com/files/AlpineFAQs ***** Panayoti Kelaidis signs
> >his Alpine-L mail: Panayoti Kelaidis, Denver, Colorado USA (Zone 5) Could
> >you please accept his example? ***** Part AB. Have We Failed to Communicate
> >Our Requirement That Replies to OmniHorti MUST Be Posted to OmniHorti and
> >NOT to Alpine-L? ***** If you read it in OmniHorti, you MUST send your reply
> >to [log in to unmask] Otherwise, the listowners will have to monitor
> >your postings in order to be sure they are posted to OmniHorti. ***** If you
> >are NOT a digest subscriber, you may skip paragraphs (AC) and (AD) below.
> >Please read Part B now. ***** Part AC. Have We Failed to Explain How to
> >Change the Subject Headers of Your Responses from "Subject: Alpine-L Digest
> >...." to "Subject: Phlox subulata" (or whatever is the specific subject of
> >your message)? If you don't know how to make this change, please ask
> >[log in to unmask] how to do so. Please tell us the brand name
> >of your email software, e. g. Netscape, Outlook Express, Opera, Eudora, etc.
> >We will be happy to help you. ***** Part AD. Have We Failed to Explain How
> >to Avoid Quoting in Your Reply All the Messages That Appeared in the Entire
> >Digest? ***** Digest subscribers MUST NOT include the entire digest in their
> >replies to one of the numerous messages in that digest. If you don't know
> >how to delete the messages to which your are NOT replying, or how to delete
> >irrelevant PARTS of a message to which you ARE replying, please ask
> >[log in to unmask] how to do so. Please tell us the brand name
> >of your email software, e. g. Netscape, Outlook Express, Opera, Eudora, etc.
> >We will be happy to help you. ***** B. A Guaranteed Recipe for Becoming
> >Self-Monitored. ***** If you are still not clear about why you are still
> >listowner-monitored, just write a 2-paragraph message to
> >[log in to unmask] ***** In paragraph 1, type your given and
> >last names, followed by your location and climate as you understand our
> >requirements, OR as requested in our welcome message or in other earlier
> >communications and (if you wish to see one of those earlier communications)
> >at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/Alpine-L-Intro ***** In paragraph 2,
> >write: "I intend to use the information shown in paragraph 1 in my future
> >Alpine-L postings. Please let me know if it is adequate to insure
> >self-monitoring, or (if not) how I need to modify it in order to become
> >self-monitored." ***** Thank you for your participation on Alpine-L. The
> >listowner(s) value(s) your membership highly. --HD
> >
Here is how the template looks in the template file:
Important Message for Listowner-Monitored Members of Alpine-L.
*****
Revised November 12, 2001. The listowner apologizes for the fact
that the L-Soft Corporation software deletes the paragraphing and
spacing of this message, making it very difficult to read. Parts
A & B of this message also appear at
http://www.yahoogroups.com/files/AlpineFAQs
as FAQ-93SS (Staying Self-Monitored), where you can read them with
proper paragraphing and spacing.
*****
Part 1. What Is About to Happen to Your Posting.
Part 2. Would You Like to Become Self-Monitored?
Part A. Five Reasons Why You Might STILL (or AGAIN) Be Listowner
Monitored. Even Though You've Tried to Become (or Were Once)
Self-Monitored
Part B. A Guaranteed Recipe for Becoming Self-Monitored.
*****
TEXT of this message:
*****
Part 1. What Is About to Happen to Your Posting.
*****
Thank you for the message you have just sent to Alpine-L. If, as a
number
of Alpine-Lves have written us, you want to remain listowner-monitored
because you prefer that we catch private messages you might
absent-mindedly
send to the list, you may now stop reading this message. However, if
you
are a newcomer (a member for only a few months), or a member who posts
rarely, we want you to know that your just-posted message now awaits
review
by a listowner, who will, within hours, emerge from the garden and
release
it to all the other members of Alpine-L.
*****
This delay in posting your message can be eliminated if you should
decide to
become SELF-monitored. If you are content to remain
listowner-monitored,
stop reading this message NOW, and relax. Your message will be posted;
listowner-monitored delays average six hours per message. A six-hour
delay
is not long when you consider that most Alpine-Lves are "digest"
subscribers,
and receive Alpine-L messages only once each day. If you wish to
become
SELF-monitored, please continue reading:
*****
Your &MESSAGE has been submitted to the
.bb &MODERATORS = 1
moderator of the &LISTNAME list: &MBX(&MODERATOR).
.eb
.bb &MODERATORS Ø= 1
moderators of the &LISTNAME list.
.eb
*****
Part 2. Would You Like to Become Self-Monitored?
*****
You would not be receiving
this message if you were self-monitored. The
listowner(s) would like everyone to be self-
monitored, as self-monitored mail is not
subject to delays. If you would like
to become self-monitored, please read our FAQ-03S at
http://www.yahoogroups.com/files/AlpineFAQs
and stop reading here. BUT if you have read it, and
IF YOU HAVE TRIED TO BECOME
SELF-MONITORED, AND ARE STILL LISTOWNER-MONITORED,
please continue reading:
*****
Part A. Five Reasons Why You Might STILL (or AGAIN) Be Listowner
Monitored
Even Though You've Tried to Become (or Were Once) Self-Monitored:
*****
(1) Have We Failed to Communicate Our Guidelines for Identifying Your
Location/Climate in Your Postings?
If so, we would like to try again by asking you to read part AA, below.
*****
(2) Have We Failed to Communicate Our Requirement That Replies to
OmniHorti
MUST Be Posted to [log in to unmask] and NOT to Alpine-L?
If so, we would like to try again by asking you to read part AB, below:
*****
If you are NOT a digest subscriber, you may skip paragraphs (AC) and
(AD)
below. Please read Part B now.
*****
(3) Have We Failed to Explain How to Change the Subject Headers of Your
Responses from "Subject: Alpine-L Digest ...." to "Subject: Phlox
subulata"
(or whatever is the specific subject of your message)? If we have
failed,
please read part AC below.
*****
(4) Have We Failed to Explain How to Avoid Quoting in Your Reply All the
Messages That Appeared in the Entire Digest? If we have failed, please
read part AD below.
*****
(5) Have We Failed to Explain That Sending a Message to a Thousand
Alpine-L Members in Order to Reach One Member Is Unappreciated by the
Other Nine-Hundred and Ninety-Nine, and Almost Invariably Results in
Unsubscriptions? If we have failed, please read part AE below.
*****
Part AA. Have We Failed to Communicate Our Guidelines for Identifying
Your
Location/Climate in Your Postings?
*****
Are you sure that everyone on the other side of the world
understands the abbreviations that you may still be using?
Everyone has heard of London, but Americans may not understand
that LON refers to that city. Everyone has heard of California,
but CA is the Internet abbreviation for Canada. Our non-English-
speaking members can look up the word "zone" if they don't recognize
it, but how can they look up "z5"? PLEASE CONFINE YOUR ABBREVIATIONS
TO "USA" and to C or F for Celsius or Fahrenheit. The abbreviation
"UK" -- though acceptable -- is not necessary, as all UK residents
are asked to tell our less sophisticated members that they garden in
either England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales. Please don't use
the abbreviation "Co."; it can stand for many words besides "company,"
and can be baffling to our many members whose native language is not
English.
*****
Are you sure you are supplying (1) the name of the city (or county)
in which you garden, (2) the political subdivision of your country in
which your city is located, and (3) the name of your country -- all in
unabbreviated form (except for US or USA)?
*****
Please give your climate in terms of hardiness zone,
e. g. zone 4 (NOT Z4, not easily understood by a newcomer),
or average minimum winter temperature (MinTemp, an Alpine-L word
deemed to be self-explanatory), e. g. MinTemp: -6C
Today's weather is not an indication of your climate.
*****
Please read our FAQ-03SB at
http://www.yahoogroups.com/files/AlpineFAQs
*****
Panayoti Kelaidis signs his Alpine-L mail:
Panayoti Kelaidis, Denver, Colorado USA (Zone 5)
Could you please accept his example?
*****
Part AB. Have We Failed to Communicate Our Requirement That Replies to
OmniHorti MUST Be Posted to OmniHorti and NOT to Alpine-L?
*****
If you read it in OmniHorti, you MUST send your reply to
[log in to unmask]
Otherwise, the listowners will have to monitor your postings
in order to be sure they are posted to OmniHorti.
*****
If you are NOT a digest subscriber, you may skip paragraphs (AC) and
(AD) below. Please read Part B now.
*****
Part AC. Have We Failed to Explain How to Change the Subject Headers of
Your Responses from
"Subject: Alpine-L Digest ...." to "Subject: Phlox subulata"
(or whatever is the specific subject of your message)? If you don't
know
how to make this change, please ask [log in to unmask] how
to
do so. Please tell us the brand name of your email software, e. g.
Netscape, Outlook Express, Opera, Eudora, etc. We will be happy to help
you.
*****
Part AD. Have We Failed to Explain How to Avoid Quoting in Your Reply
All
the Messages That Appeared in the Entire Digest?
*****
Digest subscribers MUST NOT include the entire digest in their replies
to
one of the numerous messages in that digest. If you don't know how to
delete the messages to which your are NOT replying, or how to delete
irrelevant PARTS of a message to which you ARE replying, please
ask [log in to unmask] how to do so. Please tell us the
brand
name of your email software, e. g. Netscape, Outlook Express, Opera,
Eudora, etc. We will be happy to help you.
*****
Part AE. Have We Failed to Explain That Sending a Message to a
Thousand
Alpine-L Members in Order to Reach One Member Is Unappreciated by the
Other Nine-Hundred and Ninety-Nine, and Almost Invariably Results in
Unsubscriptions?
*****
When you have such a message to send, and you feel that it is so
important
to you that you MUST inconvenience more than a thousand members in order
to reach just one, please try to remember that unsubscriptions DO result
from such actions. Please write to the listowner for advice on how to
solve your problem without wasting the time of a thousand people. Send
your message to [log in to unmask] please.
*****
B. A Guaranteed Recipe for Becoming Self-Monitored.
*****
If you are still not clear about why you are still listowner-monitored,
just write a 2-paragraph message to [log in to unmask]
*****
In paragraph 1, type your given and last names, followed by your
location
and climate as you understand our requirements, OR as requested in our
welcome message or in other earlier communications and (if you wish to
see
one of those earlier communications)
at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/Alpine-L-Intro
*****
In paragraph 2, write:
"I intend to use the information shown in paragraph 1 in my future
Alpine-L
postings. Please let me know if it is adequate to insure
self-monitoring,
or (if not) how I need to modify it in order to become self-monitored."
*****
Thank you for your participation on Alpine-L.
The listowner(s) value(s) your membership highly. --HD
--
Harry Dewey <[log in to unmask]> (lifetime email address)
4605 Brandon Lane, Beltsville, Maryland USA 20705-2604
301-937-1446 Hardiness Zone 7a
Founder, Alpine-L, the Electronic Rock Garden Society
http://www.thealpinegarden.com/alpine-l.htm
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