These guidelines have been compiled to help posters to rasf1m to ensure that posts stay within the charter and the spirit of the moderation policy. Some of these guidelines are based on accepted "Netiquette" for newsgroups, and as such are covered in more detail in RFC 1855 (see http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1855.html for a full copy).

This guide is not a replacement for the charter and moderation policy. It is a summary of both, and also contains some points that do not appear in either.

Remember - posts must relate to Formula One!

  1. Please DO NOT post HTML. A lot of newsreaders give you the option of posting in plain text, rich text or HTML. Please make sure you have your software set up for plain text, as HTML postings are unnecessarily large, and a lot of people are not able to read them.

  2. Please DO NOT post MIME/UUEncoded messages. Again, they take up a lot of bandwidth, and some people are unable to read them.

  3. Please DO NOT post BINARIES (ie: pictures, sounds, programs, etc). These files are too large for news servers to handle in any volume, and persistent disregard for this rule may result in some servers refusing to carry the newsgroup.

  4. If you wish to make a picture available to readers of the newsgroup, please post it to alt.binaries.pictures.vehicles, or put them on a web site, and then POST A POINTER ONLY in rasf1m, giving the URL or the name of the newsgroup.

    There are a number of web sites that allow the posting of photographs.

  5. Please write in English; if none of the moderators is able to understand your post, it will be rejected.

  6. When responding to a post, you should quote ONLY the points to which you are replying, and snip any irrelevant portions. It is particularly objectionable to quote a large post in its entirety, simply to add a few words of comment.

  7. Don't go too far the other way and cut out all of the post to which you're replying. The original post may have expired from some servers, and some readers may not be able to gather the context for your post.

  8. Please put your response BELOW the text you are quoting. This is standard Usenet practice, and makes it easier for people to follow the discussion.

  9. Please use PGP signatures only when necessary.

  10. Don't post or send an email simply to point out errors in typing and spelling - it's considered bad manners on Usenet.

  11. If someone posts in a newsgroup, they usually expect you to reply via the newsgroup. You should only reply by email if necessary, or if your post would breach the charter or moderation policy.

  12. Stay away from flame wars. Flaming is against the rasf1m charter, so if incendiary material does appear please leave it to the moderators to deal with. If you are offended by a post, contact the moderators with your concerns.

  13. Use [SPOILER] tags as outlined in the moderation policy. If you are posting within 48 hours of a race and your post contains information that may spoil the race for someone who hasn't watched it yet, please put [SPOILER] in the subject, and make sure your subject doesn't give away information about the race.

  14. If you are posting press releases, please use the [PRESS] tag in the header. Readers should expect press releases to contain spoiler information.

  15. Don't breach copyright. Be aware that copying material from web sites and other sources may breach copyright. "Fair use" applies on the Internet as in all other areas. For more information on what constitutes "fair use", see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use.

  16. Don't spam the group. DO NOT announce your new or improved web page every day. Putting the URL and an update notice in your .sig is acceptable, as is notifying the group of substantive changes to your site.

  17. Subject drift: if the thread has wandered to some topic that has nothing to do with F1, you should set follow-ups to a more appropriate group, or take the subject to email.

  18. Please DO NOT complain that the group doesn't have any interesting threads; instead, write interesting posts yourself. If you cannot write an interesting post, ask interesting questions. That will provide an opportunity for someone to reply, and may generate a worthwhile thread.

This set of etiquette guidelines is based on those written by Rui Salgueiro with the help of James Connors. It is posted automatically before each Grand Prix, and when there is a long pause between Grands Prix.