WHC Mailing List Posting Guidelines

PROVISIONAL MEMBERSHIP & POSTING GUIDELINES FOR WHC MAILING LISTS

This document is created provisionally for WHChaikuforumworkshop and will be in force until it is completely revised. They may be revised partially as and when necessary. They are also used for other WHC lists for the time being. Last revised 31/01/02



1) Be respectful and courteous:

a) WHC mailing lists are a community of poets from different cultures, countries and points of view. As moderated lists, members are expected to behave in a respectful and courteous manner both in public posting and private communication with other list subscribers.

b) WHC also enjoys its friendly, free and creative culture and all members are expected to contribute to the protection of such desirable culture.

2) Think before posting:

a) Look for portions of your message or haiku which might not be understood by other members, especially by those of other nationalities or cultures.

b) Where clarification might be needed, add a note to describe or explain. Look for errors in your spelling, punctuation and message.

c) Look carefully at the "To" field before sending: make certain particularly that you are not posting a personal reply to the entire mailing list.

d) If you wish to reply personally to a member, make certain that you have entered that particular member's personal e-mail address in the "To" field. This can save great embarrassment.

e) Be careful of your "tone of voice", remembering that humor and personality cannot readily be detected in e-mail postings, especially among a variety of nationalities and cultures.

3) Post the right poems and messages to the right lists according to the mailing list's poetic genre and purposes:

a) WHC provides a variety of mailing lists, each dealing with specific genres and purposes. Before applying, please read descriptions of these lists, which you will find in WHC's website (http://worldhaikuclub.org/), and choose the ones giving the specific genres in which you are interested.

b) Once admitted, please stick to these genres and do not post your messages to wrong lists (for example, please do not post your haibun to other lists than WHChaibun list, your tanka, sijo, cinquain and the like to other lists than WHCshortverses list, long and persistent debates to other lists than WHCacademia, senryu to other lists than WHCsenryu, traditional haiku to other lists than WHChaikuforumworkshop etc. These are the "abuses" most frequently committed).

4) Volume of postings:

a) Flooding mailing lists with too many of your e-mails is not good manners.

b) While WHC does not set a standard limit on the amount of postings, please be considerate to others in this matter. Members in Europe and elsewhere must pay by the minute to use the internet; some of their computers cannot handle large volumes of e-mail generated by "over posting" of enthusiastic, prolific and/or gregarious, chatty members.

c) Lengthy collaborations of renku and other verse (renku is a particular genre of linked poetry) can be completed privately (i.e. offlist) to be posted on completion. Again, please think before posting to see that you have done everything to reduce the amount of posting.

5) C & C (which means comment and critique, please):

a) It is a good rule of thumb to post only a few of what you consider to be your best haiku, or one or two for which you'd like to receive help with a request for C&C.

b) Please bear in mind that many members may not C&C unless they feel there is something they can offer. Be patient and don't be overly demanding, as no one is required C&C. They do so only out of kindness or admiration.

c) For poems which do not include a request for C&C (normally by a note "C&C Welcome"), our ruling is this: Any poem posted to a WHC mailing list indicates that the author is prepared to receive voluntary comments. If they feel strongly that they just want to show and share their poems and do not wish to have any comment on them, then they must mention it clearly with each poem (i.e., include a note: "Not for C&C"). Otherwise, other members are free to comment on them.

d) Remember, here the same courtesy rule and constructive criticism rule and all other guidelines will apply.

6) Learn more about haiku and practice humility:

a) It is WHC's aim to raise standards and quality of haiku continuously. Please make the most of our mailing lists which offer guided mentorship (WHCbeginners), C&C (WHChaikuforumworkshop and others) or more formal lessons (WHCschools) in addition to your own effort to learn more and write better haiku. We also maintain a website with educational resources:

http://worldhaikuclub.org

b) In addition, our magazine, World Haiku Review, contains educational and informative resources .

http://www.worldhaikureview.org

c) We take the view at WHC, that all of us are permanent learners. Namely, we are constantly in the process of learning and improving our skills and knowledge. A good measure of humility is a helpful quality when receiving or giving advice through C&C or any other comments. In fact, humility, rather than arrogance, works better to help you achieve your end in almost all circumstances. However, final decision-makers are the authors themselves either in final versions of their poems or views and opinions held.

7) Chat, "attaboys", thanks and other small talks and commentary:

a) If you wish to chat personally with other members, please use the chat room provided by YahooGroups on the homepage of each list, rather than the mailing lists.

b) If you wish to give brief praises ("attaboys"), thanks or make other comments on poetry which are not relevant or helpful to the entire list community, please e-mail offlist to the author privately instead of posting to the list.

c) Haiku mailing list members often "link" their haiku, or "cap" them onto, another's haiku posting. If this happens to your poem, it is almost always an indication that your verse has inspired theirs and that it is appreciated and enjoyed. It is a common practice, and often other people join in, creating "chains" of links spontaneously.

8) Respect the rights of others:

a) All messages sent to this list belong to the author and must not be used , posted, or shared in any way by other members in any other mailing lists or elsewhere without obtaining his/her permission beforehand, which, if granted, should be clearly mentioned.

b) Poetry posted to the mailing lists are copyright of their respective authors.

9) Proselytization and polemics:

a) WHC is non-political, non-religious and non-partisan. There is no problem in writing poems ABOUT these subjects, but campaigning, canvassing or practising any other forms political act are not allowed.

b) Also, it is advisable to avoid polemics or proselytization disguised as haiku. Persuasion is a good tool to prove your point. If you show actual poems which are excellent and proving your point, they will speak for themselves.

c) When dealing with delicate issues or potentially controversial questions, it is wise to take all precautions that your intentions will not be misinterpreted.

d) On this matter, please refer to WHC's Purpose Statement for further information.

10 ) Include a Subject Line title for each post:

a) When posting, please make certain your "Subject" line's title relates to the poem or topic matter within the body of your message.

b) Stick to the same title as long as you stay with the original subject matter.

11) Place your reply at the end of the most recent posting:

a) Reply *below* the quoted previous texts (and NOT at the top of the page).

b) This is especially important when writing responsive haiku or other poetry in sequences.

12) Using "ALL CAPS" is considered impolite ("shouting").

Please use standard capitalization and punctuation in the text portion of your messages (this addresses text-messages, not poems).

13) "Snip" (Erase/Delete ) unnecessary portions of the preceding message when replying to a post:

a) Some members pay for their bandwidth by the minute. Keep only those portions of the previous message and "erase" the remainder by using your mouse to "highlight" (left click, drag the mouse to highlight text) and "cut" (right click mouse, select "cut") text. Remove any advertising added by the mailing list or free e-mail service which are tagged onto the lower portion of the page.

b) Also, please make it clear which is your bit and which are the preceding messages. This means that you should include the name of the person(s) to whom you are addressing and your own name clearly (see 13 below).

14) Sign your posts with your name or haigo (haiku name):

a) Please have the courtesy to identify yourself in your posts. Not to do so would be sloppy, arrogant or rude.

b) We are informal, and post on a first name basis. Some members will have the same first name, however, and the author of a post may be easily misidentified if only a first name is used. Given names and surnames are preferred.

c) Haigo is permitted, if the member prefers to use one. However, be warned that the use of haigo or abbreviations would not be condusive to good and smooth communication, as some people feel they are talking to numbers or code-names and not to living persons. Since we are a community, members will want to know who is who. Unless you have a strong reason to the contrary, your real name is preferred.

15) Post in plain text rather than html

a) Use "plain text" rather than "html" when posting messages to a mailing list:

b) Some email programs cannot interpret html. The result will be that the html "codes" will show up as illegible symbols, letters and numbers on those browsers. Most people also have set their email program to a fixed-width font, instead of a variable-width font. For help, visit this website: "How to Turn OFF HTML or RTF in Various E-mail Software Programs":

http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/help/html-off.html

16) Non-English poems are welcome:

We welcome poems in other languages, but you should also include an English translation.

17) Do not include attachments:

a) All the WHC mailing lists except for WHChaikumultimedia will not accept attachments. This is mainly for safety against viruses and worms. As no attachments are allowed on all WHC lists, the general expectations are that members will not normally receive from WHC members e-mails with attachments, which means that if it occurs, it will stand out and should alert the recipient to be careful.

b) You can upload graphics and text files into the Files area if necessary, or use your own website and include a URL to a graphic or text page you wish to share images and documents.

18) Announcements:

a) The word, "announcement" is reserved for WHC's official use only. So, please refrain from posting your messages with "Announcement" in the Subject line or as a title.

b) Should you wish to notify something publicly, please do not post it to WHC lists directly but forward your composed text to: [email protected] for consideration. Those notifications, if accepted, will be posted widely through WHCnewsletter to reach all members.

c) Regarding computer viruses and/or worms, please refer any request for warning about them to the List Owner and refrain from making the notification yourself.

d) If you would like to join with other members in helping to keep us updated on potential cyber-threats, please join WHCcomputer. If the virus or worm is a true threat rather than a hoax, we will publicly announce the warning through WHCnewsletter.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WHCcomputer/join

19) Problems:

a) If you have problems with a list member, please handle it offlist, privately with that member, at the first instance. We strongly hope that it will be solved at this level.

b) If the problem becomes a matter of abuse, notify the list owner offlist, privately. Solution will be sought privately between the individuals concerned with the list owner as an arbiter.

c) If, even then, the problem persists onlist or in some instances offlist as well, some appropriate actions will be considered after one private warning and one public warning in that order. In the urgent and extreme case in which an instant action is required, that action may be taken without any warning.

20) Moderated membership:

a) Those members whose postings become problematic will be subject to moderation. Moderated member's postings must be approved by the list owner or a moderator before they appear onlist, remaining in a "pending messages" file until accepted or rejected.

b) Members who abuse the list or others may be asked to voluntarily bring their membership to a temporary termination, or leave voluntarily for good, or they may be "banned". The last option is an extreme measure, which we wish to avoid.

c) Misconduct which constitutes abuse includes conducting political, religious or partisan campaign of all sorts (already mentioned), playing negative haiku politics, gratuitous personal attacks and counter-attacks, criticism ad hominem, bad language and manners, blatant self-aggrandisement, or misdemeanour/abuse offensive to others.

21) Mailing List Features:

Be sure to check out the features and resources available at each WHC's mailing list homepage at YahooGroups:

Messages: The message archives
Chat: Here, you can talk offlist - to your heart' content
Files: Some mailing lists have archived files with past lessons or helpful information

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