[FAQ] Is there anything I should not post to Orchid?

From the Orchid FAQ

Is there anything I should not post to Orchid?

The basic rule is that as long as your post has some content related
to the primary subject of the list, and does not contain much
off-topic material, then it is fine for the list.

Please note - Orchid is a flame free group! You should not post
inflammatory (aka flame) mail to the list. It is perfectly fine to
disagree with people publicly, but be careful how you do it. For
example, if you think someone is giving wrong on a
particular subject, it may be fine to say “this idea is wrong,” but
it is over the line to say “you are clueless”;

On the flip side, if someone posts something with which you are in
particular agreement, that’s great. You should not, however, follow
up to the list with a post containing no more than “Me too!” or
“Amen!” If you have something of substance to add to the discussion,
then by all means do so, but if you simply wish to express a simple
agreement, then do it in private mail.

You should also not repost private email to the list unless you have
obtained prior consent from the author. Such reposting in some legal
jurisdictions may be a violation of copyright, or other rights of
the original author.

The basic rule is that as long as your post has some content related
to the primary subject of the list, and does not contain much
off-topic material, then it is fine for the list.

Please note - Orchid is a flame free group! You should not post
inflammatory (aka flame) mail to the list. It is perfectly fine to
disagree with people publicly, but be careful how you do it. For
example, if you think someone is giving wrong on a
particular subject, it may be fine to say "this idea is wrong,’’ but
it is over the line to say “you are clueless”;

On the flip side, if someone posts something with which you are in
particular agreement, that’s great. You should not, however, follow
up to the list with a post containing no more than "Me too!’’ or
"Amen!’’ If you have something of substance to add to the
discussion, then by all means do so, but if you simply wish to
express a simple agreement, then do it in private mail.

  • You should also not repost private email to the list unless you
    have obtained prior consent from the author. Such reposting in some
    legal jurisdictions may be a violation of copyright, or other rights
    of the original author.

  • Please do not send attachments to the list without getting
    previous approval. It is good Net-practice to describe the file
    available in a separate posting, and then send it on privately to
    those parties interested. If it is an item of general interest, files
    can be uploaded to Ganoksin’s free FTP site, where they can reach a
    wider audience.

  • When posting to Orchid please send plain text emails by default.
    Using fancy formatting in emails can be nice, and all these
    stationery and letter creations are fascinating. But not everybody
    can or wants to receive rich text messages.

Some email programs are not capable of rendering the HTML used for
rich formatting in email messages. Others try, but fail.

Other recipients might have email clients that can properly render
HTML messages, but disabled rich formatting in email for various
reasons, mostly purity of the medium, bandwidth issues, security and
privacy among others.

If you did send rich formatted message to Orchid, The moderators
will manually remove all rich text formatting and attachments before
forwarding your post to the group.

– You should always provide some context to your replies so that
people who may not have been following the thread closely, or who
have other things on their minds will easily be able to determine
what you’re talking about. However, when quoting, be very careful to
edit the quoted sections down to the bare minimum of text needed to
maintain the context for your reply. Also be careful that you clearly
indicate what text you’re quoting (as opposed to what you’re
writing), and if possible, cite the author of the original text.

If your mail program wants to attach the whole message you’re
replying to on the end of your replies, please do not let it do this
if you can possibly avoid it. It is a good thing to include excerpts
from previous messages with your replies to maintain a logical flow
of discussion, but it is almost always a bad thing to include the
entire text of a message being replied to, be it at the start or end
of your reply.

For a better Orchid
Hanuman

Hello Orchidland

I am a busy person as are many of you. I love and respect all the
views of the various people on it as well. I have been disappointed
by the amount of denigrating of each other here, by both
’professional’ and not. One of the first things I learned when I
started teaching beginning jewellery making skills is that “there is
really no dumb question”. This is due to the fact that each of us
learns in a different way. What may seem ‘dumb’ to the
majority may simply be a different perspective.

I do grant however that occasionally someone here does give out
incorrect They may have been simply taught incorrectly
as even I have been told discombobulated by 'learned’
people. Luckily we do have informed people here that are very
generous with their knowledge and expertise, and that from many
different backgrounds. I have even been caught giving out incorrect
(luckily small so far) What we all have to remember is
when someone corrects you they have your, and everyone else’s, best
intensions in mind. This forum is for learning and sharing, and as
part of that fixing, even on a relatively small scale, the
misout there. “Even a small pebble can make many ripples”

Please do not take someone correcting you may have put
out there as a personal attack as, usually, they are only attacking
the misLet us leave the wars to the politicians and
continue to make this forum one of groups I am most proud to be a
part of. I do enjoy making a little time each day to connect with so
many talented and knowledgeable people!

Karen Bahr
Karen’s Artworx
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Hear, hear…

I completely agree Karen. I love scanning through the immense
amounts of amazing and diverse that I receive from
Orchid. I am isolated by circumstances and learn an awful lot from
this forum, some immediately useful, some just plain interesting, and
some that I file away for future reference (always the hardest to
decide!!). I have a couple of really good jeweller friends who both
are amazing mentors for me, both having been in the trade for over 40
years each and both with considerably different and
opinions at times!! It still surprises me to get such differing
opinions from two such talented people! One a master goldsmith and
one a master chain and clasp maker!! That is what makes this forum
such a valuable source of and opinion - where else in the
world can a relative beginner like myself have access to the wisdom
and experience that is Orchidland?? Thank you to all those generous
individuals who share their brains and benches!

:slight_smile: Kimmyg
Www.northcoastbeadmakers.com

One thing that wasn’t mentioned about what not to post are
uninformed responses. They often start with: “I don’t know anything
about this,” or “my guess would be…”

I try to respond to inquiries that I think I have experience with or
knowledge about, and leave the other questions to well-informed
members, such as Andy Cooperman and James Binnion, who appear to
understand metallurgy a whole lot better than me.

I also wanted to thank these two and other members who take the time
for explanations about all that technical “stuff.”

Alana Clearlake

Rants with no paragraphs.

Kim, obviously this is not aimed at you…:sunglasses: But I have had no
place to add this in.

Fellow Orchidians…paragraph breaks are good things! They help
give eyes a place to rest, they organize your thoughts in neat
packages, and most important, they make long posts MUCH easier to
read. Please use a little extra white space when writing long posts.

Thanks.
Carla

The basic rule is that as long as your post has some content related
to the primary subject of the list, and does not contain much
off-topic material, then it is fine for the list.

Please note - Orchid is a flame free group! You should not post
inflammatory (aka flame) mail to the list. It is perfectly fine to
disagree with people publicly, but be careful how you do it. For
example, if you think someone is giving wrong on a
particular subject, it may be fine to say "this idea is wrong,’’ but
it is over the line to say “you are clueless”

On the flip side, if someone posts something with which you are in
particular agreement, that’s great. You should not, however, follow
up to the list with a post containing no more than "Me too!’’ or
"Amen!’’ If you have something of substance to add to the
discussion, then by all means do so, but if you simply wish to
express a simple agreement, then do it in private mail.

You should also not repost private email to the list unless you have
obtained prior consent from the author. Such reposting in some legal
jurisdictions may be a violation of copyright, or other rights of
the original author.

You should retain from posting

  • Political oriented posts
  • Petitions, or call for actions
  • Call for votes
  • Surveys requests for any organization beside the Ganoksin project.