How to reply to emails

[Simon Kitching <si...@rhe.co.nz>]

Hi All,

When replying to an email, PLEASE follow whatever reply-style convention 
has already been established for the thread.

There are two email reply styles:
* "bottom posting", where the reply is inserted *below* the text being 
replied to, and
* "top posting" where the reply is inserted *above* the text being 
replied to.

There are many people who believe bottom-posting is far superior 
(including myself). It is particularly useful in email groups such as 
this; when an email contains several questions it is sensible to put 
replies to each question immediately *after* each original question 
rather than put all the response at the top.

It also means that when one question is answered, but discussion 
continues on another then the solved part can easily be removed from the 
ongoing discussion. This saves network, disk, and improves mail archive 
searchability among other benefits.

However the most important thing of all in an email thread is to follow 
the established convention; if the first reply is top-posted then later 
responses should also be top-posted. If the first reply is in 
bottom-posting style then you should reply using the same convention.

An email thread with a mix of top and bottom posting styles is really 
unreadable - and if you're asking for help on this list you don't want 
to make life harder for your potential helpers.

See:
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-posting

Regards,

Simon