ADMIN: Refresher Course
- To: iris-talk
- Subject: ADMIN: Refresher Course
- From: J* J*
- Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2000 22:45:37 -0700
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All
We have a lot of subscribers now and I thought I would take a moment to
remind everyone about using Subject tags.
Subject tags are used to help subscribers who use filters to sort their
mail, and for others to decide whether they want to read or delete a message.
Subject Tags are used to preface the subject lines of the messages you
send to the list.
Use only the Subject Tags contained in the list sent out in the Welcome
Message that you got when you subscribed to iris-talk (You DID read it
didn't you? - And maybe printed it out for reference?) I have also
included the list below. Print it out for future reference.
The format is the tag in ALL CAPS, followed by a colon (:), followed by
your subject. (no space between the subject tag and the colon)
[Subject tag]:[your subject description]
The colon is a very important part of the tag. No other separator are
allowed there
For instance:
REB: Mariposa Skies in California
Would be a proper Subject Tag and subject line
Reb-Mariposa Skies in California
would *NOT* be a proper tag (the tag is not in all caps and contains a
"-" instead of a ":" as a seperator)
Remember it is ok to fix a Subject Tag when you "Reply", and to change
the Tag and subject if your reply is wondering far afield of the
original subject.
Don't forget to cut out all that unnecessary text from your replies.
(Especially all those ads eGroups is putting in our messages now.)
If you are having any trouble with any of this, please contact me
directly at:
jijones@ix.netcom.com
Thanks
John
TAG Used For
---- --------
TB: tall bearded irises
MED: median and dwarf bearded irises
AR: arilbred and aril irises
SIB: Siberian irises
LA: Louisiana irises
JI: Japanese irises
SPU: spuria irises
PCN: Pacific coast native irises
BULB: bulb irises (Dutch, reticulatas, Junos)
SPEC: iris species (particularly those not covered in another category)
REB: reblooming irises
SA: space-age irises
HIST: historic irises and history of iris development
CULT: culture
HYB: hybridizing
REF: references (books and society publications)
SHOW: iris shows and related topics
IRC: IRC chat sessions (currently Friday nights)
AIS: American Iris Society business and issues
PHOTO: iris photography
COMP: iris-related computer topics (record keeping, photo digitizing, etc.)
CAT: iris catalogs and discussion of commercial nurseries
AD: iris-related advertisement (ads not related to irises are *not*
welcome!)
OT-PLANTS: other garden plants (not irises)
OT-ART: iris-motif art and craftwork
OT-HUMOR: iris-related humor
OT-CHAT: personal messages and conversation (consider taking it off-list!)
OT-BIO: introduction from a new subscriber (please follow with your name)
ADMIN: Reserved for list owner
The following was written by iris-talk netizen Anner.
"This long post is for New Members and any other persons who have been
confused about HOW to use Subject Tags. Other people have already spoken
to WHY to use Subject Tags. I just thought I might be able to help a little.
First, the Subject line of a post consists of a Tag and then your title.
The Tag is an abbreviation that puts the post into a broad category. The
title then introduces the content of the post. The goal of both is to
get people to open up your post and read what it is you are trying to
communicate. In the subject line at the top of my post the OT-CHAT is
the Tag. The rest is the title.
When a post is written it should be assigned a Subject Tag. Almost every
post will fit into one of the Tag Categories. Many will fit into
several. Tags may be combined, but all you really need is one good one.
Tags may not be invented. Everyone will not assign tags in exactly the
same way. That is okay.
Let us meet the tags, then we will see how to use or link them as necessary.
First, All posts are either ON Topic, or OFF Topic. The Topic of the
list is IRISES.
On Topic posts carry the following Subject Tags.
*KINDS OF IRISES* (These follow the divisions of the American Iris Society.)
TB, MED, AR, SIB, LA, JI, SPU, PCN, BULB, SPEC.
Discussions of Tall Bearded irises get assigned a TB. Discussions of
Siberian Irises may be assigned a SIB. Discussions of Species irises may
be assigned a
SPEC, and so forth.
*SPECIAL KINDS OF IRISES* (Subgroups with passionate followers).
REB: Assigned to Reblooming irises, or rebloom reports or REB issues in general.
SA: Assigned to Space Age irises, or the issues surrounding them.
HIST: Assigned to Historic Irises, or the issues surrounding them.
*HORTICULTURAL TAGS* (Garden stuff)
CULT: Issues concerned with how to grow irises, how to care for them,
how to fight pests, how to keep the beds tidy and so forth. This
category covers a broad range of issues, and issues of broad appeal.
HYB: This is for issues relating to hybridizing, which includes genetics
and practicalities.
*SOCIETY ISSUES* ( American Iris Society Issues)
AIS: Which is for posts dealing with AIS issues and AIS Business
SHOW: Which is for topics associated with Iris Shows, and show reports.
*SUPPORT ISSUES*
REF: For discussions of books, publications and other reference resources
CAT: For posts related to catalogs and commercial nurseries.
COMP: For computer related discussions: databases and the like.
PHOTO: For camera and photography issues and questions.
AD: A tag by which a list member can advertise Iris related goods or services.
TRADE: Posts to the list offering trades or looking for a particular
iris. Replies to these posts should be made off-list privately to the
original sender.
*OFF TOPIC DISCUSSIONS*
OT-BIO: The tag for a a new member introducing himself, and others
welcoming her.
OT-HUMOR: The tag for the story or clean joke you cannot resist sharing.
OT-CHAT: personal messages and conversation (consider taking it off-list!)
OT-PLANTS: For questions or brief discussion of non-iris plants and
their culture.
OT-ART: For arts and crafts issues, noncommercial, see AD above.
And there is ADMIN, which is restricted to use fo the List Owner.
--------------------
Okay, so now let's practice.
Say you want to make a post asking where to find a list of the official
AIS iris size categories like Tall Bearded and Median. Use AIS: REF.
Moving fast? Use: REF.
You want to know whether to cut back your foliage in September? CULT
will do it. You want to make sure the SIB folks don't assume your post
is about bearded foliage when you are asking about Siberians? SIB: CULT:
You want to ask about the Historic Spuria MRS. TAIT and whether it is
really true that Bertrand Farr of all people introduced it? A good tag
here would be a combined one HIST: SPUR: That will catch the eye of both
the people interested in historics and in spurias.
You want to ask a question about germinating the species Iris
stolonifera? Here you would want the aril specialists to read your post,
so AR: CULT would be good, but AR alone would probably do the trick
since there are not that many posts in the category. You could also use
AR: SPEC: CULT, but do you really need to?
You want to know whether your TB BATHESHEBA COMES can be expected to
rebloom in Calgary? Use the tag TB: REB.
You want to hear more about your harebrained idea of hybridizing
reticulatas that will rebloom in Texas? HYB: BULB: REB:
You want to know about a good book on irises of the 'forties? Try REF,
or better yet REF: HIST. You will get an answer. HIST: REF: would also
be okay. Most of the time it does not matter which of a pair of tags
comes first.
You want to ask about what was decided about the AIS Library at a recent
AIS Board Meeting? Use AIS. Just because books are involved doesn't mean
you need REF, too.
You want to know whether the latest issue of the Medianite is being
received? Well, there are not that many hot choices here, but MED would
work. REF might but I'd use MED. It is a quick judgement call. Not an
issue of fine points of distinction that must be anguished over.
You want advice about your Space Age Median HAGAR'S HELMET which is
being devoured by borers? You could use SA, you could use MED, but the
one you should use is CULT, because the real issue is a Cultural
Problem: Borers. That the iris they are eating is a horned median is
irrelevant unless that is the only one in the yard they are interested
in and you think that may be significant and want to emphasize that.
You want to know about photographing your Juno species and getting the
photos loaded up and linked to your personal collection database? Use
PHOTO: COMP and the techies will come out of the woodwork. You probably
don't need BULB or SPEC since the kind of iris involved is not the point.
You want to ask about corn poppies as companion plants? Use CULT since
irises are the plants being companioned and thus it is an Iris Culture
Question. You need to ask about something ghastly that has gone wrong
with your pet hosta and it needs immediate attention and you don't know
who else to ask. That is an OT-PLANTS.
As I said, often any of several different tags will work. If picking
tags is hard for you, keep it real simple. Most of the tags are rarely
used by anyone, but the following tags are used a lot since they cover a
lot of territory or represent popular areas of discussion.
CULT, TB, SIB, REB, HIST, HYB, CAT, AIS, SA, SPEC, JI.
Use your OT tags. They very important since those are posts that many
will want to pass over.
Every post does not have to carry every subject tag that could
conceivably be seen as appropriate. If I write a post talking about a
possibly faulty description of an historic 1935 JI in a catalog that was
published in 1960 and later remarked upon ambiguously by an AIS Board
Member in an AIS Bulletin, it is not necessary to string out "HIST: JI:
CAT: AIS: REF: Bum Description of ISHGABBIBLE?" HIST: JI is all you need.
In short, the trick is to pick a tag that will catch the eye of those
who will be interested in your post, or will have the answer you need.
Pin down the main point of your question, and tag that, or one might
say, FLAG IT for special attention.
I hope this helps a little.
Anner, in Richmond
HIPSource@aol.com"
John | "There be dragons here"
| Annotation used by ancient cartographers
| to indicate the edge of the known world.
________________________________________________
USDA zone 8/9 (coastal, bay)
Fremont, California, USA
Visit my website at:
http://members.home.net/jijones
President, Westbay Iris Society
Director, Region 14 of the AIS
Chairman, AIS Committee for Electronic Member Services
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