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"I posted to BEE-L and my article did not appear on
the list.
Dear Friends
We appreciate each and
every post that is sent to BEE-L and would love to approve them all.
Nonetheless, there are many valid Reasons that an article may not get onto the list. Some
reasons relate to errors in sending or format, and others have to do with
content.
If you try to send an
article to the list and it does not get published at first, please do not
get discouraged or take it personally. Please check the list
of reasons below and try again. Please ask if you can't understand
the problem.
No magazine, newsletter
or newspaper will guarantee that all letters to the editor or article
submissions will be published. BEE-L is no different. We try
to approve all posts, but sometimes we cannot.
The BEE-L Moderators |
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The Top Ten
Reasons
for Posts Not Appearing on BEE-L
(...More or Less in Order of Frequency, and,
actually, there are fourteen)
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You accidentally sent the post as a reply to an
individual, rather than to the list address. Look in your 'sent'
folder, examine the headers, and try again. Tip: always check your
headers before sending.
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You sent a message to several recipients, including BEE-L
in the list of recipients. BEE-L's server automatically and
silently discards all messages that are not sent exclusively
to BEE-L without notification to anyone, including the list owner,
assuming they are SPAM.
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You accidentally sent the post to the
LISTSERV rather than the BEE-L
list address.
Look in your 'sent' folder, examine the headers, and try again.
Tip: always check your headers before sending.
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The post (1.)
quoted far more of a previous article
than necessary for understanding the current post, (2.) contained an
unjustifiably huge signature, and/or (3.) contained unreadable text
formatting .
We try to keep the digests and archives as compact and readable as
possible for obvious reasons. Normally very little, if any quotes
are necessary if the original post was recent. We assume the
readers have a good memory or will
look it up.
Edit and re-submit.
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The post was in HTML format, had a large PGP, VCard,
other binary, or virus file attached. Edit and re-submit.
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A URL submitted did not point directly and obviously to
the site discussed in the post. We test all URLs submitted.
If refused, the URL either was broken or it led to a menu that did not
list the destination in a clear and obvious way. Edit and re-submit
the URL and/or improve the website to be more friendly.
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The post was SPAM or blatant and inappropriate commercial
advertising. Sorry.
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The post was pretty much a duplicate of one someone else
sent at the same time and was redundant. Occasionally a topic will get
everyone writing almost identical responses at the same time. We
pick a few and, once the topic is covered, leave the rest. Sorry.
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The post consisted of an uninformed guess (in the opinion
of the moderators) or contained undeniably erroneous information. Check
out the archives or read a book.
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The post added nothing new, and increased the already
large volume of email going to subscribers, and that one extra piece of
email would likely cause some people to
Unsubscribe. Sorry.
-
The exact same subject had been beaten to death several
times before on the list and the current post apparently added nothing
new. Read the archives and try again if you are not satisfied.
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The post was only of moderate interest to a very limited
number of people in a limited geographical group. Send it direct to them,
or to
sci.agriculture.beekeeping.
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The post was not really about beekeeping issues or was of
the 'I want to get some bees, how do I start' variety. Anyone can
read BEE-L, but acceptable articles must be from practicing beekeepers or
those knowledgeable about bees. Try
sci.agriculture.beekeeping or another
list.
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The post was flagrantly and gratuitously insulting to the
moderators or other list members, or was an obvious troll. Edit and
resubmit.
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Somebody(s) or something(s) made a mistake and erased or
lost the article. Ooops! Sorry :( Try again.
See also the BEE-L
guidelines.
Explanation
| List of Reasons | Letter
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A Letter
in Response to a Complaint
(made on sci.agriculture.beekeeping)
> I read the guidelines for posting
I'm glad you did. Many don't.
> and could find no obvious problem with my post. I left in the whole
original text because it was only 13 lines and helped to explain the
current extent of the chalkbrood problem.
I can see you do know what the problem with your post is, and you could
have easily re-submitted it after reading the reasons why posts may be
rejected. Personally, I think that your comments were worthwhile and
am sorry you did not think it necessary to follow the guidelines.
Maybe I shouldn't ask, but I wonder why you are taking the time to debate
it here on sci.agriculture.beekeeping instead of fixing your error.
It obviously takes much more time than it would have taken to re-write and
re-submit, or enquire by writing to the list where the moderators could
have confirmed your own diagnosis for you if necessary.
What you quoted in its entirety was only a few days old, significantly
larger than your own comments and, moreover, added nothing to your input.
If you had had to type the quote in by hand would you have bothered?
The assumption on BEE-L is that everyone reads all the posts, or, if not,
could easily look up the previous discussion if it was really necessary for
understanding the current post.
The reason for rejecting unnecessary quotes and big sigs, and badly
formatted posts, SPAM and tomfoolery is so that people *can* read
everything, and will want to. Repetition and spurious material
discourages readership by people whose time is worth something.
> For those of us who might have difficulty understanding why my post might
not have been acceptable, would you please enlighten us?
We have explained it as clearly as we can at
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/
and in particular
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/lost.htm
> And also could you please identify the faceless guardians of the BEE-L,
so that we might appeal to them when we feel we have been unfairly
rejected?
When you send a post to BEE-L, it reaches all moderators. Several prefer to
remain somewhat anonymous. Everyone knows that I am one, but I should
not name others. They will step out if it suits them.
Some people really like to fight more than to work on their writing and
trying to meet the guidelines, and some moderators just don't need the
aggravation of dealing with someone who will write 1,000 words of argument
and vituperation and pick on someone who is already very busy doing a
public service, but not take 5 minutes to fix his own post.
Frankly, *posting* to BEE-L is not for everyone. Reading it is
another matter. Everyone who reads does not have to write, and many
do not. Anyone who wants to post to BEE-L has to understand that there are
rules and that they are there for a purpose. Anyone who posts to
BEE-L must accept that moderation is in the interest of all, in spite of
occasional errors or close calls.
The moderators' decisions are intended to benefit the list, not necessarily
the individual contributors. It is sad if a post does not make it
because the writer will not make the effort to meet the guidelines or feels
above them, but there are always many more posts coming along. Personally,
I spend hours on writing and correcting many of my posts, and even then,
not all are accepted by my fellow moderators.
Anyone who posts to BEE-L takes a chance on rejection. Some people
can't stand rejection and quit or cry 'foul' and carry on and on, others
just pull up their socks and get with the program.
It appears the program is working. BEE-L is again starting to get
some contributions from heavy hitters, and the respect of the bee extension
people, scientists, and editors.
FWIW, the moderators are not all of the same mind. As I write this, I
see some badly formatted, non-worthwhile junk has slipped through onto the
list. It happens.
Life just isn't fair, but we do what we can and it mostly works out. Explanation
| List of Reasons | Letter |
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