SMML Guidelines and Rules
Send a message to smml@smmlonline.com with subscribe somewhere in the message, either in the title or in the body of the email.
The opposite of the above ie: Send a message to smml@smmlonline.com with unsubscribe somewhere in the message, either in the title or in the body of the email.
Send an email to smml@smmlonline.com with both the old address & the new address.
Send an email to smml@smmlonline.com with your post & it will get posted in the next SMML. Make sure you put the title of the post in, otherwise the Listmaster has to come up with one & this may not be exactly what you want. Please use lower case instead of upper case, as lower case is easier to read & upper case is considered shouting. Only use upper case when you wish to emphasise something & in normal punctuation.
Exactly the same as above, with the following hints:
1) Please don't reply with the whole of the last SMML, as this takes up space & makes the Listmaster's job harder as he has to scroll thru the old post to make sure all the reply is posted. Cut and paste (if you desire, or not - up to the replier) the relevant post into a new email & then add your reply to it. Or hit reply & delete all the posts that do not pertain to your reply before adding in your reply.
2) Please use the title of the post or rename the post eg: Re: RAN colour query or RAN colour query. Don't hit the reply button & leave the subject matter as it was eg: Re: SMML Vol 1014. This again makes the listmaster's job easier & it reflects fully what you wish the title to be
Now that the mechanics of how to post to SMML are out of the way, here are some guidelines on how to make SMML an enjoyable experience. Before we start on the guidelines, it best to remember the golden guideline: It's better to be thought a fool, than to post & remove all doubt. By this we mean that that if you post something really stupid, the Listmasters can't be held responsible for you making yourself out to be a fool ;-).
SMML is divided at the moment into three sections. They as follows:
Modellers: This is where the modelling questions & answers & other general posts go.
Model Clubs & SMMLcon - this is where club/SMMLcon notices, requests, etc go
Traders, Noticeboard & announcements: This section comprises trader announcements/advertising, web site announcements, subscriber sales & wants.The Listmaster will decide where posts go at his discretion.
How to Post to the Web Site
If you want to write a review or an article or post images - then please email Mistress Lorna.
Yes, it is - past a certain point. There is no cut and dried point where a post becomes a flame, this is because of the amount of subscribers & the wide variety of nationalities, creeds & personalities - some leeway is given because not everyone has the same definition of a flame. Therefore, what constitutes a flame will be at the Listmaster's discretion. If a a post comes in that the Listmaster considers to be inappropriate, it WILL be sent back to be re-written.
No, not as such, while we welcome modellers of every age, the vast majority of subscribers are adults or at least of adult age. We welcome spirited discussions & whilst expletives are discouraged, depending on usage they will be allowed, again at the Listmaster's discretion. This again relates to the above point of the wide variety of subscribers. By this we mean that posts will not be sent back purely because certain phrases within it may offend some sensibilities.
Anything to with plastic ship modelling of any scale eg: ship models, scratchbuilding, history, current shipping events. While SMML is mainly geared towards towards plastic warship modelling, commercial & sailing ship modelling posts are welcome. SMML encourages friendly banter (not necessarily on ship modelling), but asks that you don't go too overboard.
Well as a general rule, SMML deals with plastic ship modelling, however, there are very knowledgeable members of SMML who can answer queries either on list or off on a variety of topics including RC ship modelling, plank on plank ship building. We also have a variety of modellers who just don't model ships, but other modelling genres as well, including aviation, armour, SF, etc - the same applies here as to questions about these topics.
Yes, SMML supports model clubs worldwide & we welcome & actively encourage club notices about upcoming meetings, events.
In this case you use the scroll bar & fast forward thru it. Please don't post that "this thread has gone on way too long & can we please stop it". It has been my experience that when people start to post these kinds of posts, that the thread is nearly finished anyway & all this does is prolong it. One way of stopping this is to post something yourself & start a new thread.
As a general rule yes, however if it relates to a modelling topic ie: the history of a certain ship, battle etc, then it will be allowed. The guideline here is to post the facts without too much partisan embellishment eg: the Democrat Party (that bunch of liberal no hopers) did this & that to influence events - this sort of post is highly discouraged. Posts disparaging other political systems are discouraged as well.
Yes, we welcome traders to take advantage of the FREE advertising on the mailing list part of SMML to keep the subscriber base aware of developments in their business. The Listmaster will then decide whether or not the post should go in the modelling section or in the Traders section depending on content. Traders should take care not to disparage their competitors, as this could have a negative effect on their business. Also, because of the free nature of this advertising, Traders should not take advantage of it and spam the list on a daily basis. Whilst there are no restrictions at this time on how often you can advertise your business (or indeed various different parts of your business), once every few days would be a suitable guideline. Please note that this does NOT apply to sig lines (see below). At the moment there is no set limit on the length of trader posts, but we do ask that you do not go overboard & post your whole inventory in the one go. We recognise that some traders may have a lot going on in their business for example: new stock appearing, in this case we ask that you try to keep it as brief as possible & possibly direct them to your website or email address for the full details.
Traders should also take note that while they may receive fair and unfair praise for their work on SMML, the opposite also applies. You can't have one without the other. We encourage traders to reply to both praise & criticism, both fair and unfair, so that the subscriber base has the best of both worlds. However it must be stated up front that SMML will not turn posts away that may be detrimental to your business, just to protect the trader. HOWEVER, if a post is KNOWN to be patently untrue, it will be returned for clarification, though it must be made clear that SMML is not omniscient and doesn't know every little thing about the traders business, so some posts will get thru based on ignorance of the subject in hand.
As a general rule, there is no objection to reasonable length sig lines. By this we mean approx 4-6 lines. Email address's in siglines that do not have the "mailto:" hypertext prefix that are the same as the email in the senders address will be omitted. Acsii art as part of a sig, above the limit set out above is actively discouraged. Again sig lines will be edited/omitted at the Listmaster's discretion.
Yes, you can, there are several ways that you can be unsubscribed or banned from SMML, they are as follows:
a) If a subscriber's SMML bounces for 5 consecutive issues, they will be taken off SMML. They however can rejoin at a later date. This is to stop the Listmaster's inbox from filling up too much.
b) If a subscriber after repeated warnings, continues to attempt to flame in SMML, they will be taken off at the Listmaster's discretion. However, they may rejoin in the future, again at the Listmaster's discretion.
c) If any SMML subscriber attempts to undermine the independance of SMML by posting threats or blackmail to the Listmaster or Webmaster - they will be taken off SMML IMMEDIATELY without notification on a lifetime ban. This will never be tolerated in the slightest. This will be communicated to the subscriber base & whilst the details will not be given, the basic offence will be.
It should be noted here that behaviour in other modelling forums & media is NOT a cause for banning from SMML - this includes the flaming of SMML, it's listmaster etc - so please don't suggest to the Listmaster that any subscriber should be banned because of this.