-F- FAQ: what are those letters? (threadmarker FAQ) (21nov99)

**********begin FAQ *********************************

this is the rec.music.tori-amos (rmta) threadmarker FAQ, updated 
21nov99, currently kept by bramble, a pillywiggan (bramble at innocent
dot com)at great financial expense.  (not really. bramble is lying
about that part.)

this posting is aimed at... well, everyone, especially newcomers who
are wondering what the heck all these letters are, or old timers who
have forgotten or left before the threadmarkers went into use.  it's
to explain & clarify the use of threadmarkers. and for the time being,
it's aimed at ***everyone*** because there are a whole slew of
changes.

stuff you'll find here

 --current threadmarker list
 --why do we have threadmarkers? (origin, purpose, etc.)
 --choosing a threadmarker
 --changing threadmarkers mid-thread
 --threadmarkers and spoiler space
 --i don't like threadmarkers/*these* threadmarkers
 --i've got a great idea for a threadmarker
 --old threadmarkers (aka "whatever happened to sweet baby jane?")

and now, without further ado:


********************************************************
so, bramble, what are the current threadmarkers on rmta?
********************************************************

***basics...
 -R- : General torelevant post, about the albums or whatever
 -I- : General irrelevant, non-Torelevant
 -M- : Meta (discussions about rmt-a itself)
 -F- : FAQ postings
 
***specialized...
 -G- : Fan activity, gatherings, and so forth.
 -O- : Poll question, either toriRelevant or non. an easy way to  
       remember this is that "o" can be thought of to stand for
       "opinion". 
 -S- : Sex (because some people will be squicked by the topic)



********************************************************************
----why threadmarkers/where did they come from/other useful info----
********************************************************************

Due to the sheer volume of messages on rmt-a and the penchant for
rmt-a folks to stray from the subject at hand (usually in mid-post),
it can be very hard to follow, especially for those seeking Tori
information.  To help ease navigation problems, rmta stole an idea
from the newsgroup alt.fan.pratchett: marking threads so that, at a
glance, readers will have an idea of what sort of posts will be found.
It's quick and easy - only three characters, two of them the same.
Re-mark old threads if you feel it appropriate, but more importantly,
try to mark new threads. When a thread changes from relevant to
irrelevant, it's perfectly acceptable to change the notation, and in
fact is encouraged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may see some incorrect threadmarkers.  Don't use them. They're
wrong, WRONG I SAY!  Also, please don't make up threadmarkers.  It
only adds confusion and defeats the purpose of the threadmarkers. 
Also, you may seen threadmarkers that no longer exist used by people
who don't yet know they are gone.  Simply change the threadmarker
gently and get on with your life.  :)  It's all for a good cause. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


***********************
choosing a threadmarker
***********************

The easiest thing to do first is determine if it's Tori-related or
not.  When all else fails, you can stick to -R- for Relevant or -I-
for Irrelevant.   Next, you can decide whether one of the sub-markers
would be more appropriate.  (-O- for your poll, or -S- to talk about
your favorite porn flick, etc.)

It's important to choose the one threadmarker that's closest to what
you need.  Putting in more than one threadmarker just makes things
that much more confusing, and doesn't tell the reader much about your
post.  And there's a good chance it limits your reading audience, too.
For example, if Mrs. Ratatouille Strychnine has all polls killfiled,
and you post a 150 line article about the meaning of _Icicle_ marked
-R- and -O- because you asked a question at the end,  Mrs. Strychnine
won't see your post, and she may have totally had great commentary on
your interp.  

Remember, if a thread develops in another direction, you can always
change the threadmarker when that happens (and you should.)

So choose one.  Choose the one that's the closest.  Throw it on, and
it can always be changed later.

Next is putting the threadmarker on correctly.  The correct format for
thread markers is -capital letter-, NOT *letter* or - letter -.  That
is, one hyphen on either side of the marker, which should be a capital
letter.  If you don't do it that way, then it won't get picked up by
killfiles or watchfiles.

If you see this in a thread already happening in rmta: 

-r- example of an incorrectly marked post
or
- I - example of an incorrectly marked post
or
*G* example of an incorrectly marked post

Change the marker to the correct one:  a Capital Letter with a hyphen
directly on either side of it. 

 -R- Tori sighting on MTV
 -I- I had a really lousy day
 -G- Any Tori fans want to meet up in Hoboken?

-Why does it matter?-

It matters because of the way filters and watchfiles work.  People who
set their filters and watchfiles to sort thru messages write their
filters based on this, and if you mark your message (or leave an
incorrect thread marker in a follow-up) the filters simply won't work.


***************************
changing markers mid-thread
***************************
 
A threadmarker should be changed if it's been typoed, such as the
examples given up in another part of this faq.  

When the topic of a thread drifts (this is practically unavoidable),
the thread marker should change with it.  If a thread starts out as 

 -R- Icicle interpretations

and then some posts go by and we're now just discussing masturbation
and no longer discussing Tori's song, then the thread marker (and
probably the subject line as well) should be changed to something
like:

 -S- Masturbation (was re: Icicle interpretations). 

When you put in a new marker, take the old one out, so that there
aren't more than one threadmarker in a line.

we'll also be doing a fair amount of changing markers that no longer
exist or are on hiatus, until such changes kick in a bit.


*******************************
threadmarkers and spoiler space
*******************************

Also remember: a threadmarker does *not* double as spoiler space,
except in the case of -S- threads.   In other words, you do not need
to add spoiler space for graphic discussion of sex in a thread marked
-S-.  however, if you are going to go on to describe something violent
or non-sexual that could be upsetting, better safe than sorry and
throw some additional space in there. 


*************************************************************
I don't like threadmarkers/I don't like *these* threadmarkers
*************************************************************

please use them anyway.   this is how we mark our threads on this
newsgroup, and your participation and respect of that is greatly
appreciated.  it generally makes things go a lot more smoothly on the
newsgroup.  thanks.  (besides, we just recently ditched a whole slew
of them...) 


****************************************************
i've got a great idea for a threadmarker, bramble...
****************************************************

well... good luck.  far be it from me to discourage a creative mind,
but be prepared... you'll prolly get a lot of opposition.  if you do,
try not to take it personally.  the threadmarkers were recently
whittled down, and historically people like to keep the threadmarkers
down to as small a number as possible.  just about everything can be
handled with the threadmarkers we have, and even more if you use
specific and descriptive subject lines.   on the other hand, i suppose
*someday* someone will come along with an absolutely brilliant
functional practical new threadmarker that everyone will love and
which will be received with open arms by all 23,000 posters and
lurkers... 


*****************************************************************
old threadmarkers-- a.k.a "whatever happened to sweet baby jane?"
*****************************************************************

most recently, the -C- marker was put on a hiatus, due to concerns and
problems surrounding its use.  we're taking some time to see how the
newsgroup handles -C- material without the -C-. the -C- description
was as follows:
"-C- : caring, confessional, core dump: for posts that you wish to be 
       received into a 'caring' environment, typically of a personal
       nature."
posts of this type still have a place on rec.music.tori-amos, and the
hiatus of the -C- marker is not intended to discourage such posts.  
most likely, these posts will be marked as -I-, denoting only that
they are "irrelevant" to Tori info.  as has been discussed on rmta,
persons posting such sensitive articles on rmta still have a right to
expect to be treated with respect and sensitivity... at least as much
as one can expect on usenet (and possibly a little bit more, since
it's rmta.)  -C- was put on hiatus in september of 1999, for a
proposed period of about six months.  so sometime in february or march
you may see another discussion on the newsgroup about it.

 -P-, -D-, -T-, and -B- are gone, outta here, they've left the
building, after a bunch of discussion over the past several months.  
"how will we live without them?"  you ask??? well, descriptive subject
lines are your friend. :)

what used to be marked -P- could now be "-I- poem about altoids" or 
"-I- poem: sheep"...  

what used to be marked -T- can now be "-R- concert last night in
Melbourne"  or "-R- meet'n'greet hell"...

what used to be -D- can be "-I- i dreamt about tornadoes last night"
or "-I- dream: chasing tornadoes"...

what used to be -B- would now be "-R- bootleg of saratoga 29aug99"  or
"-I- boots trading: ani shows"...


many moons ago we had an -A- threadmarker.  it went away because there
wasn't really much of a use for it.  it stood for "announcements" and
was intended for announcements of an official nature.  it's been many
moons since i even thought about this threadmarker, it's so old.  
in fact, next update, it prolly won't even have a mention in the
threadmarker FAQ at all... so sad <tsk>...


*************************************************************************
the info in this posting is an amalgamation of things put to words by
Midnight Tree Bandit, bramble, and i think jay and Mike Zeares.  it
also reflects things said by many an rmta'er while trying to explain
threadmarkers, the way they work, why we love and hate them, why we
need them, what we want to see stay and what we want to see go...
especially after the Great Threadmarker Debates of Spring and Summer
1999.  

this was partially excerpted from the rec.music.tori-amos Survival
Guide (though at this point the parts excerpted may not even be
recognizable), which is currently maintained by jay and is archived at
the rmta website: http://www.rmta.org/rmt-a/.  when all else fails,
the most recent version of the survival guide is posted every other
monday on rmta.

the threadmarker faq gets posted every sunday.

follow-ups to the threadmarker faq should be marked -M- if posted to
rmta. 

for more info about rmta, check out the rmta website
http://www.rmta.org/rmt-a/

or email [EMAIL PROTECTED] to get the newbie pack.


bright blessings,
bramble


************* end **************