Re: How long a periodicity for FAQ posting?

Peter J. Kappesser (pjkappes@mailbox.syr.edu)
Fri, 06 Jan 1995 01:43:47 -0500

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Recently aml@world.std.com (Andrew M. Langmead) wrote:
>> The only issue that I can think of is that not all sites honor an
>> Expires: header. If you do decrease the frequency of the posting, you
>> might want to send a FAQ-Reminder post about half way between FAQ
>> postings. The FAQ-Reminder post would say that there is an FAQ for
>> this newsgroup, (to cut down on the "Is there a FAQ for this
>> newsgroup." posts) and where to get it (in case the user can't find it
>> on their system.)

If you're going to post a reminder, why not just repost the FAQ? If you use
a Supersedes: line (easy to do with programs like post_faq or auto-faq),
there'll only ever be one copy seen on a properly-running news server. If
people are asking for it, it must have expired at their site, so why make
them jump through hoops to find it (ftp it from wherever)? Ideally, the FAQs
should be visible to anyone entering a group for the first time, I think,
and denizens can killfile it or glance at it to see if it's been revised.

A handy way to determine the best posting frequency for a particular group
is to note how long it takes before "Where's the FAQ" posts start showing
up. When I began the trn newsreader FAQ for news.software.readers, I posted
it monthly, but when I noticed the queries starting three weeks after
posting, I began posting it biweekly.

--
pjkappes@mailbox.syr.edu (Peter Kappesser)

Next message: Dave: "How does the updating work?"
Previous message: Pat Berry: "Re: How long a periodicity for FAQ posting?"
Maybe in reply to: Norm Aleks: "How long a periodicity for FAQ posting?"
Next in thread: Edward Reid: "Re: How long a periodicity for FAQ posting?"

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