news.answers FAQ server help file: suggested changes

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Nick (tanstaafl@pobox.com)
Tue, 15 Dec 1998 15:58:38 -0500

When I submitted my FAQs to the auto-poster a couple of months ago, I went
through a few bounces before finally getting them successfully added. Here
are some suggested changes to server's help file in hopes of making things a
little easier for others. (I 'meant' to bring this up back in Oct., but I
got sidetracked and forgot about it until the recent thread here jogged my
memory.)

According to the help file for the FAQ server, headers that are passed by
the FAQ checker will be acceptable to the server. However, as I found out,
the FAQ checker will pass a FAQ if it has 'Date:' and 'Message-ID:' fields,
but the FAQ server will bounce it with an error message.

Also, note that my revision drops the comment about being able to break long
lines in the Summary field; when I tried it, the FAQ was rejected. Putting
the Summary on one line solved the problem.

(If there is an acceptable way to include line breaks in the Summary, you
might want to include instructions on how to do it.)

My suggested revisions follow the quote from the current help file:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excerpt from current FAQ server help file:

Subject: 1. Starting out
========================

<...>

1.3 Adding a new posting to the server

<...>

B. Formatting and headers
-------------------------

The FAQ server expects incoming articles to be in the exact same
format as the FAQ checker wants. If you used the FAQ checker to
make sure that your posting's headers met the *.answers
guidelines, then as soon as you receive final word from the
*.answers moderators and make any changes they require, you should
be able to send the same file to the FAQ server.

Otherwise, if you've followed the instructions in Section 1.3A
above and have gotten your posting approved for *.answers, it
should be mostly correct already. Just put all the required and
approved main headers at the top of the file, followed by a single
completely blank line, the auxiliary headers, another completely
blank line, and the body of your FAQ. Don't break long lines in
the main or auxiliary headers, except the Summary.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Suggested revision:

<...>

Otherwise, if you've followed the instructions in Section 1.3A
above and have gotten your posting approved for *.answers, it
should be mostly correct already. Just put all the required and
approved main headers at the top of the file, followed by a single
completely blank line, the auxiliary headers, another completely
blank line, and the body of your FAQ. Don't break long lines in
the main or auxiliary headers.

Note: do not include "Date:" or "Message-ID:" headers in the headers in
the top of the E-mailed file, even if they were included in the copy of
the FAQ that was approved by the FAQ checker.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(All I did was add the 'Note:' paragraph and drop the 'except the Summary'
phrase.)

-- 
Nick   <mailto:tanstaafl@pobox.com>

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