To make sure that posting is working on your system, it's a good idea
to post a couple test articles.  Even if you have experience posting
with another newsreader or on another system, it's still a good idea
to post a couple test messages.  This way, if posting isn't working,
you won't have wasted much time on an unsuccessful post.

With a test posting you can test whether:
1. Your editor is set correctly.
2. Your news-record variable is set. This is the folder where a copy of
   each article you post is saved.
3. Your signature is appended to your posts.
4. Your headers are the way you want them to be. These can be modified
   with the news-header variable.
5. Your article is posted on your system.
6. Your article is distributed outside your system.

For the first five types of tests, a local test newsgroup and `local'
distribution is sufficient for testing.  For testing that your
article is distributed outside your system you'll want to use a
world-wide newsgroup with world distribution (i.e., use *no*
Distribution header).

Some parts © 2009 Advameg, Inc.