Some basic rules, OK??

Georg Wrede Georg.Wrede at iki.fi
Wed Sep 28 14:49:49 PDT 2011


Let's just say that there are some very Elementary rules you can adhere 
to, or break. And that is why your post either gets thousands of 
readers, or thousands of people who just skip your post.

Rule #1: However profoundly clear it is to you What Your App does, the 
one you want to reach is, the people who are new to your app. Right??

Saying "2.2.2 of Dadda-Badda released!!!!!!!!!!!!!" is not going to 
function as a honey-pot that simply Drags everyone to reading your post.

You might try "Dadda-Badda 2.2.2 released: now without core dumps!" or 
something similar. The very Subject Line of the post should tell 
everyone what is going on. Whoever wants details should find them in the 
actual post. (For example, "using DB without forcing a Divide-By-Zero 
trap, should make it possible to advance to the next pitfall".)

In a similar vein, if you have released 31 different releases in this 
newsgroup during the last 2 weeks, there STILL is no reason to assume 
that the reader knows any more about your app than if it were the very 
First Time. -- In other words, Each of your posts should read as if the 
reader never had heard about it! (For the few that actually have, you 
might want to serve with having the posts as similar as possible. That 
would make it a lot easier for them to follow your development. An example:

-- First release that leaves the beta testers alive!!! 1.1.
--- First release that leaves test helping people alive!!! 1.1.1.
--- Regerssion: they died.
-- Second release that purports to leave the beta testers alive! 2.1.
--- This release manages to leave most of the helpers alive. 2.1.1.

I think you get the idea.

I've never had a problem with the Official Releases, so this post really 
is about some (not all) of the contributions that come from the community.




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