[xsl] XSL-List Guidelines

["Tommie Usdin btusdin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This information is posted to the XSL-List (and the XSL-List Digest) at
intervals under the subject line "XSL-List guidelines".

INTRODUCTION TO XSL-LIST

XSL-List hosts discussion of XSL itself, XSL applications and implementation,
and XSL user questions. XSL-List is open to everyone, users and developers,
experts and novices alike. There is no restriction to what may be posted on
the XSL-List provided it is related to XSL, which is considered to include
XSLT, XPath, and XSL Formatting Objects (FO).

XSL-List is not a W3C mailing list, and has no affiliation with W3C (or any
official standing with any standards organization). However, XSL-List was
established with the encouragement of members of the W3C XSL Working Group,
and members of the Working Group are among the subscribers to the list.

Only subscribers may post to XSL-List, but since the goal is to increase the
level of XSL knowledge, XSL-List is being archived for everybody to view. The
topics being discussed on the XSL-List change as new ideas arise or existing
problems are dealt with, but the archive contains all of the ideas and
solutions that have been discussed on the list.

XSL-List is provided by Mulberry Technologies, Inc., as a service to the XSL
user community. Mulberry is an XML and SGML consultancy specializing in
applications that have a text design, processing, interchange, or display
component. For more information about Mulberry Technologies, Inc. see
http://www.mulberrytech.com


SUBSCRIBING TO THE XSL-LIST

To subscribe to the list, fill out the form at
http://www.mulberrytech.com/lists/subscribe-unsubscribe.html.


DAILY DIGEST

Daily digests -- copies of a whole days XSL-List messages sent as one email
message -- are available. Not only is it a single email message containing all
of that day's XSL-List messages, it is also half the size, on average, of the
individual messages since it doesn't include the overhead of the mail headers
from each message.

To subscribe to the digest, use the form at
http://www.mulberrytech.com/lists/subscribe-unsubscribe.html, fill out the
forms that are presented, respond to the emailed confirmation message, and
after your subscription is successful select bMy Settingsb and click the
box beside bDaily Digestsb.


POSTING GUIDELINES

Only subscribers can post to XSL-List, and only from the exact address they
used when they subscribed.

There is no restriction on what may be posted to the XSL-List provided it is
related to XSL. Items concerning XML but without a direct connection to XSL
should be posted to a XML-related list instead of to the XSL-List. Items
related to DSSSL should be posted to the DSSSList.

Do not begin your subject line with "help" or "subscribe" since the list
software will bounce the message because it looks like is an administrative
request.

It is best to start a new message for a new thread. Do not start a new thread
by replying to an unrelated message and just changing the subject line, since
the header of your message will contain references to the previous message and
your new message will appear in the archive as one of the replies to the
original message.

Both subscribers to the full list (xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) and
subscribers to the digest should post their messages to xsl-
list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; the messages will be received by both subscribers
to the list and subscribers to the digest.


BEFORE YOU POST ... DO YOUR HOMEWORK
- Check that your question isn't already answered in the XSL FAQ at
http://www.dpawson.co.uk/.
- Check that your question isn't already answered in the XSL-List archives at
http://www.biglist.com/lists/xsl-list/archives/.
- If you are asking for help with XSL code, determine which version of the
language you are using (plus extensions, if any), and confirm that your XSL
processor supports that version and/or extension. (If you are unsure of your
processor, this can be determined by using the stylesheet at
http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list/processor-version.xsl on any input,
including the stylesheet itself: see
http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list/processor-version.html for more
information.) An XSLT 1.0 engine will not process stylesheets written in XSLT
2.0!


IN YOUR POSTING ...

Name the XSL processor, processor version, and version of the language you are
using. This information is frequently necessary to diagnose a problem exactly,
and always helps respondents give good advice.

If you are replying to a post, trim the quoted message to just the parts to
which you are replying.

In addition to following simple rules of net etiquette and common sense, you
will improve the chances that you will receive prompt and helpful responses
by:
- Asking questions specific enough that answers are possible. Describe what
you are trying to do, how you approached it, what happened, and why you don't
like the result you got. Don't simply say "it gave me an error": paste in the
error message (someone else can probably make sense of it).
-  Illustrating your question with a demonstration of the problem.
Well-composed questions frequently include a small XML sample, an XSLT
stylesheet, the results received, and the result that was desired - all in
miniature, to make it comprehensible to readers new to your problem. (It is
also not uncommon to discover what a problem actually is in the process of
reducing it to an illustrative version.)


USE INFORMATIVE SUBJECT LINES

When posting to the XSL-List, do not use uninformative subject lines like
"Urgent", "Question", or "Newbie HELP!!!", which don't say anything about what
your problem is. Instead, use a meaningful subject line that will make sense
to the people whose help you are trying to get. It may even get a response
from people who normally shy away from "beginner" questions.

Informative subject lines make the XSL-List archive more useful since people
with the same problem will more easily find the relevant threads.


DO NOT CROSS-POST

Cross-posting to the XSL-List and to another list, even XML-Dev or the
DSSSList, is generally counter-productive. No list's archive will contain the
complete thread; cross-posts from non-subscribers continuing the thread will
bounce; and XSL-List subscribers who are not also on the other list will only
see half the thread, as will those on the other list who are not also reading
XSL- List. Subscribers to both lists may see two copies of the message,
annoying them as well.


REPLIES GO TO THE LIST

The reply address of XSL-List messages (and of digests) is
xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx so REPLIES GO TO THE LIST BY DEFAULT. If you
want to reply to just the author of a post, you should change the "To:" field
in your reply.


USE SHORT QUOTES OF PREVIOUS MESSAGES IN REPLIES

Please do not quote entire messages just to add a few lines at the beginning
or end. Instead, quote the parts to which you are directly replying or quote
enough to establish the context.

Everybody on the list has already received the message that you are quoting,
and anyone searching the archive will find your message and the previous
message listed under the same thread.

Subscribers to the XSL-List will just ignore most of the quoted messages and
move to the next post, but subscribers to the XSL-List Digest will mostly have
to page past the quoted messages to reach the next material in which they are
interested in reading.


POSTINGS MUST BE IN PLAIN TEXT ONLY

Postings to XSL-List must be in plain text only. The XSL-List does not allow
HTML postings because many users cannot display them appropriately, and
because
they are unnecessarily large.


ATTACHMENTS ARE BANNED

Since Mulberry's mailing lists have in the past been unwittingly used for
spreading viruses in e-mail attachments, all e-mail attachments are banned
from the XSL-List.

XSL stylesheets are XML files, and XML files are text files, so this does not
affect the majority of posts to the list since you can include the files' text
in the body of your message. If you need to refer to a binary file such as a
PDF file, you should put the file on a Web site or FTP site and include the
file's URL in your XSL-List post.

If you do include an attachment in your XSL-List post -- even a HTML
attachment -- your message will bounce.


YOUR POST WILL BE PERMANENTLY ARCHIVED

Because it is a public resource created by and for the entire XSL community,
we do not edit XSL-List. Therefore, it is responsibility of
list subscribers not to post anything to the list that they do not want
publicly available, possibly for a very long time.

Postings in the list archives will be complete, including: all contents,
examples, sample data, code or code fragments, and email header and footer
contents. An automated process will obscure the domain portion of email
addresses (the part after the @ sign).in the headers and footers of postings,
but no guarnantee is made that this process will be completely successfull.
Other than this, all postings will be archived in public as received.

Further, we at Mulberry could not, even if we wanted to, edit all of the
archives of XSL-List. Several third-parties have created unofficial archives
of XSL-List, often without asking, or even informing, Mulberry. Postings to
XSL-List will be included in an unknown and ever-changing variety of web
publications. If you don't want your questions/comments/answers in public view
don't post them to XSL-List.


THIRD-PARTY ARCHIVES OF XSL-LIST

Third parties are welcome to create searchable or reference archives of
XSL-List provided they adhere to the following guidelines:
- the material is clearly labelled as being from XSL-List, with an
acknowledgement of Mulberry's role as provider of XSL-List
- there is a navigable pointer to the official list page at
http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list/ either on every posting or
associated with the user interface such that it is visible with the postings
- list postings are unedited
- either the entire archive of the list is provided or there is a clearly
stated method for selecting the subset of the list that is provided

Mulberry does not provide these third parties with help to create these
archives, does not endorse particular third party archives, and has no control
over the ways in which they present the material in their systems.

People or organizations that publish the contents of XSL-List without
following the guidelines above are being very antisocial. Please bookmark
either the official XSL-List archive or one provided by a service that plays
nicely in the community and shun those who do not give credit where credit it
due.


UNSUBSCRIBING FROM THE XSL-LIST

To unsubscribe from XSL-List, use the form at
http://www.mulberrytech.com/lists/subscribe-unsubscribe.html or click on the
bEasyUnsubscribeb link at the bottom of any message you receive from the
list.

If you have difficulties unsubscribing from the list make sure you are
unsubscribing EXACTLY the email address that is subscribed.


IF YOU STOP GETTING XSL-LIST MESSAGES

If you stop receiving XSL-List message, you may have been removed because mail
to you was bouncing. You are not being picked on, and you can just rejoin the
list.


ARCHIVE

XSL-List messages are archived at
http://www.biglist.com/lists/xsl-list/archives/.


REPORTING BUGS IN SOFTWARE

Bugs in software should firstly be reported to its author rather than to the
XSL List. Questions regarding how to work around bugs are welcome, but the
list does not function as a bug-tracking system for any software.


XSL FAQ AND OTHER INFORMATION ON XSL

Dave Pawson's XSL FAQ is at http://www.dpawson.co.uk/xsl/index.html.

The W3C information on XSL is at http://www.w3.org/Style/XSL.

Mulberry's Quick References are at http://www.mulberrytech.com/quickref/ and
cover XSLT, XPath, and XQuery.


DSSSLIST -- THE DSSSL USERS' MAILING LIST

Mulberry Technologies, Inc., also provides the DSSSList -- the DSSSL Users'
Mailing List. For subscription information and the DSSSList archive, see
http://www.mulberrytech.com/dsssl/dssslist.


CONTACT

If you have any questions or problems, please contact
xsl-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


ADMINISTRATIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The list administrator will reply to emailed questions relating to the
mechanics and administration of XSL-List and to help new users learn to use
the list. However, the administrator will not take the time to navigate mazes
of any sort in order to do so. If the list owner's messages are rejected by a
user's anti-spam system the list owner will not pursue the matter. Similarly,
if list-related notices to a subscriber are rejected as spam the subscriber
will be unsubscribed.



CHANGE History

==============
May 1, 2014 - btu.

13. Removed prohibition from sending Base64 messages to the list because I
think they are compatible with the new list software.

12. Modified instructions on subscribing and unsubscribing to the list.


==============
December 26, 2011 - btu.

11. Clarified instructions on unsubscribing from the digest version of the
list.

==============
May 5, 2009 - btu.

10. Added paragraph clarifying that all content will be archived in public,
including text, examples, code, and email headers and footers including
names.

==============
February 1, 2008 - btu.

9. Policy on third-party archives added.

8. Policy banning attachments and postings in Base 64 clarified.

==============
September 1, 2007 - btu.

7. Administrative communication policy clarified.


==============
October 1, 2005 - btu.

6. Mulberry Technologies' relationship to XSL-List clarified. We do the work.
We pay the bills. Organizations who post unauthorized copies of the archive
without acknowledging Mulberry's contribution are not playing nicely in the
community.

==============
March 2, 2005 - btu.

4. Users are asked to identify the version of XSLT and XPath they are using
for questions that are specific to one version

5. Clarifying the policy on editing the list archive (we don't edit it).

==============
March 30, 2004 - btu.

1. All references to subscribing and unsubscribing have been updated to
reflect changes in the list management system.

2. Pointers to the XSL and XPath specification were removed. There are now so
many specifications and draft specifications relevant to XSL that it is more
practical to simply point to W3C's XSL page.

3. A few typographical errors were corrected.