Weasner's ETX Site Electronic Mail Etiquette and Submission Guidelines

Weasner's Mighty ETX Site
Electronic Mail Etiquette and Submittal Guidelines
Last updated: 21 June 2013

The following "Email Etiquette" and "Submission Guidelines" apply to items sent to me asking questions or offering tips and contributions of material for the ETX Site. I have had to make these requests due to the volume of email I receive and the work that I do on the ETX site. Thanks for your understanding and compliance.

Please note that I do not use Twitter for "tech support". Use the above email address if you have questions.

You must use a meaningful and in English Subject Line entry when sending me email. Otherwise your email will get interpreted to be SPAM and deleted UNREAD. It may also be returned to you as "undeliverable". Also, a meaningful Subject Line helps Site visitors see an article or topic that they may be especially interested in or something with which they have experience.

Email with a Subject Line like "URGENT REQUEST", "Request for Assistance", "It's here!", "I need some help", "Help", "Link Request", "Link Exchange Request", "What do you think?", "It didn't work!", "HELLO", "Hi", "Question", or a blank Subject will be treated as SPAM and will likely be deleted UNREAD. In fact, any email that has an email address and/or Subject Line that looks like SPAM will be handled similarly.

Please use a specific Subject like "Autostar error", "ETX-105 observation report", or "How do I use the Autostar with a Mac?". It should describe in a few words (typically less than 10) the nature of your email message.

Use a valid From, and optionally a valid Reply-to, email address when sending email. Due to the volume of email I get, please do not request that I use a different email address for my reply. Also, if your ISP uses a "Spam Blocker" to prevent "non-authorized" emails from reaching your inbox, please add the email address "etx@me.com" to the list BEFORE sending me a message. I will not request authorization for replies that I've sent and so my reply might not reach you. If I reply and the reply is rejected due to an invalid From address or a SPAM blocker, you will not receive my response and the item will not be posted so no one else will benefit from your question, answer, tip, or photo.

Email sent to me is subject to being posted (at my discretion) to an appropriate section on the Site. Your name and email address will be posted with your feedback, technical tip, or other submissions so that other users can contact you directly with answers to your questions or to provide or get further information. If you do not wish to have to your name and/or email address included or you do not wish to have your item posted, explicitly state this in English in your original email to me. Email addresses posted on the Site will not be sold or otherwise distributed by me, although they are visible to other users and to the jerks who scan web pages for addresses to which they can send SPAM or VIRUSES.

Any photos sent should be in JPEG format. Some email systems may require that you encode the image file using Zip or StuffIt.

NOTE: As of 4 January 2012, I will no longer be posting Guest Astrophotography in the Astrophotography Galleries. Consequently, there is no need to send me examples of your astrophotography. You can send me a link to your website, blog, Twitter, Facebook, or photo/video sharing site for posting on the Astronomy Links page or the Social Media List page.

DO use paragraph breaks (blank lines) between paragraphs (if appropriate). Avoid using more than one blank line between paragraphs however.

DO use English. Emails not in English may not be read or any response may be delayed.

Do not mix questions and/or tips in the same email. That is, don't ask an Autostar question in the same email as a digital camera question. Similarly, please do not include an astrophotography tip with an AutoStar question or tip. Multiple unrelated items in an email message forces me to manually divide up the message for posting in the appropriate areas of the web site.

Please be specific, clear, and provide appropriate details when asking a question or submitting a tip. Emails that ramble on are hard to interpret as to what exactly the problem is. Also, if you have an Autostar question, please include the model (#494, #495, #497) and the ROM version number. If you have a telescope question, please state the telescope model. If you don't specify your telescope, I'll assume it is an ETX-90 and any answers I supply might be specific to that model. If you have a different model, then I might have wasted your time and mine with an incorrect response. So, please identify your telescope model in your original email when appropriate. The same applies to cameras and imagers; state what you have when asking a question or submitting examples of your astrophotography.

I prefer to receive plain text email as opposed to HTML formatted email. If you can configure your email software to turn off HTML for my address, please do so. If you can not turn off HTML, please avoid fancy formatting or fonts in your message. It is really difficult to read white text on a light background or red text on a blue background. Yes, I have received email formatted this way!

Please do NOT use "shortened URL's" when providing links to web pages. Use the full original URL. Emails with shorten URLs may be considered as SPAM and deleted.

Accessory reviews should include, at a minimum, the accessory name, the manufacturer/vendor/seller, model, price, a description, the telescope model you used the accessory with, and your experiences with the accessory. Including a digital photo is helpful. Follow the above instructions on Subject Line, Email Address, Images Files, and Message Text.

Telescope Technical Tips, AutoStar Information, or other articles to be posted on the ETX Site should include the telescope and/or AutoStar model the tip or article is applicable to, and when appropriate, drawings, diagrams, or photographs. Follow the above instructions on Subject Line, Email Address, Images Files, and Message Text.

Occasionally I will post a Site Announcement to alert visitors that I will be offline for some period of time. It will appear under the "Announcements" section, as depicted here:

Sometimes I will just note that my responses to emails will be delayed. Other times I will request that email and files NOT be sent to me while I am gone as I will have limited, perhaps slow, and sometimes very expensive access.

There is a "Terms and Conditions of Use" of Weasner's Mighty ETX Site and all web pages maintained in the weasner.com domain and on any Web Site maintained by Mike Weasner (including web pages on MobileMe). It is applicable to "email harvesting", whether by manual or automated processes. In addition, cross-posting of messages, articles, and/or images originally published on Weasner's Mighty ETX Site or on any Web Site maintained by Mike Weasner (including web pages and/or images on MobileMe) to other web sites and/or forums is acceptable, but only after permission for such cross-posting is granted by Mike Weasner (etx@me.com or mweasner@mac.com). Requests for cross-posting must include the specific page URL, message subject or article title, or image URL, and where it would be cross-posted. Cross-postings must include the message, article, and/or image in its entirety. Exceptions due to length restrictions must be explained in the cross-posting request. All messages and/or articles that are cross-posted must include the original page URL in the cross-posting.