These guidelines are intended for # VIKINGS staff. Your communication style may differ from these guidelines, and that is fine! However, as ambassadors of our association, we ask that you apply the following guidelines. We invite everyone, especially those associated with us, to contribute comments to help improve these guidelines.

> Be conservative in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others.

See also:

• RFC 760: DoD standard Internet Protocol
• Robustness principle

A properly written and formatted plain text email works much better across devices and systems. Use plain text at all times.

Text-based email should not exceed 80 columns per line of text. Consult the documentation of your email client to enable proper line breaks around column 78.

HTML email - even when it is a multipart mail with a corresponding plain/text section - is often unconditionally rejected by mailing lists. The plain/text section of multipart HTML email is generated by email clients and often results in unreadable gunk.

Again, use plain/text email and not some “magic” format. When sending patches via email refrain from attaching patches as that makes it impossible to reply to the patch directly.

this section should probably apply to all communication

You don't want your emails to have bad breath, do you?

• Write a clear subject line when initiating a conversation
• Use proper spelling and grammar
• Say more with less: be efficient, brief and result-oriented without sounding like a robot
• Be polite and courteous
• Avoid sarcasm and emotional load in written communication at all times
• Avoid technical jargon unless you are having a technical conversation with someone you are sure understands it
• Stick to the facts, when in doubt mention it clearly
• Avoid politics unless they represent the association's official position mentioned here (TODO).
• Use the local spelling of the recipient (e.g. UK vs. US or AT vs DE spelling/use of vocabulary) if this is well within your capabilities
• You applied proper spelling and grammar, now please proof-read again before hitting “send”

TL;DR: use common-sense.

Use the standard email signature provided to you.

You shall not add additional text (confidentiality disclaimers (why would you!?), funny quotes, slogans, MOTD's, ASCII art etc.) to your signature, unless this has been signed off by someone responsible for the guidelines.

Please do not remove (parts of) the signature; certain content is required by law in our current jurisdiction, often for each and every email that leaves our internal systems, so it's better to be safe than sorry. This may be annoying (to you *and* the recipient) and counterintuitive at times, as some laws can be. Relying on the template provided to you will ensure that these legal requirements are met at all times.

Trimming Cc lists is considered a bad practice. Replying only to the sender of an email immediately excludes all other people previously involved and defeats the purpose by turning a public discussion into a private conversation.

If you reply to an email do not top-post. It is considered bad form. It also is evil and every time you do that, a cute little kitten dies. It may be the preferred style in most corporate environments, but that does not excuse it as these examples show:

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?

A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing in email?

A: No.
Q: Should I include quotations after my reply?

Of course, you can and sometimes should add your own comments at the beginning of the text as a preface and continue inline below.

See also: http://daringfireball.net/2007/07/on_top

When you reply to an email, trim unneeded content from the email you're replying to. Quoting an entire message is as bad a style as top posting.

If you participate in an external mailing list or similar, please apply the rules applicable there which may differ in detail from our guidelines outlined here.

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