The Statalist FAQ is, as usual, directly accessible at
http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq/
I'm drawing attention to it because several small (and not
so small) points within it are frequently ignored. This
is more than a matter of petty civic virtues; people
not following our conventions are much more likely to get
their own posts overlooked or misunderstood. In short,
it is in your best interest to follow the rules!
===============================
[from: 1. Before you post]
-search- can tell you about all built-in Stata commands, all
ado-files published in Stata Technical Bulletins or the Stata
Journal, and all FAQs on the Stata web site, www.stata.com.
-findit- can tell you about not only all of the above, but
also user-written Stata programs available on the Internet.
[from: 2.9 When you go on vacation]
Please unsubscribe when going on vacation. Either your mail
file may fill up, or your little message telling the list
you are on vacation will be broadcast. Both cause problems.
Some people use MS Outlook's Out-of-Office Assistant when
they go on vacation. Such replies to Statalist are an abuse
of the list and an irritation to members. It is possible to
make use of the Out-of-Office Assistant and also not to send
Out-of-Office replies to lists like Statalist. Please see
http://www.parisc-linux.org/mailing-lists/outlookooo.html.
[from: 3. How to use Statalist: advice]
Many questions do not get answered because they are too short,
too unfocused, or too obscure. If you hope that others will
spend time answering your question, be prepared to spend time
writing as clearly yet as crisply as you can. Messages to the
effect that some command did not work for you are often
impossible to answer without seeing precisely what you typed
and what Stata typed in response.
Edit mail so that readers see easily what the issue is and
what your contribution is. Please do not re-post the whole
of a very long message together with your one-sentence tidbit.
Please do not send a message by replying to, but not editing
out, someone else's message on a different topic. Your mailer
may have a facility to select a block of text and then reply
quoting only that text.
Cut out mailjunk, such as VCards or lengthy trailers to your
messages. Styled (e.g. HTML-enabled) text causes as many
problems as it solves. Figure out how to avoid littering
your postings with =20 and =E3 characters.
Plain ASCII text is best.
Say what command(s) you are using. If they are not part of
official Stata, say where they come from, the STB/SJ, SSC,
or other archives.
Refer to Stata commands and other syntax within ordinary
text using - - to flag words that you would type when using
Stata. Example: You could try the -assert- command, which
is very useful for this kind of problem.
Please do not include attachments. Many members have mailers
that cannot handle them. In any case, attachments can
spread viruses and clog up mailers with unwanted large files.
Continuing or closing a thread you started is important,
especially by answering secondary questions and by reporting
what solved your problem. Offering "Thanks in advance" may
save you time and effort, but most people who offer advice
do appreciate a brief personal word of thanks afterwards:
privately will do as well as publicly.
[from: 4. What to do if you do not get an answer]
Sometimes, a posting gets no reply. It is possible that your
posting got overlooked, but with several hundred pairs of eyes
scanning Statalist, this is much less likely than you might think.
If you get no answer, you might be tempted to repost the question,
but please think twice before you do that. The same post
reappearing repeatedly strikes many Statalist members as
impatient and inconsiderate. You had your chance, but no
one wanted to answer the question. Sorry!
A rewrite or even one repost of the original is tolerable,
but more than one repost is not. If after two attempts you
have not received an answer, there is too slim a chance
that you will get an answer on Statalist. Please try elsewhere.
[from: 6.2 Where to find Statalist-released ado-files]
By far the best way to interact with the SSC archive is with
the official Stata command -ssc-, provided that you have a
net-aware version of Stata 8 or one of Stata 7 updated after
14 November 2001.
You may also search to see what is in the SSC archive by
accessing http://ideas.repec.org/search.html
You may see what has been added to SSC within the last month
by typing, in Stata 8 or in Stata 7 updated after 2 August
2002, -ssc whatsnew-. This provides clickable links for the
description and installation of new and revised SSC items.
Alternatively, you may see what has been added to SSC by
accessing in your browser http://repec.org/docs/ssc.php.
[from: 7.1 What is the correct way to pronounce 'Stata'?]
Stata is an invented word. Some pronounce it Stata, with a
long a as in day (Stay-ta); some pronounce it Stata, with a
short a as in flat (Sta-ta); and some pronounce it Stata,
with a long a as in ah (Stah-ta). The correct English
pronunciation must remain a mystery, except that personnel
of Stata Corporation use the first of these. Some other
languages have stricter rules on pronunciation that will
determine this issue for speakers of those languages.
[from: 7.2 What is the correct way to write 'Stata'?]
Stata is an invented word, not an acronym, and should not
appear with all letters capitalized: please write 'Stata',
not 'STATA'.
*
* For searches and help try:
* http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html
* http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
* http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
