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Contents 1 Mailing lists 1.1 TeX engine specific mailing lists 1.2 Mailing list Archives 2 Some guidelines for writing to the mailing list 2.1 Before asking on the list 2.2 Once you get the answer 2.3 If you didn't get any answer

[edit] Mailing lists

All of the current lists are hosted by the Dutch Language TeX User Group ([NTG]). There is a [mailman interface] interface available for all lists.

• ntg-context ntg-context@ntg.nl General mailing list for ConTeXt users. Recommended for all ConTeXt users.
• dev-context dev-context@ntg.nl Discussions between ConTeXt developers. Recommended for developers contributing macros and/or documentation.

[edit] TeX engine specific mailing lists

• luatex luatex@tug.org Mailing list for LuaTeX
• xetex xetex@tug.org Mailing list for XeTeX
• pdftex ntg-pdftex@ntg.nl Mailing list for PdfTeX

[edit] Mailing list Archives

• Patrick's mailinglist archive @ contextgarden.net (linked from the left-side menu as well).
• ntg-context mailinglist archive @ ntg.nl. Watch out, this server has year-based archives!
• mailinglist archive @ gmane.org

[edit] Some guidelines for writing to the mailing list

[edit] Before asking on the list

• ask Google: the easiest way to search are the two search buttons on the left on this wiki which will search through:
  • wiki pages
  • mailing list archives
  • articles about ConTeXt

• prepare a minimal example, that is, small but complete document
  • it will greatly improve your chances of getting a quick response if people won't need to search for the problem caused on page 793 of your 1500-page document
  • copy-paste it in the middle of the message, so that people don't need to open an extra editor to see the contents
  • if encoding is important (even if some UTF-8 cahracters are present and relevant), it might be safer to use attachments

• check ConTeXt version you are using (esp. when sending bug reports)
  • check if http://live.contextgarden.net gives you the same results
  • very often new features appear or bugs disapper with new releases

• try to avoid sending PDFs or other huge documents
  • if the behaviour is the same on http://live.contextgarden.net that everyone can reproduce the document
  • if your document takes over 40kb, you'll have to wait for moderator to approve your message first
  • some people use modem, some save all the mails (which takes space), ... and unless they have special interested in your topic, they might prefer to receive plain text only
  • there might be some exceptions: when using fonts not installed on the garden, weired local settings, ... but even then try to:
    • upload the files to some temporary location (if someone finds some time to write a script, there might be a place on the garden for such files in the future)
    • send a small PNG/JPG (cropped screenshot) showing the little detail causing you troubles

[edit] Once you get the answer

• please provide feedback if the solution worked or not
• unless it was a bug report, plese write something on the wiki, so that others will find the answer to the same question easier in the future
• (todo: explain how to send test files)

[edit] If you didn't get any answer

• Was your question too general?
  • Questions like "How do I write a letter/manual/FAQ?" are likely not to be answered because nobody understands what exactly you want. There are 999 ways to write a manual. Give a clear description and an example.
• Was your problem too complex?
  • This doesn't happen very often, sometimes you get an answer stating that there's no solution known to the people reading the list. Think if you can simplify your problem.