top-posting and Re: signature at the beginning, not the end
> Ok, I can see how its preferable to edit and reply at the bottom for
> mailing lists. I'm going to keep that in mind from now on. :)
>
> Jeopardy-style, answer-first is not always bad for other types of
> correspondences.
This is fair. You said before that it seems like a matter of
preference. I can agree somewhat, but it's really more a matter of
general convenience to the _reader_, rather than to the _author_.
Whether I'm posting to a conventional list or to an individual or
small group, I try to anticipate the situation and post accordingly.
(Sometimes top-posting makes most sense.) But obviously, the more
people might be reading your message, the more you lose the ability to
anticipate what works best for the reader. :)
I'd like to think that's why it's called 'netiquette', btw: not because
it's a strict behavioral convention, but because its goal is to honor
the recipient's interests above one's own.
I usually find that top-posting is only suitable for very concise
answers to questions, or "me too" type stuff. If the reader is likely
not to know what I'm talking about at a glance, it's better to trim
context and tail-post. But I suppose there are probably exceptions, and
I'm allowed some error in judgment. :) And sometimes I find it best to
put text both before and after the quoted material.
*
As for your original question, because I sometimes top-post and usually
do not, I don't normally use mutt for attaching my signature at all.
Instead I have an editor macro to insert it at the current cursor line.
Mutt inserts my signature automatically at bottom, but I usually end up
deleting it and re-adding it during the course of trimming context.
--
-D. dgc@xxxxxxxxxxxx NSIT University of Chicago