Question regarding proper pm response

[gogoblender 3,073]

Hey guys

 

I"m just wondering, when someone sends you a pm, and you have to respond back to it...where do you put your response...above the body of the letter that they wrote within the pm to you or below it. What's considered proper "form" ?

 

 

gogo

[Ike 1]

I think that I usually put my response at the top, so it is the first thing the person sees when they open the response. If I am trying to present a line-by-line response, I cut and past the original into separate quotes and respond underneath each one.

 

I normally remove all but the last quote so as to prevent massive multi-quote trees that take up a lot of space, are rarely relevant, and are difficult to read anyway. I'm quite sure I am not wholly consistent with this, especially if I am in a rush, but those are the basic plans.

 

In replying to posts, I tend to put my text at the bottom so that the reader (not the original poster) knows to what I am referring.

[gial 2]

In replying to posts, I tend to put my text at the bottom so that the reader (not the original poster) knows to what I am referring.

 

On a post, I'm with Ike - like this. On a PM, usually the other weay around since the recipient already read what they wrote - one would hope.

 

Often on a PM, I may not even quote the original message unless it seems important to do so

[Arilaftia 0]

hmm, With pms or emails Usually I put my responses at the top above the previously written note, but kinda fell out of the habit with all the forum posting I do. Most times though I don't include it unless Im trying to remember what Im replying to.. lmao! (Meaning if its a big note, and I need to answers many questions etc... If they are included, it means I just forgot to delete it.. )

 

Ok THAT was a really incoherent statement... Oh I think I need more caffeine..

[myles 2]

I just use the default generated by the reply button, I'm lazy!

 

I suppose it would make more sense if the quote is put below your reply message, like how a default e-mail reply would be.

[Katran 0]

I just use the default generated by the reply button, I'm lazy!

 

I suppose it would make more sense if the quote is put below your reply message, like how a default e-mail reply would be.

 

He, He thanks Myles! I was reading the post and was all like what the... am I the only one that wrote after the quote and now that a fellow Mod those it the lazy way as they call it [if you ask me the best way to do it ] I feel so much better

[promatolya 5]

I never reply and ignore the person until he gets aggrovated and kicks me off the forum

 

no... just kidding. I usually try to put it at the top

[Blade 1]

I normally put my responses at the top too, but I think the forum means for you to put them below. It messes up the emoticons if you put your response above, but you can always edit them in manually.

[Nihilith 0]

E-mail convention is reply before the quote. So do I with pms

 

Ciao

 

Nihi

[Indy13 5]

I just use the default generated by the reply button, I'm lazy!

 

I suppose it would make more sense if the quote is put below your reply message, like how a default e-mail reply would be.

 

He, He thanks Myles! I was reading the post and was all like what the... am I the only one that wrote after the quote and now that a fellow Mod those it the lazy way as they call it [if you ask me the best way to do it:4rofl:] I feel so much better

Laziness all the way baby!!

 

So yeah, I write after the quote as well. (though for succesive replies I alway only the quote of the last message, not all the messages)

[Schot 407]

Very good question.

 

Well I've always put my responses at the bottom simply because that's where the blinky "|" is always put when responding to a PM. Since reading this topic I have begun putting my replies above the quote. Well.... Except for the last one I just sent. Ummm, heh. I do try though. hehe.

[gogoblender 3,073]

Blade just brought up a good point, that the forum's software makes it "look" like we're supposed to put the replya at the bottom, because that's where it spaces it for us..easier this way.

But I think I like the idea of putting our reply/response up at the top, where the person getting the answer sees it first.

 

 

gogo

[~Night.Wolfe~ 16]

Hahaha I do it differently depending on what the PM is about...

 

If it is a PM from a friend and they are just saying hi and it is just chit chat I erase the whole quote and send only my response.

 

If it is someone asking a ton of questions I try to break their quoted text up into pieces and put an answer to each question just under THAT question.

 

If it is just one or two questions I write my response at the top so they don't have to scroll over what they wrote me to see the answer. But in case they need it they are able to refresh their memory on what they asked underneath.

 

If someone recently wrote me a bunch of PMs (like when Carolyn and I are going back and forth talking about different FAQs in a few different PMs), I write my answer AFTER their quoted PM so they can refresh their memory on WHICH PM I am replying to.

 

 

But really I think it is all personal preference and there is no RIGHT way to do it.... so I wouldn't sweat it so much....

[Funkilicious 1]

Very good question.

 

Well I've always put my responses at the bottom simply because that's where the blinky "|" is always put when responding to a PM. Since reading this topic I have begun putting my replies above the quote. Well.... Except for the last one I just sent. Ummm, heh. I do try though. hehe.

 

LOL yep it was at the bottom

 

I must admit I have always put it at the bottom, but will give it a go also to put it on top.

[Blade 1]

Blade just brought up a good point, that the forum's software makes it "look" like we're supposed to put the replya at the bottom, because that's where it spaces it for us..easier this way.

 

That just made me think of something else: Message Coherence.

 

If someone replies at the top of the message, I almost always reply in that way, so things are not confusing (sometimes I get confused if someone replies at the bottom after I send a message on top). I have some friends who message on the bottom on invisionfree forums (The clickable smilies go at the bottom of the post, not where you are typing), and I respond to them at the bottom of the post. I had never had given much thought to this before, but now that I think of it, the "right way" to do it would be do whatever is necessary to avoid confusion and get the point of your message across. If he understands you without wasting 5 minutes of his time thinking about what you are trying to say, you have made a proper PM response.

[gogoblender 3,073]

LOL...that's so true! Sometimes I get a pm that's been used so many times that after a few volleys, I end up checking both top and bottom of it to see where the new content it!

 

 

gogo