8. How do I post?

Posting Practices

AB(M)A thrives because of the contributions of the posters. Because of this, good posters are essential to the group and are therefore greatly appreciated. However, in order to tame the chaos that can occur, and to facilitate the use of the groups by as many people as possible, there are both rules and guidelines that should be observed whenever posting material to AB(M)A.

Some terms used in this section are defined as below:

• Anime Groups - The primary usenet anime groups are alt.binaries.multimedia.anime (ABMA), alt.binaries.anime (ABA), alt.binaries.anime.vcd (ABAV), and alt.binaries.multimedia.anime.repost (ABMAR), although ABAV and ABMAR have their own rules and guidelines as well.
• Archived - The process of breaking up and encapsulating a post in a file format that aids in self-repair when corrupted. (e.g. RAR or ACE)
• Archive Set - The multiple files created when a fire is archived.
• Episode - A single TV or OAV episode, or a single movie or movie part. Generally this is equivalent to a single multimedia file.
• Fills - Individual archive parts that are needed to complete an archive set.
• HIWIH Posts - HIWIH (Here is what I have) posts refer to posting an incomplete archive set with the intention that someone will post the missing parts.
• Repack - A new archive set created for a previously posted episode.
• Repost - Posting of an archive set for a previously posted episode, usually referring to the original archive set (not a repack) as previously posted to the groups.
• Series - An entire season or more of episodes of a TV or OAV series.

To determine if and when an episode has been recently posted, consult the anime usenet logs at http://www.animeusenet.org/.

Binary vs. Text Posts

Usenet was designed for text broadcast and, therefore, does not natively support non-text data. Due to this, multiple encoding standards have evolved to allow binary information to be sent across usenet. Most of this process is handled transparently by news clients. However, the one significant distinction between them is that binary posts produce a file. A discussion of usenet encoding standards is available in the encoding section.

Rules vs. Guidelines

While usenet is necessarily an unruly "place", it is generally accepted that it is in the best interest of the majority that some limitations be imposed. Some news groups have nearly none, and tend to be an anarchic mess, which others take rules to an extreme and can be a very unpleasant place to participate.

The regulars in AB(M)A tend towards a middle course, where as few rules are made as possible, while still ensuring that procedures benefit the majority.

In the following section, there is a distinction between Rules and Guidelines:

• Rules are limitations that must always be observed. Repeated breaking of the rules can lead to abuse notifications being sent to news server and ISP administrators. This is very rare and no AB(M)A regular wishes to do this.
• Guidelines are put in place to show what should be done. Ignoring guidelines repeatedly is bad for the newsgroups, however, it is understood that is will sometimes be necessary to do so.

It is important to observe both the rules and the guidelines.

Binary Posts

Rules

• A single poster must not post more than 400MB of material to the anime groups in a single day.
• Posts must be properly archived, with only one episode per archive set.
• Dragonball (all series) and Sailor Moon (all series) must not be posted to the primary anime groups but instead be posted to their topic-specific groups (alt.binaries.dragonball, alt.binaries.multimedia.sailor-moon) in accordance to the rules of those groups.
• HIWIH posts (see above) are forbidden.
• Reposts of episodes posted to the anime groups within six months must not be intentionally posted. This does not apply to posts of different encodes of the same episode. alt.binaries.multimedia.anime.repost (ABMAR) is to be used for reposts according to its own rules and guidelines.
• Reposts of an entire series to the anime groups within twelve months must not be posted. This does not apply to posts of different encodes of the same series.
• Post subjects:
  • Must include the proper filename of the file being posted and that information must be at the end of the subject.
  • Must include the language of the audio and subtitles (if any), preferably in abbreviated form.

Guidelines

• A single poster should not post more than 250MB of material to the anime groups in a single day.
• Posts should be properly archived in the RAR format with only one episode per archive set.
• Archive sets should be accompanied by recovery files totalling more than 10% of the size of the archive set, preferably in the parchive (PAR) format and totalling more than 20% of the size of the archive set.
• Posts should include either a PAR or a SFV file of the archive set, preferably both.
• Posts should not be crossposted between groups without good reason.
• Reposts of episodes posted to the anime groups within nine months should not be posted. This does not apply to posts of different encodes of the same episode. alt.binaries.multimedia.anime.repost (ABMAR) is to be used for reposts according to its own rules and guidelines.
• Post subjects:
  • Should be made as concise as possible while still including information needed by the http://www.animeusenet.org/ maintainers.
  • Should include abbreviated information tying the multimedia file to the person or group that encoded it, preferably as part of the file name.
  • Should include abbreviated information about the format/codecs necessary for viewing the encode.
  • Should NOT include the poster's name or nick, as it is already shown in the post Author header.
  • Should NOT list requests that the poster has.
  • Should NOT repeat information more than once.
  • Should, if the post is being broken up across multiple days, include both the current day of the post and the expected total number of days.
• Posts should include information about the posters intentions, schedule, repost plans, fill posting plans and proper fill request formats or lack of such services, in the supplemental information.
• Posts of unreencoded DVDs should be posted to DVD-specific groups such as alt.binaries.dvd and alt.binaries.dvdr with a notification posted to the anime groups.

Recommended binary post subject line:

This is an example of a complex subject line that remains short and contains all necessary and recommended information. Most posts will not require some of this information.

Uuencoded/MIME:

R2-10 (jpn,e-hsub,divx5,ogm) day1of2 [01/26] Ranma_TV_s2_ep10_[FG].part01.rar

yEnc:

R2-10 (jpn,eng-hardsub,divx5,ogm) day1of2 [01/26] yEnc "Ranma_TV_s2_ep10_[FG].part01.rar"

Explanation:

• R2-10 - Abbreviation of the episode name, (season) & number. This keeps the post grouped together when sorted by subject in a news client.
• (jpn,eng-hardsub,divx5,ogm) - Concise abbreviated listing of language, subtitle and encoding information.
• day1of2 - Shows current day and planned completion day of episode post
• [01/26] - Current file number which is calculated by the posting program. This should not be manually entered.
• yEnc and "filename" - Necessary to fit yEnc spec. Only necessary for yEnc encoded posts.
• Ranma_TV_s2_ep10 - (Part of actual filename) Episode name, type, (season) and number.
• [FG] - (Part of actual filename) Encoder information, usually the acronym of the encoding group's name.
• Ranma_TV_s2_ep10_[FG].part01.rar - Actual full filename

There is a alternate posting practice that is also acceped. Some posters prefer to put the extended episode title in the subject and abbreviate the posted filename. This is advantageous because the shortened filenames are often more compatible with some operating systems and news clients. The disadvantage of this is it makes it more difficult for those who provide fills weeks or months after the original post, whether on the groups or off, to be fully aware of what all episodes actually are. No concensus has been made as to the proper way to do this so it is up to the poster to decide which course of action is preferable. An example of this would be:

Ranma TV S2 ep10 [FG] (jpn,eng-hsub,divx5,ogm) [01/26] RTV2-10.part01.rar

When observing this practice, it is best to maintain the full episode title for the episode file inside the archive set. This makes it possible for those needing to know what the content is of an archive set without having to deduce the meaning of the abbreviation.

Additional justification for descriptive subjects - Anime Usenet Logging

Besides the advantages to those downloading a post, there is an additional critical reason to include the information discussed above. The Anime Usenet Logging Team maintain a database of all episodes that are posted to AB(M)A. Due to time constraints, however, they must limit themselves to reading the subject for logging purposes. Therefore it is important to include the information that they need to log in the subject of the post. Anything that posters can do to help these generous folks is appreciated by all.

Recommended abbreviations

• Language (for Audio and/or Subtitle)
  • j, jpn, jap - Japanese
  • e, en, eng - English
  • c, chn - Chinese
  • k, kor - Korean
  • f, fr - French
  • i, it - Italian
  • ger - German
• Subtitling
  • sub - subtitled (usually hard subtitled); when listed by itself this represents Japanese audio with English subtitles
  • hsub, hardsub - hard subtitled
  • ssub, softsub - soft subtitled
  • vobsub, vsub- contains vobsub soft subtitle files
  • dub - dubbed, when listed by itself this represents English dubbed audio
• Encoding
  • divx, divx3, divx311, divx4, divx5 - DivX codec (and version when possible)
  • xvid - XviD codec
  • mpg4, mp41, mp42, mp43 - Old MS MPEG-4 codec (mp43 represents mpeg4v3)
  • mpg - MPEG-1 or MPEG-2
  • mpg1, mpeg1 - MPEG-1 format
  • vcd - VCD compliant MPEG-1 format
  • dat - VCD compliant MPEG-1 DAT file (see VCD section)
  • mpg2, mpeg2 - MPEG-2 format
  • svcd - SVCD compliant MPEG-2 format
  • avi - AVI file format
  • ogm - Ogg Media (OGM) file format
  • rm - RealMedia RM format
  • ram - Old RealMedia RAM format
  • qt - QT Quicktime format
  • mv - MV Quicktime Format
• Episode Types
  • TV - TV episode, usually numbered by occurrence in a season and the season listed in the title as well if beyond the first season.
  • OAV, OVA - (Original Animated Video/Original Video Animation) Episodes that are originally released neither in the theater nor on TV but go directly to media sales.
  • Movie - Movies
  • OP - Episode opening
  • ED - Episode closing
  • OPNC - Episode opening without credits
  • EDNC - Episode closing without credits
  • MV - Music Video

 

Supplemental Information

Any of the following information can be included as supplemental post information:

• Detailed encoding information and/or information about those individuals or groups that prepared the episode
• Detailed language/subtitle information
• Special instructions regarding playing the episode
• Posting and reposting schedules
• Fills Policy - instructions on how to properly contact the poster for fill requests

This information, when included, should take the form of either a 00/part or a text file, preferably both. A 00/part is an unencoded text post prepared by some binary posters that preceeds the binary post. A supplementary text file is simply a text file containing the information which is posted as a binary along with the remainder of the post.

00/parts have the advantage that they are readable directly from a news client without decoding and opening a file.

Text files have the advantage that they can be archived by downloaders for future reference. These files should be given a unique name specific to either the individual episode or the set of episodes in a single series. They should not be given generic names, such as "readme.txt", since multiple posters practicing this will cause conflicts for those consciencious enough to archive these files for later use.

Because each of these two methods have distinct advantages, it is best to utilize both.

Text Posts

Fills Requests

Always, before requesting fills, determine if the poster has:

• included parchive files or recovery volumes. If either of these are available, and the post was successful, fills should not be necessary.
• announced repost plans. If a full repost is going to be made, fills should not be requested until after the repost, unless otherwise indicated by the poster.
• specific fills request instructions. Many posters will only post fills if the request is made a certain way. These instructions are usually indicated in the supplemental information.

Not all posters provide fills for their posts. In these cases, one can make a general request for fills with the hope that someone else on the newsgroups will post them. It is also common in these cases that two individuals who have fills that will help the other "exchange" them by both posting them to the groups.

Rules

• A request must contain only requests for parts within a single archive set.
• A request should list all parts needed in the same post.
• Only one request should be made within a 48-hour period.
• Do not use multiple names/nicks to post the same request in an attempt to circumvent the previous rule.
• A request must be a text post. Do not post a binary text file as part of a request.

Guidelines

• Special notes and instructions should be placed inside the body of the request
• Short notes such as "Thank you" or "See inside" should be put at the end of the subject

If specific fills request instructions are not provided by the poster, a generic fills request can take a form similar to this:

	ATTN: PosterNick REQ: Ranma_TV_s2_ep10_[FG].part01,03,05.rar

Repost Requests

Any request for any episode has has been posted to AB(M)A within the last nine months is consided as repost request.

If requesting a repost of an entire episode, it should also be requested that the post go to alt.binaries.multimedia.anime.repost (ABMAR) as that is the designated newsgroup for reposts.

Episode Requests

Episode requests can be broken up into several groups:

• Newly available episodes, that have only recently been released to TV or other medium. It is usually unnecessary to make such requests. Most new episodes will be posted independent of requests at some point and these requests generally go unread.
• Recently posted episodes. Any episode that has been posted in the last 9 months is considered recent and is therefore considered a repost request and should be posted to alt.binaries.multimedia.anime.repost (ABMAR).
• Old or unposted episodes. Any episode that has not been posted in the last 9 months is acceptable for posting in AB(M)A.

Always check the Anime Usenet Database at http://www.animeusenet.org/ to determine when an episode was last posted.

A generic episode request can take a form similar to this:

	REQ: Ranma TV Season 2 Episode 10 [FG]

or

	REQ: Ranma TV Season 2 ep 10 (jpn-lang, eng-sub)

Furthermore, there is a request forum at http://abma.x-maru.org/bb/viewforum.php?f=2 that may be more successful for episode requests than posting to the newsgroups.

Series Requests

Series requests refer to requests for an entire season or more of a TV or OAV series. Because of the general scope of these requests, they often go ignored.

Series requests for a series that has been posted in the last 12 months is inappropriate.

Notifications

When something that is on topic for the anime groups is posted elsewhere, it is always appreciated for a notification post be posted to the anime groups. The notification message should be placed in the subject. A body is not usually necessary.

A generic post notification can take a form similar to this:

	NOTICE: RanmaTV DVD2 posted to alt.binaries.dvdr

Other Text Posts

AB(M)A is more than just a pair of binary newsgroups, it is also a community with many contributors that care about them. Discussions posts have always been accepted in AB(M)A.

How NOT to make a request. [SWong, user, ed.]

or, doing any of these things will get you deliberately ignored or kill filed

1. ALL CAPS - It looks like you're yelling.
2. ########LOTS OF PUNCTUATION#########
3. Nym-shifting: changing your pseudonym to pretend to be different people requesting the same thing.
4. Most annoying of all, vertical spam:
   

           ############PLZ POST KAWAII GIRLS TIA!!!!!###########
           ############PLZ POST KAWAII GIRLS TIA!!!!!###########
           ############PLZ POST KAWAII GIRLS TIA!!!!!###########
           ############PLZ POST KAWAII GIRLS TIA!!!!!###########
           ############PLZ POST KAWAII GIRLS TIA!!!!!###########
   

   Some newbies post a request multiple times with some attention getting letterings, thinking that'll get somebody's attention and will respond to it. Well it gets attention all right. It gets deliberately ignored, or maybe even kill filed.
5. Pestering the wrong person for repost. 2 words: bloody annoying, chances are the person you pester will not post your request even if s/he has what you want. It doesn't take very much effort to keep track of who posted what.
6. HIWIH (Here Is What I Have) posts. HIWIH posts constitute posting only those files that one is able to obtain with a request for the remainder.

---

User Contributed Notes

xo 2001-07-23 11:44pm

On the topic of Subject: lines, here's something people who post (binaries or text) should consider: killfiles. For example, say that I have killfile'd "Dragon Ball". A subject line such as: Here's Super Cool Anime That You Want (REQ: Dragon Ball XXX) This would get killed and I'd miss the post. That's my problem, you say? Well how about this: Here's Dragon Ball (ATTN: xo please repost Ultra Great Anime.r00) Now I won't see your repost request! Something to keep in mind.

xo 2002-06-09 08:25pm

It's generally a bad idea to post multiple episodes as part of one big archive. Not only does this tend to confuse people, it makes it difficult for people who only want only a subset of the episodes. Please post each episode as a separate archive!

Melchior 2002-07-10 07:44am

There are some series that should not be posted in ABA/ABMA. They include primarily Sailor Moon and Dragonball (and related series). Each of those shows has its own newsgroup, and as such, posting them in ABA/ABMA is off-topic. Dragonball-series go in alt.binaries.dragonball Sailor Moon goes in alt.binaries.multimedia.sailor-moon

Onakra 2002-07-10 05:38pm

Small addition to Melchior's comment: Tenchi Muyou! also has it's own group in alt.binaries.anime.tenchi

Fabien LE LEZ 2002-12-30 07:43pm

Check http://www.animeusenet.org before posting -- useless to post something that has already been posted recently.

Taiyaki Daisuke 2003-02-12 07:39pm

For all fansubbed anime (and, dare I say, those ripped by a named group), please also include the group name in the posting title. E.g.: <code>[series] ep ## [Group] (format/sub or dub) file ## of ##</code> The standard abbreviations for each group (such as R-B for Rice-Box) can be found at http://www.animenfo.com/animefansub/animebygroup.php

(inc) 2004-09-18 03:46pm

The posting limit rule has been altered via a vote in abmad. It now is set at <b>500M/day</b> for aba+abma+abmar inclusive.