How To Create an Alt Newsgroup

Read all of these links before you create a newsgroup.

Index:

BOB(c)'s Advice on Newgrouping

You should be aware that, when you create a newsgroup, it will make an impact on thousands, perhaps millions of users around the planet, taking up diskspace and valuable funds. If you create a newsgroup on whim, or become a follower of Tom Servo, then you have tarnished USENET in general, caused other users to suffer, and lowered your own reputation all in one move.

Think very carefully before you create a new newsgroup. If you have not gone through the proven channels of discussion on alt.config, your group will very likely have bad propogation, mainly because many newsadmins read alt.config and base their decisions on the discussions there. This means that you will not reach the people you could have if you had gone through alt.config.

Another very useful thing about using the alt.config process (which is much quicker and easier than the Big 8 process) is that the residents of that newsgroup are experienced in the creation of newsgroups and can offer you valuable advice on the best name for your group and whether it is likely to be a successful group.

Most news administrators, due to maintenance demands, will drop groups that sit empty or even sometimes those that consist mostly of crossposts. This means that the groups with good propogation (usually the ones that went through the process) are more likely to survive. The belief that you can never remove an alt.* group is fairly false, as only sites that never purge their active files will continue to carry these wasteful groups. See how the process method can work only to your advantage?

Again, think it over. You are affecting an entire society.

Thanks to Matt Schnierle for some of the content of this section.

The Newgroup Control Message

NOTICE: If you have not read this whole page, this control message will not work properly. You must read all the links for this to work the right way. Read them, and it will be explained to you.

It is quite simple to send out a control message creating your newsgroup once it has been discussed in alt.config. Simply post the following headers and message to alt.config, assuming you wish to create the group alt.foo.bar, and replacing the "yourname" and the date correctly. Note: The headers in the following message must be the actual headers of your message. They cannot merely be part of your message body.

Control: newgroup alt.foo.bar
Subject: cmsg newgroup alt.foo.bar
Newsgroups: alt.config
From: yourname@yoursite.com (Your Name Here)
Date: Thu, 8 Mar 1995 10:34:20 -0500 (EDT)
Approved: yourname@yoursite.com

After discussion on alt.config, which came to a general
supporting consensus, alt.foo.bar is created for the purpose
of discussing blah blah blah blah blah, which has been 
recently overflowing the traffic on alt.foo and is not 
sufficiently covered by any existing newsgroups, 
nor does it duplicate the purpose of any existing newsgroup.

For your newsgroups file:
alt.foo.bar   Discussing Foo Bar

When you've created the group, post the FAQ or general charter for the group immediately so that you don't see a host of "What is this group about?" messages.

Enjoy!

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