Your Internet Consultant - The FAQs of Life Online

5.17. How do I know my messages are really propagating on the Usenet?

When you post a message to any newsgroup, it should--depending on your type of Internet access--start showing up on other sites within a few minutes or hours.

If you are not sure whether your postings are leaving your site, post a test message to one of the major Usenet testing grounds such as alt.test or news.test. Out in the vast reaches of the Usenet, some sites have set up programs, called autoresponders, that automatically send e-mail replies to messages posted to the biggie test newsgroups. The autoresponders are cool because: 1) you get to see that your message is reaching other sites, and 2) you get lots of e-mail from all over the world. Here's a typical automatic reply to a message I sent to the newsgroup ca.test: 

To: waffle@rahul.net
From: testrep@xyzoom.info.com
Subject: Re: My Funky Test
Precedence: junk
Your test message posted to ca.test was received at xyzoom.info.com on

Wed Feb 23 07:45:23 PST 1994.

xyzoom.info.com is located in the Hollywood Hills, California, USA. 
(specifically, just below the Hollywood sign)

Your email address was derived from the From: line of your test posting.
Your entire message is enclosed below shifted by '>'.

No response is required from this message. It's just to let you know that

your test was received. If you feel that you must respond, please do so
to
"rob@xyzoom.info.com" as replies to the sender of this message are 
automatically discarded.
If you would rather not see these automatic responses, please include
the 
text 'ignore' in the body of future messages.
        -Rob
--
Rob Lingelbach KB6CUN | 2660 Hollyridge Dr LA CA 90068 213 464 6266
(voice)
rob@xyzoom.info.com   | "I care not much for a man's religion whose dog
or
robl@netcom.com       |  cat are not the better for it."  --Abraham
Lincoln

>Newsgroups: ca.test
>From: waffle@rahul.net (Kevin Savetz)
>Subject: My Funky Test
>Message-ID: <CLo8Et.CyM@rahul.net>
>Summary: Won't you take me to Funky Town?
>Sender: news@rahul.net (Usenet News)
>Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 09:44:53 GMT
>Lines: 9
>
>Some day I hope post test messages FOR A LIVING.
>
>-Kevin Savetz
>
>--
> "Anybody who uses email probably has three times more opinions per
head
> than people who don't." -Scott Adams, "Dilbert"
>[ Kevin M. Savetz -- savetz@rahul.net             ]
>[                 -- faq-book-info@northcoast.net ]
If you don't want automatic replies to your test messages, put the words no reply or ignore in your test post's subject line.

Note: Probably useless trivia: some test reflectors will also ignore your posts if your subject line includes any of these words and phrases: no replies, keine antwort, fresse, maul, schnauze, klappe and sei still.)

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