If you are looking at this site you must have an interest in creating a new alt.* group, this page is intended as an aid to that process, ending with the method of sending a control message.

Some Brief Points That May Be Of Interest:

First off It should be pointed out that there are no rules in alt.*, there are traditions and there is common sense, but you are well within your rights to ignore both...That's the beauty of alt.

The alt.* Hierarchy was specifically made so that anyone can create and remove newsgroups, (here for history lesson) logically for those same reasons not all news servers automatically accept cmsg newgroup[1]and cmsg rmgroup[2] commands.

[1] cmsg newgroup is the command to create a new alt.* group.
[2] cmsg rmgroup is the command to remove an alt.* group.

Note - A control message is similar to an ordinary newsgroup post but it is intended to perform a function at the news server, such as create or remove a group. If the control message is sent correctly it wont appear in your newsreaders browser.

Both the cmsg newgroup and rmgroup are taken by the majority of  server admin as being advisory instructions, few will instantly add a newgroup and a minuscule amount will ever remove one, but this is where the process begins.

Pitfalls To Avoid:

Over the years groups have been shuffled into named hierarchies so that subjects of a similar ilk sit next to each other in your newsgroups file, the hierarchical style was born out of common sense and to aid the process of searching for a group of interest.
No one can force you to place your group into one of these hierarchies, but you may find it detrimental to the groups success if you ignore convention.
You may want to check at news:alt.config to find the correct hierarchy for your group.

Here are some simple guidelines that you should attempt to follow when naming a group, deviations way from these principle are said to cause problems for some older News Server software.-

There is also the very real possibility that the group you wish to create already exists and is not being carried by your News Server. This can be remedied by asking your ISP/News Provider to add the group.
To find out whether the group already exist, ask in news:alt.config

Newsgroup Propagation:

This is the real crux of the matter when it comes to creating an alt.* group. Anyone can send a cmsg newgroup to a server so many people do and as well as creating so called 'proper' groups they create joke groups, vanity groups, revenge groups and such like. There is nothing specifically wrong with doing this, but as a consequence of this freedom most servers wont automatically carry new newsgroups, and operate a policy of only adding alt.* hierarchy newsgroups on a customers request. 

Requesting a newsgroup is a simple matter of e-mailing your news server admin, they probably reside at
support@your-isp-name.com

So How Do I Get My Group On As Many Servers As Possible?

There are a few methods of doing this:

1) Post interesting and on-topic comments to the group, that way you will pull in any passer-bys.

2) Get your Usenet buddies to ask their own news provider/ISP to add the group to their News feed.

3) Keep dropping hints and plugging the newgroup in groups where you think that other people may have an interest in the subject.

4) Add your group to crossposts threads, some servers work on a need for a minimum amount of posts before they will add a group, this also allows people to see that the group exists whom then may take a look out of curiosity.

5) Write an attractive Charter[3] for your group, think of it as being similar to the blurb on the back of a book. A well written one may well sell the group to a few more News admin.

[3] The 'Charter' is a part of the traditional format of a cmsg newgroup, it isn't absolutely necessary but some news servers will not allow the group to be added unless it has a one so you may be harming your groups prospects if you don't bother. If you are going to write a charter It should explain the purpose of the group in a clear and concise manner, remember that this may be all that some news admin use to make a decision on adding the group.

The Cmsg Newgroup:

The instructions that follow are specific to the super duper Agent or Free Agent newsreaders, these are available at http://www.forteinc.com/index.htm .

Also at this point, it is very important that you realise that not all newservers propagate control messages- in other words your news server may not allow you to create a newsgroup.
The simplest method to find out if they will allow 'newgrouping' is to e-mail their support dept and ask.

Once you have Agent or Free Agent you must go to the agent.ini which you will find in the agent directory and modify (close any instances of the Agent newsreader, open agent.ini with notepad and word-wrap TURNED OFF, make the changes and save.) the following-

ShowAllFields=0
to
ShowAllFields=1

Then- 

Close the ini file and start up Agent.

Click on New Usenet Message.
Click on All Fields

Now fill in the fields with the following (obviously using your own group name)-


Subject: cmsg newgroup alt.(your group-name)
Newsgroups: alt.config,alt.(your group-name)
Control: newgroup alt.(group-name)
Approved: your-mail@invalid.invalid

For your newsgroups file:
alt.(group-name) [hit TAB] group description (note- the group description must not spill onto a second line and should give a brief outline as to the groups subject.)

Charter:
(Short paragraphs describing the purpose of your newsgroup. No more than one screen full if possible..)


[Add paragraph below for the pro-look]

Encoded binaries (e.g. pictures, compressed files, etc.) are forbidden.
Posts must be readable as plaintext.
Advertising is forbidden

Justification:
(What ever you feel is justification for the group.)

~~~~~~~ example ~~~~~~~

For your newsgroups file:
alt.arsehinge [HIT TAB] arsehingery on a global scale.

Charter:
Anything whatsoever is On-Topic.
Encoded binaries (e.g. pictures, compressed files, etc.) are forbidden.
Posts must be readable as plain text.
Advertising is forbidden.
No Gayelrods !

Justification:
Freedom of alt.*.

~~~~~~~ end example ~~~~~~~

Once you have created the group, confirmation of the control message should appear in news:control.newgroup If it doesn't you must then check the archives at isc.org to see whether the control message was successful. To do this go to ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/usenet/control/alt/alt.your-group-name-here.Z (it may take a day or so before it's updated, dont forget the '.Z' file extension)

If you now refresh your newsgroups list or 'get new newsgroups' the group you have created should appear...Warning...This may not happen instantly and can take several hours, in very extreme cases (depending on how good/crap your news service is,) days to appear.

What Is An Rmgroup?

So you found news:control.rmgroup
The purpose of an rmgroup is to send out a control message that is the reverse of your own, i.e. it attempts to remove the group you have just created (rmgroup = remove group.)

"Why the hell would somebody want to do that?", you're probably thinking.

Well firstly don't panic, as you are perfectly within your rights to create an alt.* newsgroup, it is just as legitimate for someone else to attempt to remove that group, its the way of alt.*- anyone can newgroup, anyone can rmgroup.
Supposedly the rmgroups original purpose was to remove the dead groups from servers, sadly it was misused to such a point that it is now tended to be ignored by most news admin. Take a look at ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/usenet/control/alt/alt.config.Z for a comical example of why most rmgroups are ignored (copy and paste the file text into Wordpad for correct formatting.)

If you feel you need more information on the rmgroup, the regulars of news:alt.config will be happy to clarify the situation for you :O)

A Booster Red Rooster?

The BOOSTER message is basically a repeat of the original control message, but with the word BOOSTER on the first line of the post/control message directly above 'For your newsgroups file:' The general idea being to give the newsgroup a bit of a propagation boost.
It is recommended that you send a BOOSTER two weeks after your original control message, and then once again six months later. Ideally you will just send the exact same control message with the word BOOSTER implanted as stated above.

A Conclusion?

A newsgroup is easy enough to create, the hard part is making it a popular group instead of a spam trap, try not to add to the spam traps with the knowledge you've gained from this page. Better to attempt to make a worthwhile group that's a good edition to Usenet rather than another empty. And remember - it is you who must bring in the contributors, it's very rare that there will be a bundle of people just waiting for you to create the group so that they can jump in and start posting.

Sounds like hard work?
Well it can be, it all depends on the group you want to make, sometimes its better to spend a bit of time doing some research at http://www.google.com/grphp?hl=en to see if there is already some interest in the subject. If there is a substantial amount of discussion already (and it doesnt have a home, i.e. discussion is spread all over usenet and there is NO existing group) you will find it a lot easier to get your own group up and running.

Background Reading and Links

Some UseNet history http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/~frossie/gr.html
UseNet FAQ and other stuff http://www.faqs.org/usenet/
Want to create a newsgroup? http://www.visi.com/~barr/alt-creation-guide.html
Post to Usenet through a web page and read the archives http://www.deja.com/usenet
Free news servers http://www.newzbot.com/sorted-group-table.html
Premium news servers http://www.newsreaders.com/newsfeeds/index.html

To e-mail me: a_usenetizen@hotmail.com