Hi Frank I am replying on list as others may have the same question The boards and lists co-exist side by side and more often than not have a corresponding list and board of the same name or subject but not always (both can be searched for previous posts as they are archived) With lists as we know, once subscribed any posting comes to us as subscribers, with boards you go to it and post and need to go back to the board to read, reply or post again (When you reply you can set an alert to inform you when anyone else responds to it) Where a similarly named board exists they *may* (but not always) be gatewayed to the list at the discretion of list and board admins (who may be one and the same) Obviously there may be board users who are blissfully unaware of the lists existence and vice versa, or one or other who don't like the format of list or board Any posting to the list will not be seen by a board poster, whereas any board posting (where the gateway is set up) will be repeated on the list So where you see the gateway message its just a matter of clicking the blue link and replying there, that in turn will be gatewayed back to the list I would just point out that sometimes with the boards they will not accept overlong replies and in some case certain characters seem to cause a problem, so short and sweet is the best method when replying to the board Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > Hi Nivard: > > Your comments spurred my interest. I have always wondered about the > gateway@rootsweb.com > how it works etc. I have tried to post to it and it does not go through > and > now I know why, Thank you. > > My question is however does every posting that goes to gateway get put on > the mail list. If so why do the people be required to join the List. > Perhaps I should ask Rootsweb but after what has been happening on another > list I am a bit hesitant in doing so. > > Thanks for any assistance you can provide me? > > Frank Easton > Sherwood Park lberta.