This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: Diana_Smith_ Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.arkansas.counties.saline/1545/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Just wanted to introduce myself: I am Diana Hardman Smith. In all honesty, I have no connection to Saline County, but have enjoyed being a "message board administrator" for several years and now I look forward to taking care of Saline County's board. What does this mean for board users? Not much that you'll notice. As a proactive administrator, I review each new message shortly after it is posted to ensure it complies with the Community Guidelines (link at the bottom of this page), concerns Saline County and has appropriate Subject, Surnames entry and Classification. So what are "appropriate Subject, Surnames entry and Classification"? I believe that question is easily answered by reading "What are the steps to creating a great post?" in the Board FAQ http://boards.rootsweb.com/boardfaq.aspx#greatpost I will also, over the coming months, review the old posts for the same criteria. I cannot stress the importance of accurate entries in the Surnames field. These entries create a searchable index of every message on every Ancestry/RootsWeb board. Think of it as the card catalog for the message boards. When you go to a library, you expect the card catalog to be accurate, don't you? If there is a card for a specific book, you rightfully expect the library to possess that book. Likewise, if the Surnames entry contains a specific surname, you should expect that surname to be mentioned in the message. When a surname (that is in the message) is omitted from the Surnames entry, it's the equivalent to the library not having a card in the catalog for that book. The surnames entries should contain "only but all" of the surnames mentioned in that post. Since the field is named "Surnames", we shouldn't see such words as "and", "many", "others", "etc." or any other description in the entry. Please list the surnames separated by commas (example: One, Two, Th! ree). If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please e-mail me privately - just click on the Board Information link to find my address. Di Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.