Tammy: That is not against the rules, but usually the "Board Information" link/pop up is used for that purpose. I generally will, depending on the board, post a message that there has been a change in Administrator and point people to the Board Information link. Sometimes when there is need due to several people not "getting it", I will post an Administrative Message to a board. However, for either of those, I do not let them remain in perpetuity and will later go back and remove them. Board culture is not the same as list culture. It should be rare that Admin Notes are found. The rules are cut and dried for the boards, whereas they are more mercurial for the lists. So -- it would be mostly newbies that would not be aware of companion lists and gateways. Not all people want to subscribe and join a mailing list. Especially for a County as there is such a wide range of posts and they are, of course, only interested in their small corner and family name(s). I'd be more encouraging of this tactic for a surname list. However, the same rationale holds true. Sometimes people use the boards on a onsie-twosie basis. They may not have a bunch of research to do, just a single generation or collateral connection they are exploring. Good luck to you in your decision. Cheers, Lauren