Don't mean to obsess over this but it has me very curious as to why I can not see what you do...I don't know what to tell you but it doesn't make a difference if I go from the http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames. or http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames. ... I am signed in as administrator... click on the url for the gatewayed message----takes me to the board [tried changing from rootsweb to ancestry ] click on the author's name at the top of the message. That takes me to the "public profile" [no email] on the right side is "page tools" and "contact this person"....click on the "contact this person" and it then brings up the ad page for "We're giving you a FREE 14-day trial on Ancestry.com. Access the content you just clicked on - and much more - for 14 days FREE " So, either I am doing something incorrectly or the notice that all administrators would have access to the posters emails is not correct or there is a glitch in the works. Kay ---- Original Message ----- No, you do not need to have an Ancestry subscription for this to work. I'm not subbed to Ancestry and it works fine for me, as long as I remember to contact posters from the Ancestry side and to click on their user id within the message. Lynne