*WHAT TO POST* THINK about what you are posting and READ your message before hitting that "send" button. All genealogical subjects are welcome however be sure they are relevant to the list you're posting to. (Looking for John SMITH in MI is not appropriate to NORCAL - NORthern CALifornia). Provide significant information such as dates and locations. Capitalize SURNAMES. Cite references and sources if you have them. Some of my lists, such as CORNISH-GEN-L, are strictly genealogy-focused and others are more flexible. Understand the list you're on and post accordingly. *WHAT NOT TO POST* Virus hoaxes, virus warnings, Internet phone charges, dying child wishes, ANYTHING that tells you to forward the message to ten of your friends or all of your friends or everyone you know, current political commentary (ie. the war in Kosovo or Clinton's misdeeds), ANYTHING that is or appears to be racist, religious or political. We are NOT debate lists. If you are uncertain of the content of any message, write to me first. Do NOT post with a disclaimer such as "I know List Mom will be mad but...." or "Sorry List Mom but..." or "I know this is offtopic but....". All messages are important to someone somewhere. If concerned or interested in a rumor or hoax, visit: Urban Legends: http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/ Don't Spread That Hoax! http://www.nonprofit.net/hoax/hoax.html Computer Virus Myths Homepage: http://www.kumite.com/myths/ International Computer Security Association (ICSA) http://www.icsa.net/services/consortia/anti-virus/lab.html Computer Incident Advisory Capability (CIAC) US Dept. of Energy http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html *USE RELEVANT SUBJECT LINES* On high traffic lists (and in general) many people scan subject lines for material to read. Once a thread starts, often the subject line continues with something like "Re: Flag Day" and listers get discouraged. Feel free to CHANGE the subject line if the thread changes. THINK as much about your subject line as about the content of your message. If you are posting an URL, don't just put "Great Website!" in the subject - give some brief description such as "New SSI Website" and be sure the (correct) URL is in the body text. PLEASE change the subject line on digest replies. A subject line with "Re: ELLIOTT-D Digest V99 #105" is very frustrating. *REPLY TO A MESSAGE* Be sure a response is warranted and that yours is appropriate and relevant. "Me, too" or "I can't help you" replies to on-list posts are superfluous. When you reply to a message, use the "Reply to All" (or equivalent) choice and then EDIT recipients. Sometimes when you choose "Reply to All", the original poster AND the list is included. That means the original poster will get two copies of your response. And while we're responding...... *QUOTE ORIGINAL TEXT* A reply without quoted text is usually meaningless. You have to have something to tie your response to. However, while you're quoting original text..... *EDIT QUOTED TEXT* TAKE TIME TO EDIT! It's frustrating to all to have a whole message (or two or three), headers and all, quoted with a two line response. Edit out all but what you are replying to or what makes the original message make sense in the context of your response. Not editing quoted text or cutting out all the original threaded messages is very inconsiderate. *PUBLIC VS. PRIVATE* We encourage most research results and responses to be posted. However, if someone offers a lookup for instance, 50 responses of "Please look up John SMITH" are inappropriate. The lookup volunteer should require (on list) requests to be sent privately. Then the volunteer (if s/he chooses) can post results on list with a relevant subject line like "CADI Lookup/John SMITH". One of the risks of being on a mailing list is that people have access to you and will send you private emails, often critical or flaming. I will NOT involve myself in these exchanges for a variety of reasons however if you want my advice on how to respond, feel free to contact me. The best response is to ignore the person. If the situation gets out of control, on a CASE BY CASE basis, the person MAY be removed from the list. It depends on many circumstances. But I won't be involved in day to day private exchange. And while we're mentioning it..... *NO FLAMES* Flaming will NOT be tolerated in ANY form on ANY of my lists. *INSTRUCTIONS AND MAIL HELP* Sub/Unsub instructions are in the Welcome Message and posted periodically as list commands. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. USE THE CORRECT ADDRESS. If you need a copy of the Welcome Message, send an email to: <LISTNAME>-L-request@rootsweb.com (ie CORNISH-L-request@rootsweb.com) for list OR <LISTNAME>-D-request@rootsweb.com (ie CORNISH-D-request@rootsweb.com) for digest WITH "Archives" in the subject line (without the quotes) AND "get welcome.txt" (without the quotes) in the body. Turn off your signature. If you are having trouble with list mail, email me, NOT THE LIST. They usually can't help. Also, I can respond faster if I don't have to dig your message out of the digest. My address is plastered all over the place (including after the TOC in every digest) but for reference it's <yvonne@sonic.net>. Finally....use common sense, kindness and courtesy. Yvonne Oliver Bowers Listowner, Proud RootsWeb Sponsor, GenConnect Admin. *BRANSON*ELLIOTT*GARRISON*LORANCE*MOFFITT*OLIVER*SANDERS *CORNISH*CORNISH-GEN*NORCAL*SOCAL*CA-GOLDRUSH*