> I. Your new RootsWeb mailing list: > > OK, good news: your mailing list is ready to roll. Briefly (very), > people can subscribe to your list in mail mode by sending a message > to YOCKNEY-L-request@rootsweb.com that contains the word > > subscribe > > and nothing else. If they prefer digest mode, they should send the > command instead to YOCKNEY-D-request@rootsweb.com. To unsubscribe, > they should send the command "unsubscribe" to YOCKNEY-L-request@rootsweb.com > (if in mail mode) or YOCKNEY-D-request@rootsweb.com (if in digest mode.) > To switch from one mode to the other, they should unsubscribe from one > and then subscribe to the other. There is no "no mail" mode -- if they > want messages to stop, they should simply unsubscribe. (Suggestion: > use these commands to subscribe to YOCKNEY-L, as no one at all is currently > subscribed, and then send a test message through. Take your list > for a test drive, in other words.) > > To post to both YOCKNEY-L and YOCKNEY-D, messages should be sent to > YOCKNEY-L@rootsweb.com. Messages sent there will appear both places. > > Not everyone will be able to follow the directions for subscribing/ > unsubscribing. You'll find out about them because they'll ask you for help, > or because SmartList will forward their messages to you as something > it couldn't understand. (It's amazing what SmartList doesn't understand, > but don't get me started on that.) Anyhow, you can add/delete people > from YOCKNEY-L and YOCKNEY-D by using the URL: > > http://lists.rootsweb.com/tools/YOCKNEY > > You can also use that form to get a list of all the subscribers. To > use the form, you'll need the p a s s w o r d, which is: > > bickley > > Can commands be sent instead via e-mail? Yes, but the syntax > can seem a bit difficult, and we haven't documented it well. > If you find the web form inconvenient, stop by one of the list managers > mailing lists (details below) and ask how this is done and one > of the other list admins will be happy to give you a hand. > There's also a discussion of sending comands via e-mail at the URL: > > http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/listowners/xcommand.htm > > If you decide the e-mail approach a go, you need to be aware that the > technical ``listowner'' or ``administrator'' address for your mailing > list is YOCKNEY-admin@lists2.rootsweb.com. (Don't panic: > any and all mail sent to that address is automatically > forwarded to you.) > > The downside of managing a mailing list are the bounce messages. People > will sign on with broken addresses, or they'll change ISPs and not > unsubscribe first, or their mailboxes will fill up, etc. SmartList > will helpfully send you copies of all the messages that are bounced > back to it. You can generally ignore these -- one of the "smart" > things about SmartList is that after four or so bounces, it > automatically removes the subscriber from the mailing list. If the > bounces from a given address persist for more than a day, or there are > so many that you dread to check your mailbox, you can use the webform > above to zap the offending address. If the bounces from a given address > persist for more than a day, but that address isn't (and wasn't) > subscribed to YOCKNEY, drop me a note and I may be able to help > you figure it out. (People sometimes forward their mail from their > subscription address to yet another address, which then goes bad: > those can be real headscratchers to decipher.) > > For more information on managing a SmartList mailing list, please > stop by > > http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/listowners/guidelines.html > > If you have a question that wasn't covered here, but that you suspect > one of the other RootsWeb list admins may know the answer to, please > post your question to listowners-L@rootsweb.com, the mailing list for > RootsWeb list admins. If you think your question is a "newbie" > question, there is also the mailing list for newbie list admins: > NEWBIE-LISTOWNER-L@rootsweb.com. You can subscribe to these lists by > sending the command "subscribe" to listowners-L-request@rootsweb.com and > NEWBIE-LISTOWNER-L-request@rootsweb.com (Yeah, one is listowners > plural and the other listowner singular, sorry about that.) > > If you have an administrative request having to do with your list a note to > us at listmaster@rootsweb.com is probably in order. Please please > please DON'T write to listmaster@rootsweb.com if you simply have > a question, but instead explore the above avenues for answers: > we're way behind here and time spent answering your question is > time we didn't get to spend adding data to RootsWeb for all to use, > etc. > > John Fuller, johnf14246@aol.com, will contact you to confirm > how you want your list described for his mailing list web pages at > http://members.aol.com/johnf14246/gen_mail.html. John passes > the information he collects along to Steven Schlossman, who has > currently been suckered into maintaining the pages at > http://www.rootsweb.com/~maillist > This means it may be a bit before your mailing list appears on > the lists of mailing lists. Writing me and nagging me about it > won't do any good: John and Steven are hardworking volunteers, > but sometimes it takes them a day or two to get to things. Be > patient. Please DO answer John; not doing so tends to lead listmaster > to believe you didn't want the list you requested. > > Finally, a word about welcome messages. Any new subscribers (no > matter how they join, by subscribing themselves or being added by you > via the web form) will be sent a welcome message by SmartList. The > default message is appended below. You'll probably want to replace it > with something a bit more tailored to your list. If you go to the > admin page for your list (the very first URL listed above) at: > > http://lists.rootsweb.com/login/YOCKNEY > > and look at the top of the page, you'll find a button labeled "edit > selected files". Among the files you can edit are the welcome > messages shown below. > > There are currently two welcome messages, one for YOCKNEY-L and one > for YOCKNEY-D. New YOCKNEY-L (mail mode) subscribers receive: > > Welcome to the YOCKNEY mailing list! You are currently subscribed in > "mail mode", which means that you will receive every posting made > to YOCKNEY as a separate e-mail. The directions on how to change to > digest mode are given below. > > 1. How to unsubscribe. Send a message to > > YOCKNEY-L-request@rootsweb.com > > that contains (in the body of the message) the command > > unsubscribe > > and no additional text. > > 2. How to subscribe. Whatever you just did worked, or you'd > not be getting this message. But for future reference (for instance, > if your subscription is cancelled for whatever reason and you > want to resubscribe), just send the command "subscribe" to > YOCKNEY-L-request@rootsweb.com. > > 3. How to change to digest mode (several postings are combined and > sent to you together as a single large message). There are two > steps. First, send the command "unsubscribe" to > YOCKNEY-L-request@rootsweb.com to discontinue mail mode. Second, > send the command "subscribe" to YOCKNEY-D-request@rootsweb.com > to start receiving digests. > > 4. How to change to NOMAIL mode. There is no formal NOMAIL mode. > All you have to do is follow the directions above and unsubscribe > when you want the messages to stop, and then when you want them > to start again, simply subscribe again. > > 5. If you'd like to post a message so everyone on the mailing > list receives it, just send it to YOCKNEY-L@rootsweb.com. It > will then be sent on to everyone in both mail and digest mode. > You don't need to send it explicitly to both. > > For your verification, a transcript of the original subscription > request is included below. > > And new YOCKNEY-D subscribers recieve: > > Welcome to the YOCKNEY mailing list! You are currently subscribed in > "digest mode", which means that several postings made > to YOCKNEY will be consolidated together and sent to you as a single > large message. The directions on how to change to mail mode (where > you receive every message as a separate e-mail) are given below. > > 1. How to unsubscribe. Send a message to > > YOCKNEY-D-request@rootsweb.com > > that contains (in the body of the message) the command > > unsubscribe > > and no additional text. > > 2. How to subscribe. Whatever you just did worked, or you'd > not be getting this message. But for future reference (for instance, > if your subscription is cancelled for whatever reason and you > want to resubscribe), just send the command "subscribe" to > YOCKNEY-D-request@rootsweb.com. > > 3. How to change to mail mode (each posting is sent to you as a > separate e-mail). There are two steps. First, send the command > "unsubscribe" to YOCKNEY-D-request@rootsweb.com to discontinue digest > mode. Second, send the command "subscribe" to > YOCKNEY-L-request@rootsweb.com to start receiving individual messages. > > 4. How to change to NOMAIL mode. There is no formal NOMAIL mode. > All you have to do is follow the directions above and unsubscribe > when you want the messages to stop, and then when you want them > to start again, simply subscribe again. > > 5. If you'd like to post a message so everyone on the mailing > list receives it, just send it to YOCKNEY-L@rootsweb.com. It > will then be sent on to everyone in both mail and digest mode. > You don't need to send it explicitly to both. > > For your verification, a transcript of the original subscription > request is included below. >