Hello Listers, I find it useful to occasionally explain the message board posts that appear on this mailing list, especially for those that have joined recently and are not familiar with their operation. Posts that get distributed on this mailing list come from two sources. 1. Subscribers to the list (that means you) have sent their query/reply to the list's posting address -L@rootsweb.com Only subscribers can post and reply this way. 2. Posts made on the Ancestry/Rootsweb message board website at http://boards.ancestry.com are also copied to the list. As anyone can post to the message boards, to respond to a post coming from a message board, it is necessary to reply to the post via the message board website and NOT via the mailing list (because there is nothing that forces board posters to be subscribers to the mailing lists). All posts coming from the message board can easily be identified as the first line will be: "This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list." To respond to the message click on the URL/web address link which is about the 4th line in the post. e.g. http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/1VB.2ACIB/xyz the exact address is different for each post. So if the first line of a post says "This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list." go to the website to respond. If the first line does not say the above, use the list address -L@rootsweb.com to reply. Hope this reminder is helpful for the newer members. Cheers Shirley Fergus List Owner