I carefully split a posting into 4 parts, each under 20K; two listers replied to one part, each adding a single sentence, shorter than this paragraph. Their reply ended up in my PENDINGs showing as over 45K my list limit. What in the WORLD did they do to manage that!? I didn't see any html coding, it looked like plain text ... but since my choices were reject/approve, I picked approve. This isn't the first time mailman has objected to the length of a message that didn't look like it ought to hit even a 10K limit. Cheryl

Rootsweb doesn't close lists. They allow them to remain inactive in the event someone does come along and start a conversation. If you list doesn't have an open gateway go to the tools page and click on privacy options > accept list > bottom of the page select discard. This will dump the junk and put an end to the time you waste. Joan Asche On Mon, Aug 6, 2012 at 1:00 PM, Joyce Hambleton Whitten <joycewhitten@centurytel.net> wrote: > My list (SAFLEY) hasn't had any traffic for some time, the last posting > was Nov 2011. All I ever do is delete the non subscriber posts several > times a week. Is there any way to block this stuff so I don't have to > deal with it short of closing my list? I have some vision problems and I > am getting really tired of having to spend time on this. > > Joyce Hambleton Whitten > > -- > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to LISTOWNERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

To be honest, if you look at the email notices you get, you can almost always tell if something is spam. If it is, you don't really need to do anything, it'll get deleted after awhile, if no action is taken. If you wanted to, you could just check the email, and if it's obvious that it's spam, just leave it as-is, it'll get deleted later. (Maybe not the BEST advice, but, it's better than shutting a list down, I think.) Nov. 2011 isn't that long, though, for some of those less common lists...at least I don't think so... Hope this helps, -David Reed List Administrator: MAINE, NEW-ENG-GEN, MELINCOL (Maine, Lincoln County), ME-IRISH, CEMETERIES-HISTORIC-PRESERVATION, MARIN --------------------------------------------- "Actually, there is only one 'first question' of government, and it is "How should we live?" or "What kind of people do we want our citizens to be?" - George F. Will (1941-), American political commentator  Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. -----Original Message----- From: listowners-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:listowners-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Joyce Hambleton Whitten Sent: Monday, August 06, 2012 1:00 PM To: listowners@rootsweb.com Subject: [LO] Question about non subscribers My list (SAFLEY) hasn't had any traffic for some time, the last posting was Nov 2011. All I ever do is delete the non subscriber posts several times a week. Is there any way to block this stuff so I don't have to deal with it short of closing my list? I have some vision problems and I am getting really tired of having to spend time on this. Joyce Hambleton Whitten -- ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to LISTOWNERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

My list (SAFLEY) hasn't had any traffic for some time, the last posting was Nov 2011. All I ever do is delete the non subscriber posts several times a week. Is there any way to block this stuff so I don't have to deal with it short of closing my list? I have some vision problems and I am getting really tired of having to spend time on this. Joyce Hambleton Whitten --

No...the poster owns his posts (copyright) and the archives are a listing (like the minutes of a meeting) of what transpired on a list on any given day. The only person who can delete a post from the archives is the owner/poster...unless, of course, the posts violate RootsWeb's TOS. Joan In a message dated 8/4/2012 5:05:47 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, vivm2007@woh.rr.com writes: I am the listowner of Blevins-Va and I was wondering if we can delete the posts of a previous subscriber once they leave the list. Or at any time? Vivian

I am the listowner of Blevins-Va and I was wondering if we can delete the posts of a previous subscriber once they leave the list. Or at any time? Vivian

I have been trying to remove an email address from the banned list and it keeps giving me an error message: “ Error: Bad email address for option ban_list: “ How can I remove the email address from this list? cheers, Robynne

All lists are now officially up for grabs. Mailing lists FLAKE MAUZEY PRING

- Flake - Hollers - Mauzey - Web They've been orphaned feel free to contact Rootsweb to get them.

I'm referring to those subscribers who may have reposted entire digest instead of single messages (threshold is 20 kb), or attempt to send with attachment. The fake ones are ones who try to post which are usually spams. Much fewer if "Discard" is used. David S. On 8/2/2012 12:05 PM, Darrell A. Martin wrote: > (I am, however, curious about your definition of "real > ones", for my own curiosity.)

On 8/2/2012 12:40 PM, W David Samuelsen wrote: > I set one of my lists to Hold yesterday. > > Today, I don't like it - every one was a spam I normally see in my > Mailwasher spam hold. > > Changed back to "Discard" setting. It already filtered out the spams and > allow the real ones in for me to check on. > > W. David Samuelsen David: That is what I would expect, from a list that never gets legitimate messages from non-subscribers (or does so very rarely). That is true of a few of my lists, but in the past has not been true for the great majority of them. (I am, however, curious about your definition of "real ones", for my own curiosity.) There is no substitute for familiarity with your own lists! Speaking of which, this discussion has caused me to consider ... yet again ... whether I still want to have my board gateways open to my lists at all. The initial indications are the metrics have changed from the last time I did this, and very significantly for the worse. By this I mean: -*- the number of legitimate non-subscriber messages that do not come from the board gateways is now zero or so close as not to matter -*- the useful messages arriving from the board gateways are a babbling brook where they used to be a river, and have slowed to an unsteady drip otherwise -*- the number of crud / junk / malicious / SPAM messages that RW's filters do not catch for me has increased significantly, although not horrendously -- this isn't a determining factor for me, but it sure doesn't help If what I have seen so far this week remains true for the rest of August, I am going to shut the gateways completely for all but one or two lists -- that will open the door to use of the "Discard" setting. I don't like the idea of having to check "Pending" manually for all my lists AT ALL, but it may turn out to be the most practical approach. I do not see this as a good sign for my participation as a RootsWeb list admin **long term** ... or for RW mailing lists in general. But nothing is forever. :( Darrell

I set one of my lists to Hold yesterday. Today, I don't like it - every one was a spam I normally see in my Mailwasher spam hold. Changed back to "Discard" setting. It already filtered out the spams and allow the real ones in for me to check on. W. David Samuelsen

I gave up years ago reporting spam in pending files after coming to the conclusion that it doesn't work. If I recall at one time staff admitted that this tool was broken, I think they said it was fixed, but. . . Joan On Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 10:50 AM, singhals <singhals@erols.com> wrote: > Ian Marr wrote: >> My last comment on the subject (since a very small minority are getting very >> nasty in private mails). >> >> If everyone used the discard option, how would we ever get the spam filters >> trained so that the volume can be reduced even before it hits our pending? > > IME, reporting spam to the filter only increases the amount > of it. > > As for training the filters? From the personal > record-keeping I did, it looked as if what they were being > trained to do was to reproduce themselves daily. Each time > I reported a single spam, I got 2 the next day; if I > reported 2, I reaped 4; if I reported 74, I got 148 ... this > is counter-productive and an utter waste of time and > resources. There is a limit to altruism, after all. > > Moreover, the discussion has branched like the Nile delta. > One main branch is on about the Pending Requests; one main > branch is looking out for the [listname]-admin@ mail. and > each has divided into groups who are talking about the other > branch with examples from the other branch. > > Cheryl >

In the last month or so I've had a handful of list description changes and Thunderbird has done something weird with my filtering such that I can't for the life of me figure out where they got moved to. If you sent one (or want one), please ping me again at maillist@rootsweb.com. Do please give the proper name of the list, it makes my life much easier. :) --pig

My apologies. That should have never been said and I am sorry. The emotions of the moment can really get me in trouble sometimes. Jim -----Original Message----- From: listowners-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:listowners-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Diana Gale Matthiesen Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 11:52 PM To: Listowners-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [LO] ADMIN NOTE: You are certainly free to have a different opinion, but please do not tell me to keep my opinion to myself. Diana

Nelda, that was me you quoted. Thank-you. :-) -David Reed List Administrator: MAINE, NEW-ENG-GEN, MELINCOL (Maine, Lincoln County), ME-IRISH, CEMETERIES-HISTORIC-PRESERVATION, MARIN --------------------------------------------- "Actually, there is only one 'first question' of government, and it is "How should we live?" or "What kind of people do we want our citizens to be?" - George F. Will (1941-), American political commentator  Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. -----Original Message----- From: listowners-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:listowners-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Jim Jackson Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 9:52 AM To: 'Nelda Percival'; listowners@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [LO] LISTOWNERs List Very well said! Also, a big thank you to Pig for handling this forum the way she does. She allows the "child" in us (me) to show itself and knows just when to reign us in and set us straight. Jim -----Original Message----- From: listowners-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:listowners-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Nelda Percival Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 2:49 AM To: listowners@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [LO] LISTOWNERs List hip hip hooray! "Maybe we could all agree that each List Admin should be thanked for giving their time and efforts to their lists, to the best of their abilities, for the time they are able to devote to this wonderful project." (extracted from a different email) Well said! nelda ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to LISTOWNERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to LISTOWNERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I don't know about anyone else, but, I just discard the stupid things and move on with my day. -David Reed List Administrator: MAINE, NEW-ENG-GEN, MELINCOL (Maine, Lincoln County), ME-IRISH, CEMETERIES-HISTORIC-PRESERVATION, MARIN --------------------------------------------- "Actually, there is only one 'first question' of government, and it is "How should we live?" or "What kind of people do we want our citizens to be?" - George F. Will (1941-), American political commentator  Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. -----Original Message----- From: listowners-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:listowners-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of singhals Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 10:50 AM To: ZListowners LO Subject: Re: [LO] Pending Lists & Discard Ian Marr wrote: > My last comment on the subject (since a very small minority are > getting very nasty in private mails). > > If everyone used the discard option, how would we ever get the spam > filters trained so that the volume can be reduced even before it hits our pending? IME, reporting spam to the filter only increases the amount of it. As for training the filters? From the personal record-keeping I did, it looked as if what they were being trained to do was to reproduce themselves daily. Each time I reported a single spam, I got 2 the next day; if I reported 2, I reaped 4; if I reported 74, I got 148 ... this is counter-productive and an utter waste of time and resources. There is a limit to altruism, after all. Moreover, the discussion has branched like the Nile delta. One main branch is on about the Pending Requests; one main branch is looking out for the [listname]-admin@ mail. and each has divided into groups who are talking about the other branch with examples from the other branch. Cheryl ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to LISTOWNERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

My last comment on the subject (since a very small minority are getting very nasty in private mails). If everyone used the discard option, how would we ever get the spam filters trained so that the volume can be reduced even before it hits our pending? Regards, Ian MARR at 38° 24' 01.299" S by 142° 34' 11.9094" E; 11m above sea level This message can be considered to be in the public domain. The home of SW Victorian Cemetery indexes: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~marr/ Allansford Weather (10 min updates): http://home.vicnet.net.au/~marr/Weather/ Remember, to EVERY question in life, there is MORE than ONE correct answer.

Ian Marr wrote: > My last comment on the subject (since a very small minority are getting very > nasty in private mails). > > If everyone used the discard option, how would we ever get the spam filters > trained so that the volume can be reduced even before it hits our pending? IME, reporting spam to the filter only increases the amount of it. As for training the filters? From the personal record-keeping I did, it looked as if what they were being trained to do was to reproduce themselves daily. Each time I reported a single spam, I got 2 the next day; if I reported 2, I reaped 4; if I reported 74, I got 148 ... this is counter-productive and an utter waste of time and resources. There is a limit to altruism, after all. Moreover, the discussion has branched like the Nile delta. One main branch is on about the Pending Requests; one main branch is looking out for the [listname]-admin@ mail. and each has divided into groups who are talking about the other branch with examples from the other branch. Cheryl

Ian, I'm curious about why you consider reading SPAM sent by someone who isn't one of your subscribers to be part of your admin job. It follows, I suppose, that the people sending those offers to enlarge body parts one doesn't own expects people to read the offer, but I don't see why anyone who has been on-line more than a week expect anyone else to. Cheryl Ian Marr wrote: > Joan, > > The answer, to me, is obvious. > > Rather than not doing the job properly for all your lists, reduce the number of lists you admin so that you can do the job properly > > Regards, > Ian MARR > at 38° 24' 01.299" S by 142° 34' 11.9094" E; 11m above sea level > > This message can be considered to be in the public domain. > > The home of SW Victorian Cemetery indexes: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~marr/ > Allansford Weather (10 min updates): http://home.vicnet.net.au/~marr/Weather/ > Remember, to EVERY question in life, there is MORE than ONE correct answer. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: JYoung6180@aol.com > To: ian_marr@bigpond.net.au ; listowners@rootsweb.com > Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 9:54 AM > Subject: Re: [LO] ADMIN NOTE: > > > Ian- > > It was getting so that it would take me at the minimum 2 to 3 HOURS every day just to delete all the spam in pending requests. The setting to DISCARD is NOT discarding "anything that suits me" -- it is discarding 100% SPAM. There was NEVER a legit message there asking for help. I still get the accidental subscriber post that lands in pending requests for a variety of reasons and the moderated list member posts...those I'm more than happy to handle -- but the non-subscriber spam being DISCARDED is the setting I and many other admins CHOOSE (as long as we are not moderating the gateways) AND if RootsWeb had any qualms with admins setting non-subscriber posts to DISCARD they wouldn't have created this option specifically so we CAN have the spam discarded. That is why this option was created! > > I can do my "job" as admin MUCH better if I have that extra 2-3 hours a day to help people and tend to actual list functions than if I were to devote that time to deleting spam from more than 100 list pending requests. > > Joan > > In a message dated 7/31/2012 7:35:20 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, ian_marr@bigpond.net.au writes: > Joan, > > I've sat back for a while while you laud the concept of just "discarding" > anything that doesn't suit you, and can't help wondering why you are a list > administrator at all. > > I admin many lists which vary from very slow to relatively busy. There are > many aspects to being an admin, and I try to do each justice. Welcoming new > members, being sure I respond quickly to queries, publishing a list > etiquette fact sheet, monitoring the messages, processing incorrectly > addressed messages, dealing with the "pending" list and anything else that > may come along. I regard each of these as an integral part of the job. > > They say any job worth doing is worth doing well. I just can't see how this > is achieved if any of us decide we won't do certain aspects because it > doesn't suit us. > > Regards, > Ian MARR