Recently there was a discussion about things members do that actually stop them from researching more effectively. One of those things is adding every surname you are researching to every email. What that does when someone does a web search (google, yahoo, lycos, etc) is to bring back posts that mean nothing to the person doing the research. A serious researcher will then stop looking at the serious things you would post. This also makes using the search option in our own list archives virtually worthless. A trick you can use if you want to keep your surnames on your posts but don't want to mess up researching them. Put a period between each letter such as B.O.Z.Z.A.Y; separating it from the next name by using a semi-colon. We will do another staged roll call in the spring like we did last fall. Lots of folks made some great connections when we did that and we always have new members joining us. This is the best time to post your surnames because it is with relevant research. Another tip is that when researching a common surname like my ROBERTSON try to narrow the field by adding some other terms like a first name, or a place. Use the advanced search features of a search engine to do this. It is considered proper to CAPITALIZED SURNAMES at least the first time they are used in a post. I sometimes move so quickly I forget to do this too, but if we all tried to do that, it makes those names stand out for a serious researcher. Just look at this email and you can see what I mean. Another thing members do is ask too general of a question. Like anybody have anything on ROBERTSON? The best post will follow the old news reporter trick of stating: WHO WHERE WHEN WHAT YOU KNOW WHY YOU ARE ASKING You will get much better answers this way. Many members are not highly computer literate. They know how to turn it on, and send email. So we need to be patient if someone doesn't know some of the wonderful tools available to almost everyone with a computer. 1. Spell check. This helps us communicate more clearly. You can normally set up your email to be spell checked before it is sent. Look on your tool bar (that bar at the top with little symbols) If you see one with an ABC that is spell check. 2. Reply vs. Reply to all. Reply sends a note just to the person who posted it. Reply to All send the response back to the entire list. Deciding which to use is a personal decision. I use the "sensitivity" meter to decide. If I have information that might be embarrassing the person posting the question I may reply privately by using my Reply instead of my Reply to All. If what I have I think could be used by more than the requestor I will use my Reply to All. 3. Rootsweb lists will not take attachments. So if you add them they will never come through. This is one of the levels of protection that makes sure a virus can't come to you from a real rootsweb posting. That is not to say that someone's home computer with an active virus can't send a bogus email that looks like it came from Rootsweb. If you see an attachment (some systems this is a paperclip looking symbol others say attachment) that is a clear indication you probably have someone sending you a virus. Delete that email. It is not coming from us. 4. Virus protection. Think of this like health insurance for your computer. If you don't have it and you get a virus it is going to be very costly. It is work it to run good virus protection. And please set it up for automatic update so you are always running it with the most current versions. This protects you and all your friends on the list. There are lots of good programs out there. (Please DON'T start a discussion about which ones you like on list) 5. HTML vs. Plain Text. HTML allows better formatting but does not work well with Rootsweb. To make sure your emails get through and there are no issues, set your format to Plain Text. This is normally located under either Format, Tool, Options, or Preferences depending upon the software you use. Hope these are of help to you! Always feel free to contact me off list if you have a question or if you are having any difficulty with the list. I want everyone on this list to get the most out of it as they can. Laura