Last week I posted a list mode update. Guy Colby replied privately to me, and Claire Clark replied on the list. They both made excellent points, so I'm responding here for all to read. Guy wrote, "Thanks for updating us. Just out of curiosity, has anyone at Rootsweb ever given you a reasonable explanation as to WHY only two lists (out of 32,291) are having this problem?" The short answer is no. I've never received an explanation and have only been told the same thing over and over: the engineers are working on it. Only when I pushed yet again recently did I learn about the two management changes at Rootsweb this year. If there were a lot more affected lists, I think there'd be chatter about it on the Listowners list. I've posted about our problem from time to time on Listowners but have gotten nothing useful in return. Sooo...I don't know how many lists are affected, but I think it's safe to bet that India and Wig are the only ones. If there are more, the India list admin and I haven't found them, and Rootsweb isn't telling. With next to no lists reporting this problem, it's hard to get action from Rootsweb. Now to Claire's suggestion: "I guess I don't want to know all the reasons why the list is failing but can it be rectified by closing the list and re starting with a new name? The list archive would remain attached to the old list for search reasons. How about SCT-Wigtownshire-new ???" This is, indeed, the creative, unconventional, and drastic remedy that we proposed to our Rootsweb contact . However, his response leaves us in limbo: "Thank you also for the suggestion to create a new mailing list. If this situation continues on much longer, we may consider this. However, I am still hopeful to get this resolved soon." Sooo...we remain at Rootsweb's mercy. How much longer is "much longer?" If they can't fix us or reinstate us with a new name, we may have to consider moving our list to another provider. Our first leader Wayne Hannay did this many years ago, but we lost our archives in the process. I'm not willing to give up 13+ years of archives yet (though I think there's a way to keep them even if we move our business elsewhere -- but that's for another day). Crawford, Bruce, and I thank you yet again for sticking with the Wig list. Your patience through all this demonstrates how special our "hangout" is and how much it's worth saving. Mary >Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 21:50:31 -0400 >From: Mary Richardson <mrichson@ix.netcom.com> >Subject: [WIG LIST] List mode update >To: "Mail list: WIG" <SCT-WIGTOWNSHIRE@rootsweb.com> >Cc: Ian Poyntz <ian.poyntz@gmail.com> > >Dear listers, > >I'm posting for a couple of reasons. First of all, I wanna make a >post show up in a digest since we haven't had one since September >23rd, and some of you have asked me if our list is still alive. Yes, >it is, but we're clearly limping. If you ever wonder if you've >missed a post, you can always check our >archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/SCT-WIGTOWNSHIRE/. > >More importantly, I want to update all you faithful listers about the >state of our list mode. My Rootsweb contact used to update me >monthly about our problem (albeit with nothing to report), and then >his reports became more sporadic. I last heard from him four months >ago, so I wrote to him earlier this month. What I received from him >wasn't promising. Apparently there have been two management changes >this year, which could have impeded resolution of our problem. > >Our contact says he remains hopeful about a resolution, but we don't >share his optimism and have told him that we're discouraged. With >Crawford and Bruce's agreement, I've written to our contact and >suggested a possible bypass to our problem. It's creative and >unconventional, but it's also drastic. We await Rootsweb's response >to our idea. If they agree to it, we'll share more about it on the >list because it will affect all of us. Until then, we thank you SO >much for your continued patience. > >Mary > >P.S. Have I mentioned that we're not the only list with this >problem? INDIA has it, too -- succumbed to broken list mode >"illness" about three months after we did. I keep in touch with the >INDIA list administrator. He and I have yet to find other lists that >are affected like ours.