Good News: The STEARNS list is back in service on RootsWeb. That's the really good news. The bad news, well there isn't any that I'm aware of at this time. Because of the way the lists were transferred from Maiser people who were already on the list will not get a copy of the new welcome message. That's part of what this message is for. The welcome message new subscribers are going to get is shown below. There are two parts, one for regular subscribers and one for subscribers to the digest for of the list. At this moment, everyone should be signed up for the regular list and get copies of every message sent to the list. If you want to change to the digest list, follow the instructions below. Part 1 is the normal welcome message and Part 2 is the digest welcome message. ALSO, let me know if you are interested in volunteering to take over ownership of the STEARNS list. I am not going to be able to continue for more than a few more weeks while we get settled into our new host's service. PLEASE READ AND KEEP this message! PART 1 (For the regular STEARNS List) Welcome to the STEARNS mailing list! You are currently subscribed in "mail mode", which means that you will receive every posting made to STEARNS 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 STEARNS-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 STEARNS-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 STEARNS-L-request@rootsweb.com to discontinue mail mode. Second, send the command "subscribe" to STEARNS-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 STEARNS-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. PART 2 (For Digest subscribers) Welcome to the STEARNS mailing list! You are currently subscribed in "digest mode", which means that several postings made to STEARNS 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 STEARNS-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 STEARNS-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 STEARNS-D-request@rootsweb.com to discontinue digest mode. Second, send the command "subscribe" to STEARNS-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 STEARNS-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. -- Chet Swanson Everett, WA mailto:swanson@premier1.net