READ ALL OF THIS MESSAGE !!!!! IT CONTAINS SEVERAL VERY IMPORTANT GUIDELINES !!!!! READ ALL THE WAY TO THE END !!!!! I'm going to post this at least every other day, maybe daily. There are too many new users subscribing each day and most don't read the Welcome Message. Sorry to bother the rest of you, but after you have read this once, you can just delete it from then on. 1) Us a proper Subject line !!!!! The correct format is: DOE, John A.; 1780-1910; England>VA>GA 2) If you have many surnames, try to send email with no more than two per message. You can easily type in info for 2 names in the Subject line. 3) In the Subject line AND in the body of the message, type the SURNAME in ALLCAPS. This is standard when using the Internet for genealogy research. It makes it so much easier to pick out the names from the other text. 4) When replying to a query in the Digest, DO NOT reply with the default Subject, e.g., Re: SURNAME-QUERY-D Digest V98 #382. Delete that Subject and type in something meaningful, something that is a true description of what you are going to talk about. 5) DO NOT include the entire Digest or the entire text of a single email in your reply !!!!! Use your mouse pointer to "highlight" unwanted text and delete all but just enough of the original to identify what your reply refers to. To AOL Users: things work just the opposite for you; when replying to an email, highlight the text you want in the reply BEFORE you click the Reply button. 6) Send your queries to: [email protected] NOT to: [email protected] The address containing "-request" is ONLY for subscribing and unsubscribing. 7) If you want to unsubscribe, DO NOT attempt to do so by "replying" to an email you are reading on the List. If you do that, your subject line will reflect the subject of the message to which you are applying, and will be proceeded by RE: An unsubscribe message with RE: will NOT work at RootsWeb. Nothing is done and the message is forwarded to me, the Listowner. Then I have to take the time to manually unsubscribe you. 8) You MUST send your unsubscribe message to: [email protected] Notice that this is exactly the opposite of sending email to the List. If you send an unsubscribe message to: [email protected] It won't work and your attempt clutters up the List with unnecessary email. 9) Do not discuss ANYTHING on this List except SURNAME research. There are other Lists for just about everything imaginable under the sun. Use the RESEARCH-HOWTO List for general genealogy research questions. Use the FTM List for discussing the FTM genealogy program. (There are also other Lists for other programs.) There are also Lists for Country, State, County, Area, Ethnic Origins, Specific Surnames, etc., etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseam. 10) If you wish to discuss anything contained in this notice, DO NOT send back to the List. Send to me at the address in the header of this message. 11) If you need to know if a List exists for a certain SURNAME, or for a certain ethnic group, or for a certain state, etc., go to the following URL and search for the List you want: http://members.aol.com/johnf14246/gen_mail.html This is John Fuller's web site and he has listed and indexed all the Mailing Lists and Discussion Groups on the Net/Web. You will find not only all the Lists at RootsWeb, but all the Lists on other servers that deal with Genealogy and related Lists/Groups. 12) If someone posts an email, offering to do look-ups or other research, DO NOT send your requests for such service back here to the List. Send them to the email address of the person making the offer. If you are the one offering the service, DO NOT, repeat DO NOT, send answers to requests back to the List. 13) DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES SEND ATTACHMENTS WITH YOUR EMAIL TO THE LIST !!!!! GEDCOM FILES MUST NEVER BE SENT TO THE LIST, WHETHER AS SEPARATE ATTACH- MENTS OR AS PART OF THE BODY TEXT OF AN EMAIL !!!!! If I have forgotten anything let me know privately and I will add to this notice. The user list is getting so large that we have to do everything possible to cut down on unneeded posts and to make it as easy as possible to download the daily messages and read those that apply to us. Short posts, good subject lines, and using the proper addresses go a long way in reducing the clutter here on the List. Regards, SgtGeorge Listowner