Hello list, I'm the volunteer admin for the Pendleton Co., WV *message board*.  Nedra explained the relationship between the mailing list and the message board very well, but I'd like to add one thing: When a post is made on the board, the author has the option of checking a box to receive an email alert when someone replies.  I believe the "reply made" messages are intended to activate that alert, for the benefit of both the board user and the person who replied on the list.  Like Nedra, I have no control over what someone posts on the board.  Post can only be deleted if they violate RootsWeb's Community Guidelines by being advertising, pornography, spam, etc.  While the wording of the last paragraph of the recent "reply made" post irritated me beyond belief, that in itself is not cause for deletion.  It's not even possible to contact that person and politely ask him/her to rephrase the information. Willow --- Nedra wrote: Secondly, there is also a Pendleton County message board at rootsweb which is public and requires no subscription. As a courtesy, any message posted on that board is forwarded to this list, but the reverse does NOT occur--our messages are private to only subscribers and are not posted to the Pendleton County message board. The message here which appears to cause recent comments was a reminder that not everyone (probably very few) who post to the message board subscribe to this list. Thus, a response here to a message board inquiry cannot be read by the original inquirer. Remember, that these message board posting are forwarded as they are written, including any replies also posted at the message board. As administrator of this list (but not of the message board) I have absolutely no control over their content nor the person making the inquiry. Often these are newbies so we do need some understanding.