ROBERTSON-L INFORMATION PAGE WHAT KIND OF MESSAGES SHOULD BE POSTED TO ROBERTSON-L? 1. The focus of discussion on this mailing list are those families who are known to have called themselves ROBERTSON at some time in their history. These families, at such a time, would have written ROBERTSON in their Bible (if they owned one and could write) and would have carved ROBERTSON on their tombstones (if they could afford them and if they could write). If these same families called themselves some other variant of the name at other times, it is hoped that the discussion here will always be visibly connected to the period in which they are believed to have been known to themselves as ROBERTSON. 2. Messages of a general nature that would reasonably be expected to be of interest to researchers of the ROBERTSON surname. 3. If a list member is also subscribed to ROBINSON-L, it is permissible to post a message to ROBERTSON-L and to ROBINSON-L (or other) list at the same time, *provided* the subject matter is otherwise suitable for ROBERTSON-L (1., and 2., above). WHAT SHOULD BE AVOIDED IN POSTS TO ANY MAILING LIST? 1. Please never ever post a message with an attached file to this (or any other) mailing list. This will result in your message coming to the list manager as an erro. You may offer to send such an attachment directly to the email address of those who request it. 2. When replying to a message, only include enough of the other message to make it clear what you are replying to. It is almost never a good idea to include the entire earlier message as your received it. This is doubly important when you are responding to a digest message. Your readers will appreciate this and it will reduce the load on the list server. 3. It is helpful, when responding to a message, if you will change the subject of the message if it no longer best describes the content of your response. 4. Please do not post a virus warning or anything that resembles a chain letter. If in doubt, check with list manager http://jrshelby.com/jr-email.htm. Such messages tend to multiply across the mailing lists and cause a strain on the list server. 5. Please do not correct or otherwise criticize another list member on the mailing list. Email your concerns to the list manager http://jrshelby.com/jr-email.htm, and let him handle it, as appropriate, and in private. Feel free to compliment or to express appreciation to other members on the list. 6. If you are experiencing some difficulty with the list (e.g., strange error messages, no mail, difficulty un-subscribing, etc.), please discuss these with the list manager http://jrshelby.com/jr-email.htm by private email. Do not post such concerns to the mailing list. 7. Please do not send a "me-too" message. If the list membership is being polled on some matter, you will be provided an email address to which you should send your response. Responding in that fashion, 250 list members would generate 250 pieces of email. If they responded to the mailing list, they would generate 62,500 pieces of email not of interest to the general list membership! HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM ROBERTSON-L Address an email to ROBERTSON-L-REQUEST@rootsweb.com leave the subject blank, and for the body, use the single word: unsubscribe and nothing else (turn off "signatures", if any). HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE from ROBERTSON-D Address an email to ROBERTSON-D-REQUEST@rootsweb.com leave the subject blank, and for the body, use the single word: unsubscribe and nothing else (turn off "signatures", if any). HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO ROBERTSON-L Address an email to ROBERTSON-L-REQUEST@rootsweb.com leave the subject blank, and for the body, use the single word: subscribe and nothing else (turn off "signatures", if any). HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO ROBERTSON-D Address an email to ROBERTSON-D-REQUEST@rootsweb.com leave the subject blank, and for the body, use the single word: subscribe and nothing else (turn off "signatures", if any). HOW TO SWITCH FROM ROBERTSON-L TO ROBERTSON-D Unsubscribe from ROBERTSON-L. Subscribe to ROBERTSON-D. HOW TO SWITCH FROM ROBERTSON-D TO ROBERTSON-L Unsubscribe from ROBERTSON-D. Subscribe to ROBERTSON-L HOW TO STOP ROBERTSON-L OR ROBERTSON-D WHILE ON VACATION Unsubscribe before you leave. Re-subscribe when you return. HOW TO POST TO *EITHER* ROBERTSON-L OR ROBERTSON-D Address your email to ROBERTSON-L@rootsweb.com IF YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS STOPS WORKING, (full mailbox, etc.) the Rootsweb LISTSERV server will drop you from the list when you have had 4 bounced emails. When you get it working again, you'll need to subscribe again. PLEASE SEND EMAIL TO THE LIST OWNER http://jrshelby.com/jr-email.htm (AND NOWHERE ELSE ) FOR HELP IF ... -You aren't sure if you are still on the list and you *want* to be. -You aren't sure if you are still on the list and you *don't* want to be. -You try to subscribe or unsubscribe and it doesn't work. -You are getting official looking messages from the list that you don't understand. -You feel that other list members are sending messages to the list that you believe to be inappropriate. (subject matter, format, language, etc.) -You believe that you have received unwelcome junk email (spam) that resulted from your being subscribed to this list. HOW TO CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS -Unsubscribe using your old email address -Subscribe using your new email address If your old email address in no longer available to you and you are still subscribed to it, you may request that the list manager http://jrshelby.com/jr-email.htm remove it for you. Worst case, mail will bounce to it 4 times, then Listserv will automatically drop it from the list. DIGEST PROBLEMS FOR AOL USERS There have been some reports that AOL users may have problems in digest mode (ROBERTSON-D), with AOL transforming the digest in some way or other of its own choosing. If it can't be resolved with AOL, it may be best to switch to mail mode (ROBERTSON-L). POSTS TO MULTIPLE ROOTSWEB MAILING LISTS Rootsweb strongly discourages addressing a single email to *more than* 5 of its mailing lists (e.g., ROBERTSON-L, ROBINSON-L, ROBERTS-L, ROBINS-L, ROBINETT-L) at one time. This generates a glut of mail on the same server at the same time. Please honor this request. HTML-FORMATTED POSTINGS If your message, when posted to the list, shows up in a different font, etc. from all the other messages, you are likely using a mail program that formats the email in HTML. Some do this by default (e.g., Microsoft Outlook Express) and you may not even know it. You are asked *not* to send such email to mailing lists. It can cause other list members some wierd problems. Such posts will be returned to you without being posted to the list.