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Below is the response to my FAQ about List Mail volume . I will repost this at intervals to asssist new members who are struggling with this issue. If anyone has any additions or corrections please write to me off list and I will make the necessary changes. It would be of help if some of you can make up other sets of instructions for other mail programs.
Q The PARKINSN List overwhelms my e-mail box so that other mail gets lost in the large number of list posts. What can I do short of leaving the list to manage the volume of mail that I get and read it at my leisure?
A. The PARKINSN list has over 1800 subscribers (at the time of this revision). Even though many of our members choose not to actively contribute this large membership results in hundreds of contributions per week. Since we want to make the list serve the varying needs of as large a percentage of the PD community as possible and to have fun there will inevitably be large numbers of posts that you will find that you don't have time for or are not interested in. You will find specific subjects or people whose posts you want to read and those that you would just as soon skip.
What follows is a list of suggestions of ways to approach the list volume and following this are further FAQ's describing each method in more detail. All rely on a heavy but hopefully selective finger on the delete key.1. Allow list messages to mix with other mail. This requires a fair
amount of time and almost daily review of email. It can also work if
you don't use e-mail for anything else. But, if you let messages build
up in your mailbox a few days you may find yourself losing your non-list
mail in the age volume that the list generates.2. If you have more than one e-mail address you can put all PARKINSN
related material in one address and download it as a separate logged-in
individual. This requires one to think ahead and download from the
address only when you are logged on for PD.3. Use the DIGEST function incorporated into the list. This takes
care of the problem but when it bunches all the correspondence from the
day into one or two long messages it makes it harder to read and
harder to delete from since you have to delete all or none**. It also
becomes less spontaneous since there may be as long as 24 hours between
Digests.
4. (RECOMMENDED) Create a separate mailbox within you own computer just
for list mail. Each mail program is different but most have this
ability. This separates list and non-list mail using filters from list
mail. Then one can go through all the list mail at your leisure,
allowing it to build up for a few days or responding immediately.I use netscape so I will describe how to accomplish #4 with that e-mail
program. If you wish info as to other programs you can ask on the list
and hopefully they will be incorporated in this FAQ.
Instructions for NETSCAPE
1. Open Communicator
2. Pull-down Menu click Communicator then Messenger (Or cntl+2)
3. Pull down EDIT then choose MESSAGE FILTERS.
4. A Message box Entitled Message filters will open Click NEW
5. A Message box will open entitled FILTER RULES
6. Fill in filter name PARKINSN
7. (Click) MATCH ALL OF THE FOLLOWING the (select) TO of the message
(select) CONTAINS PARKINSN (type in with exact spelling) then
(select) MOVE TO FOLDER (click) New folder.
8. A box comes up "new folder". (Type) name: PARKINSN Create as
Subfolder of (Click) INBOX (Click) OK. (click) OK. (Click) OK.
9. That should do it.** Gordon Fercho contributes the following regarding this:
Select the message you want to delete; then depress the delete
key on the
keyboard and it will disappear.
When you close the digest processor message it asks you if you want
to save
the changes. Click on SAVE and that's it. You'll have retained
only those
messages you did not select and delete.
Good luck
Charlie
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Charles T. Meyer, M.D.
Middleton (Madison), Wisconsin
[log in to unmask]
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