Hi all;
I have activated a Topics feature in our LISTSERV software. This can be used to restrict your incoming messages to specific Topic-Names. You may choose to use it or not, as you wish.
Current Topic-Names available are:
[More Topic-Names can be added, to a maximum of 23.]
FUN: = humour and silliness
LIST: = list-biz
NEWS: = news items
NONPD: = not a parkinson's disease item
PMID: = pubmed abstracts
QT: = quotes
TECHNEWS: = nerd items
UDALL: = political action
Receiving Mail from the List:
----------------------------
To continue receiving ALL mail as usual, you need do nothing. At the moment, everyone is set to receive ALL Topics.
[Everyone, that is, other than DIGEST-ers, who comprise 1/3 of our current membership. Topics restrictions only work on regular mail].
Restricting Mail From the List:
------------------------------
To stop receiving NONPD messages, send this command message to LISTSERV:
SET PARKINSN TOPICS -NONPD
To stop receiving NONPD and FUN messages, send this command:
SET PARKINSN TOPICS -NONPD -FUN
To start receiving FUN messages again, send this command:
SET PARKINSN TOPICS +FUN
Sending Mail to the List:
------------------------
1. To use the Topics feature, add the Topic-Name to the Subject Header in your message,
followed by a colon [:], and then a more detailed subject description [see my subject header above].
2. Topic-Names need to be used [and spelled] in the message subject header space correctly by listmembers.
3. Any message with no Topic-Name automatically gets distributed as OTHER by LISTSERV.
4. Any message with a mis-spelled Topic-Name automatically gets distributed as OTHER by LISTSERV.
5. Examples:
NONPD:
is correctly spelled, is followed by a colon [:]
= will be recognized by LISTSERV as a Topic-Name
= will be distributed correctly by LISTSERV
= will be distributed to those with +NONPD set
= will not be distributed to those with -NONPD set
NON-PD:
is followed by a colon [:], but is incorrectly spelled with a hyphen [-]
= will not be recognized by LISTSERV as a Topic-Name
= will not be distributed correctly by LISTSERV
= will be distributed as Topic-Name OTHER
NONPD
is correctly spelled, but is not followed by a colon [:]
= will not be recognized by LISTSERV as a Topic-Name
= will not be distributed correctly by LISTSERV
= will be distributed as Topic-Name OTHER
6. LISTSERV suggests that this feature works best on a moderated list; i.e. where the list-owner checks and corrects the Topic-Names on every message before it is posted to the list. Moderating this list would be well nigh impossible, except as a paid, full-time job! On an un-moderated list, this feature will work only as well as the listmembers want it to.
My comments:
Specific Subject Headers are basic 'Netiquette' for any E-mail use; for a large mailing list, they become even more important. Your local Internet Service Provider [ISP] will have 'Netiquette' guidelines available for new internet users.
E-mail software is specifically designed to read Subject Headers so as to allow sorting messages by 'Subject Thread', as well as by Date, or by Sender.
In my opinion, using the Topic-Names in the Subject Header of a message is simply a refinement to what we have already been doing, or trying to do.
[I thought it was quite a coincidence that I had started using the 'format' for Topic-Names long before I even knew such a thing existed; viz, QT: NEWS: PMID: etc.]
janet
janet paterson
52 now / 41 dx / 37 onset
613 256 8340 po box 171 almonte ontario canada K0A 1A0
a new voice: <http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Village/6263/>
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