DISCUSSION LIST BASICS
Revised January 17, 2002
SENDING MAIL TO THE LIST
There are two addresses connected to the list.
The first address is where you send messages to the list members (called
“posts”), the second is where you send commands for the list server.
Messages to the list are
sent to hamtech@mail.hamtech.org.
When you send a message to that address, the list server first puts a
copy in the archives, then sends copies out to everybody subscribed to the list.
Most people will get a copy
of your message within seconds, but “digest” format subscribers may not
receive a copy for nearly 24 hours, depending on when you send the message.
Digest subscribers get all of the day’s posts stuffed into one large
message from the server, which is sent out each day at midnight in the Eastern
time zone.
To reply to a message so
that everyone on the list sees your reply, simply use the reply function in your
email program. Please keep in mind
that anything you post to the list will end up in hundreds of people's
mailboxes. If you would like to send a personal reply to someone without the
entire group seeing it, you will have to change list’s address to the
individual’s address.
Please
note that when you send a message to the Hammond list, you MUST send it from the
exact address you subscribed from. The
server will reject your message if it doesn’t recognize you as being a
subscriber. For example, your
mailbox may receive messages sent to both player@organ.com and
player@pedal.organ.com, but the list server believes that they are two separate
individuals. This is a common
problem for new subscribers, and an easy thing for the admins to fix if you let
them know.
SENDING COMMANDS TO THE SERVER
The other address involved in this mailing list is listserv@mail.hamtech.org.
This is where you send commands for the list server, for example to
subscribe, unsubscribe, switch to the digest form of the list, etc.
The server ignores the subject lines of messages sent to this address, so
please be sure to put your text in the message body.
The command to subscribe is
“subscribe hamtech your_first_name your_last_name” (example “subscribe
hamtech Steve Wiffwinkel”). Please
note that subscription requests not accompanied by first and last names are
ignored, along with ones from free or webmail sites.
The
command to switch to the digest version is “set hamtech digest”, while the
command to unsubscribe is “signoff hamtech” (both without the quotation
marks).
GETTING HELP
The list server uses Listserv™ software, which can send you help files for
some topics. To ask the server for
help, send email to listserv@mail.hamtech.org
with the word “help” (without the quotation marks) in the message body.
If
the server doesn’t give you the answer you needed, or you’d prefer to ask a
human, email your question or a description of your problem to the admins at admin@hamtech.org.
SUGGESTIONS FOR HAMMOND TECHNICAL LIST NEWCOMERS
During your first 2 weeks on the
list, you’ll be a “read only” member, or “lurker”.
Please use this time to try to get a feel for how the group interacts,
and the types of things that get discussed.
This will help you fit into the group more successfully when you start
posting.
You should look through the
list’s posting guidelines at http://www.hamtech.org/guidelines.htm,
as well as the FAQ (frequently asked questions) at http://theatreorgans.com/hammond/faq/
and mirrored at http://faq.hamtech.org
before your first post.
Please don’t let your
mailbox become full. When your mail
server can’t fit any more messages in your box, it starts sending them back
marked undeliverable. If this goes
on for too long, the admins will eventually disable your list mail delivery or
unsubscribe you. After you empty
your mailbox, you will need to contact them to have your list mail turned back
on.
Copies
of any messages you missed can always be found in the archives at http://mail.hamtech.org/archives/hamtech.html
ADVERTISING
For sale and wanted ads for
personal gear are welcomed on this list, but businesses are asked to limit their
advertising to contact information in their signature (which should be limited
to a maximum of 4 lines of text).
Businesses
are encouraged to send their contact information and a brief description of
their goods/services to the FAQ maintainer at faq@hamtech.org
for inclusion in the FAQ’s parts and service supplier’s list.
Ad & Lars
The Hammond List Admins
admin@hamtech.org