Membership
Mailing List Rules
The following Rules and Guidelines are sent to all those subscribing to SOG-UK-L as part of the Welcome message.
Rules: DOs and DON'Ts
We wish to keep this mailing list as free for members use as we can and free from rules. However, the list administrator will remove members who use the list to advertise services or products, for abusive behaviour and for persistently posting messages outside the scope of the list.
- Do please save this message so that you can refer to the details later.
- Remember to notify the list administrator if you change your e-mail address.
- All messages should be sent to SOG-UK-L@rootsweb.com. Don't try to send mail to SOG-UK-D@rootsweb.com.
- Do remember to check your e-mail options and select Plain Text. E-mail containing colour, underlining, special fonts, Rich Text, or HTML may be rejected by Rootsweb (to ensure that people with older software are able to read the messages).
- If you are going on holiday and don't want e-mail to pile up, then unsubscribe from the list just before you go away (unsubscribe instructions are given on the end of every list message) and subscribe on your return, quoting your membership number in the subject heading.
- If your Internet Service Provider has problems or your mail box fills up to the limit (if there is one), messages may 'bounce'. After four such bounces Rootsweb may automatically unsubscribe you, in which case use the subscribe process described above.
- Please don't try to send mail to the list from any other e-mail address other than the one that you subscribed from - it won't be posted to the list. The same applies to requests to unsubscribe. If you have a need to post from more than one of your e-mail accounts e-mail the list administrator at SOG-UK-Admin@rootsweb.com.
- Don't use the list as a medium for asking for help from officers or staff of the Society although such members may independently respond to general queries. Please contact the relevant Society staff via the published e-mail addresses for such matters.
- If you receive a virus warning from another party, please don't forward it to the list under any circumstances. The majority of these warnings are hoaxes (even if they do appear to come from a reliable source) and can cause a lot of unnecessary alarm. Normal e-mail without attachments, as on this list, cannot carry a computer virus.
- If you receive unsolicited offers of help from any professional genealogist resulting from this list, please notify the list administrator, including copies of the mail and any other evidence.
Guidelines: for those not familiar with Mailing Lists
- Reply to queries directly to the list so that others my benefit from and join in the discussion, unless your reply is only relevant to the originator of the query.
- It is beneficial to give your proper name in the message.
- It is helpful to say where you are from, especially if outside the UK.
- Be brief, but also ensure that you give enough details to allow others to identify with your query.
- Quote sources for information given in replies if applicable; if you are making an informed guess then say so.
- Reply to messages using the same subject line. Informative subject headings are more likely to bring informative replies.
- Don't quote the whole original message in a reply, even if your e-mail program does this automatically for you. (Especially if you subscribe to the digest list, when replying to an individual message contained in it.) Edit the quote to the relevant sentence, or a couple of lines.
- Don't use long signatures or sign-offs, spread over several lines, at the end of your message. This can irritate other members who have to download it, and it can become boring through repetition.
- Wherever possible, use CAPITAL LETTERS for surnames.
- Please don't use the list for personal e-mail.
- Don't send attachments with list mail. These can cause technical problems for some subscribers!
- Don't ask totally vague questions such as "seeking John Smith in London", identify the period and area as precisely as possible.
- Don't expect every request for help to be answered, especially if you are seeking particular names. If nobody has the answer, then there may not be a response.
- Don't make multiple postings across several lists and friends. That is a form of 'spamming'. It means that those who reply from the other lists will have their messages 'bounced' and this in turn causes more work for the list administrators.
- Never use 'Reply to All' when replying to list messages, this aggravates the problem noted above.
- Don't be afraid to ask questions - we all have to learn.
- Please be polite and considerate to other members.
Technical queries regarding the use of the list or with problems connecting etc. may be sent to the List Administrator at sog-uk-admin@rootsweb.com. The List Administrator cannot answer general questions about the operation of your software.