| email list vs Web forum (why PM's do not always work) [message #109263] |
Tue, 21 December 2010 10:49 |
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mike miller
Messages: 3576
Registered: February 2004
Location: Hillsboro, Oregon
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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The following quotes where sent back and forth and highlights something that about the "GMCnet" keeps being missed:
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Mr.RadioActive wrote on Mon, 20 December 2010 07:09:
> Steve F. can you email me or someone send me his email address.
Robert Mueller wrote on Mon, 20 December 2010 14:32:
> Michael,
>
> If you subscribe to the email list you get the senders email in the header
> of every message:
> From: gmclist-bounces@temp.gmcnet.org; on behalf of;
> Steven Ferguson [botiemad11@gmail.com]
>
> As you can see the email address follows the senders name. Before you hit
> reply you can highlight and copy it. It disappears when you hit reply and
> goes away and gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org appears in the To..
Mr.RadioActive wrote on Mon, 20 December 2010 14:57:
> Still trying to get his email address! I'm not doing something right, and he
> doesn't apply PM 
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There are two main ways to access this forum. (Plus the digest... I'll get to it later.) Considering the differences in the the two systems, I am amazed it works as well as it does. The "seams" are so small that many do not realize anyone is accessing the forum differently than they are.
email list: This is the original GMC forum.
With the email list, you use some kind of mail reader to read the posts just like any other email you receive. When a post is "posted" (an email sent to the list server) the list server resends this email to everyone on the list. When you reply, YOU _do not_ send your reply to everyone... just one email to the list server. The list server does the resending of your reply.
The email list is often used by people with slower or not as reliable connections. It is also used by long time GMCnet'ers who think "It works, why change?"
You can tell a post was made through the list when the following is added to the bottom of each message:
The other main way to access the forum is with the web based forum. <http://gmc.mybirdfeeder.net/GMCforum>
The method is useful for people who use many different computers in different locations. (At home, at work and the like.) It has many possibilities that are currently not being used. (Mostly because the options would not translate to the email list very well.)
Both methods of access have their strong points and weak points. Each causes problems for the other method. Most of these "problems" can be ignored by the readers or minimized by the posters.
For example: emails sometimes garble the built in threading of the web forum, but as most mail readers normally will sort by subject, they never see the problem. When forum users hit "reply" the web based system does not quote any of the prior posts, so email users sometimes wonder what the reply was about.
Anyway, for the issue quoted above:
If a forum user PM's a list user, they will (most likely) never see the PM. That feature isn't translated to the list. It really isn't needed... "Listers" see the email address of everyone posting -- including the forum users.
Now to a third method: The digest.
The digest is like the email list except the system doesn't send out the posts as they are posted. It saves them up and sends many posts in one email. This saves on bandwidth and mailbox space on the receiving end. It is harder to respond and you should NOT just reply to the email... It uses a subject like: "[GMCnet] Gmclist Digest, Vol 29, Issue 94" This method is best for travelers (with little Internet access) and "lurkers" who hardly ever reply.
We could go on about the different methods and the issues with each... but "It works, Why change?"
Mike Miller -- Hillsboro, OR -- on the Black list
(#2)`78 23' Birchaven Rear Bath -- (#3)`77 23' Birchaven Side Bath
More Sidekicks than GMC's and a late model Malibu called 'Boo'
http://m000035.blogspot.com
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