ThurlastonNet village Group email service

 

Thurlaston Parish Council disclaimer: 

Since 2002 Thurlaston villagers have benefited from the use of an email list server known as ThurlastonNet.  Thurlaston Parish Council has no responsibilities relating to ThurlastonNet, its maintenance, security or administration; it is managed privately by two villagers.  The service is technically quite separate to the Parish Council’s website.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Introduction

ThurlastonNet is a low volume mailing list, which allows villagers to exchange information with each other.  It is run as a volunteer effort by two villagers. 

The ThurlastonNet mailing list is a way in which we can communicate with each other through the email system. Members of the list generally either reside in, or have a connection with the village in one way or another.

The ThurlastonNet mailing list allows us to exchange ideas, and seek or provide help with problems.  You do not need to be an expert to join in. In fact, quite a few of the list members just read a lot and post little, or nothing. There is nothing wrong with that.  The members of the list are generally very helpful and very friendly.  In fact, we feel this is just a friendly gathering of villagers on the 'Net'.

This FAQ is intended to help to answer some of the more common questions beginners have about using a mailing list.  It also describes the ThurlastonNet mailing list, the list's rules (sorry, but we need a few to make things run smoothly).

The FAQ will be sent to the list periodically. 

Questions

This FAQ is intended to help answer some of the more common questions beginners may have about using the mailing service.  It also describes aspects of the ThurlastonNet and associated governance arrangements.

Q1    How do I join the list?

Send an email to listmaster@thurlaston.net with the subject: SUBSCRIBE
In the body of the email please give your name and postcode. 

Just click the "Reply" button on your email client. Most people use Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Outlook Express as their email client, which will send your reply to all members of the list. Other email clients may give you options to reply either to the list or to one individual.

Your reply goes to a "list server".  This is a computer, which hosts the mailing list, and is programmed to distribute the mail to all members of the list.  It is also set up so that non-members cannot send emails to the list.

Click the "Reply" button and look at the "To:" address.  It will say ThurlastonNet@groups.io.  Just delete this and substitute the address of the individual you want to send it to. It's also a good idea to remove the words "[ThurlastonNet]" from the subject line, so that the recipient knows that it has not been sent to the whole village.  On the same lines, it's not a good idea to tell all and sundry that you will be out on a particular evening.

The subject line will be prefixed with "[ThurlastonNet]" and the email will be addressed to: ThurlastonNet@groups.io.

In the text of your message, just write something like "Please reply to me@my_email_address.co.uk , and remind people not to click the reply button.

Just pop an email to: listmaster@thurlaston.net, with dates and we'll arrange for ThurlastonNet mail to be stopped while you're away. DON'T POST TO THE LIST THAT YOU WILL BE AWAY!

In an ideal world there would be no spammers (people who send junk-mail, usually of an unsavoury nature). To avoid this, we just want to know you are genuine.  We don't pass on your information.

The mailing list is a totally volunteer effort run and paid for by two volunteers, for the benefit of the village.

We normally check our email and the web-logs at least daily, but if we're away, it's whenever we can get onto a good WiFi signal. We normally try to respond by return, but please remember, we both have a life!

Yes, it's simple!  No personal information of any sort is passed on to anyone.  Once you post something to the list, you then give other members your email address. Please also remember that email is totally insecure, and can be read by anyone with sufficient technical knowledge.

The Rules  

Members of the list just expect normal standards of conduct from other members of this list. Any mention of Party Politics is forbidden. If you do not comply, you might face consequences ranging from consternation by your peers expressed in private emails, up to being removed or banned from the list. Removal from the list will be solely at the discretion of the list owner(s).  It has never happened yet.

You are expected to try and keep your postings within the range of expected topics. Please try to follow these guidelines:

• It is proper netiquette to monitor a list for several days or even a week or two to see what goes on, what the customs are, the level of discussion, etc. Please do that before making your first post to the list.
• Acceptable topics include: just about anything which has any relevance to the village.
• Unacceptable topics include: passing on Internet spams which promise good luck if you forward them to a certain number of people, although we all do like a joke once in a while!
• Any message which ends with "Pass this on to everyone in your mailbox", or something similar.  If it does, it's usually a hoax!  If you really think it might be a genuine virus alert, check it out on one of the hoax websites. http://www.datafellows.com/news/hoax.htm is probably one of the best hoax references, although there are many others. If you're still in doubt, send listmaster at thurlaston.net, an email off-list, and we'll advise.  Any form of Party Politics is forbidden.
• Please remember that although you may have a blazing fast broadband connection, many others do not.  Quite a few of our members have relatively slow connections, and pay by the minute when online. They will not appreciate the email which you took ages to format carefully with bold print, fancy borders and all sorts of other twiddly bits which increase the size of the email. It's a good idea before sending an email to the list, to format it in "Plain Text". This reduces the size by about 65 percent! Try and keep HTML formatting for occasions when it's essential to the meaning of what you are trying to say.  If you can't work out how to send in "Plain Text", don't worry - the odd message won't matter.  For the same reasons, when replying, please keep quoted text to the minimum needed to make it clear what you're talking about.
• Keep your signature brief - signatures (those lines at the end of your email message telling us who you are) should be no more than 3 or 4 lines long.  Any more than that is inconsiderate and annoying.  I have seen a signature block which is over 20 lines long - thankfully not on this list!   Do you really think we need to know your company's mission statement!?!
• Please be courteous to other list members.
• Spamming (the sending of unsolicited junk email) will not be tolerated on ThurlastonNet.
• This list represents one of the friendliest groups of individuals on the 'Net'.  It is the easiest mailing list I have ever run.  No one has yet been asked to leave the list for poor conduct.  Please help maintain the friendly, helpful nature of the group.
• THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE.   Don't worry if you make a mistake - we all have done!

Subscribing and Unsubscribing

Firstly you need to subscribe!  See Q1 above.

ThurlastonNet is an email list, therefore you need to make sure you can receive the emails.  In a perfect world, that would be simple, but unfortunately, we live in a world of SPAM (unsolicited junk email).   If you have SPAM filtering software in place, make sure you set things up to be able to receive email from ThurlastonNet even if it is not explicitly addressed to you (list emails are addressed to: ThurlastonNet@groups.io).
If you are still having problems, email us at: listmaster@thurlaston.net

The list is automated, so when you send your request to unsubscribe, no person will review your request.  Make sure to follow these instructions carefully.  There are two ways to unsubscribe.

1. Just click the link at the bottom of any email sent to the list, and it will all happen automatically, or;
2. Send an email to Thurlastonnet+unsubscribe@groups.io

If your questions are not answered above, just pop an email to either of us and we'll do our best to help.

 

Mary and Noel

Last updated: 19th October 2020