MAIL LIST HELPFUL HINTS

There are a number of E-mail lists that cater to the needs of those interested in herding or herding breeds. This lists are managed from a number of different sources and by several different list management software packages. Sometimes it can be hard to figure out what to do when trying to manage your mail coming from all these sources so I have put together some information that will hopefully help.

CORNELL LISTS

A number of E-mail lists are run from Cornell University using a software package called listserv. Among the lists managed from hear is SHEEPDOG-L, a list for Border Collie herding issues. I will use it as an example but you can replace SHEEEPDOG-L with the name of your Cornell run list.

SUBSCRIBING

To subscribe to Cornell lists you send E-mail to: listproc@cornell.edu in the body of the message put "SUB SHEEPDOG-L firstname lastname". where firstname and lastname are your first and last name.

Be sure to send this message from the mail address that you will be sending mail from (if you have multiple addresses) as only mail from the address you subscribe from will be accepted to the list.

POSTING TO THE LIST

To send mail to all other list subscribers, use the address: SHEEPDOG-L@cornell.edu. DO NOT use this address to send commands to change the way you receive mail. Also you should beware when responding to mail received from the list. Most mail programs will by default select the LIST address to respond to and NOT the address of the individual poster so if you want to send a PRIVATE response to a message be sure to check that you are using the individuals address and not the list address.

UNSUBSCRIBING

listproc@cornell.edu. In the body of the message put: UNSUBSCRIBE SHEEPDOG-L. Remember that you MUST send this message from the address you subscribed from.

If you cannot for some reason unsubscribe from the address you subscribed from then you must use the "subscription password" that will be sent to you when you join the list. It is generally best to just avoid having to do this.

CHANGING THE WAY YOU RECEIVE MAIL

You have control over certain aspects of how you get mail from the list. When you want to change the way you receive mail from the list you do not talk to a person but instead issue commands directly to the machine that manages the list and thus you MUST use a specific format in communicating with it. The address to send commands to is the same one you send subscribe and unsubscribe commands to namely listproc@cornell.edu. You can issue multiple commands in the same message but you must put each on a new line. As before the commands should be given in the body of the message not in the subject line.

USEFUL COMMANDS

	HELP -- This will result in you being sent an E-mail message will full instructions on sending commands.

TALKING TO A PERSON

IF you need to talk to a person about the list you generally contact the owners of the list, their addresses will be sent to you when you subscribe so file them away somewhere incase you need them. A second source of assistance for technical issues can be obtained from the mailing list manager at Cornell at: listmgr@cornell.edu.
In any correspondence about your subscription, please be sure to include:

- the name of the list in question

- a full description of what the problem is

- any error/notification messages you may have received.

Please remember that the mailing list manager is a very busy person so whenever possible issues should be addressed to the list owners first.