WACMA guidelines

[Guest guest]

Hi Friends,

It has been a while since I last posted the guidelines. My computer

crashed last weekend, and thanks to Chip, we were able to get it up and

running again today.

I plan on being gone all this next week, so now is as good a time as any

to post the guidelines. Please take the time to read them, and try to

remember them :-)

Kathleen

WACMA list manager

The following is meant to help new-comers understand how we manage this

support group, and also

for some of the old regulars who may have forgotten lately. Abiding by

these simple guidelines is all

that is required to be a participant.

1) Topic- Stay on the general topic. If the topic of the list isn't

religion or lava-lamps, don't run on

about religion or lava-lamps. (There are literally thousands of

newsgroups and mailing lists. If this one

is not what you are looking for, try other ones.)

2) When posting non-chiari specific material, say so in your subject

header with the initials

NCC (for No Chiari Content). Suitable NCC messages can include jokes

(even bad puns like some

of Bernie's), and general conversation - but let's keep these to a

minimum and use an appropriate

subject title to signify the content - changing the subject field is

very commonly missed by many.

3) Even if you use NCC, please don't submit anything that is of interest

to only one or two

people. We have over 1,000 group members. Those of us who have to read

all messages don't want

to read conversations that are better suited for private mail.

4) When posting to the group, remove all unnecessary quotations first,

as well as

everything else that isn't required. Do not resubmit the entire post

that you're responding to.

Many of our members have slower computers and/or email downloads, and

this can actually double

the time it takes to get their mail. It also slows down the speed for

everyone who reads the messages

on the web only. Quote *only* what is needed to allow the reader to

understand what you're talking

about.

5) Don't post attachments with your submissions, this

includes " Forwards " . They will be stripped by e-groups and won't go

through the list.

6) Please don't reply publicly to a message if your only contribution is

to say " me too " or " I

agree " . Those notes can be important sometimes (i.e.: - checking for

common symptoms not already

listed within the WACMA surveys). So if you feel it could be beneficial

to other members, elaborate

on your symptom, and how you deal with it, etc.

7) List policies and these guidelines are not open for discussion on the

list. All complaints,

suggestions, opinions, etc. regarding policy must be sent privately to

any (or all) of the WACMA

staff. They are:

Darlene Long: darlong@...

Bernie Meyer: internautbhm@...

*Chip Vierow: chip@...

* Chadbourne: scott@...

*Kathleen Grigg: grigg@...

* = list managers

8) Private mail- Never, under any circumstances, copy a private message

(or any part of a

private message) into the mailing list without the senders pre-approval.

Private mail is

generally intended to be just that- private.

9) Oops!- If someone posts an off-topic or inappropriate message, let

the mailing list

managers(s) deal with them. PLEASE do not reply to it. If you just

absolutely can't resist

replying- do it in private e-mail, not to the whole list.

10) Please don't send " virus reports " or sad stories about people who

get a nickel for every

time a post is forwarded (or any other similar nonsense). If you believe

these things, that's fine,

but most people realize that they're hoaxes and don't want to have to

read them. The general rule in

cyberspace is: if it says " send this to as many people as you can " , that

means trash it without

bothering anyone else with it.

If you don't understand any of the guidelines, or can't figure out how

to do something or other, please

feel free to ask one of us privately.

Thanks for taking this seriously. We sometimes have long stretches

without any significant problems,

and when that happens, more people find the help they are seeking... and

that's the whole purpose !

WE APPRECIATE YOUR ASSISTANCE