NOTE:    Subscribe before posting questions or replies,
even if you use a newsgroup or the web (for example Google Groups). 800+ people won't see your contribution unless you are subscribed to the mailing list. Please be courteous to them by subscribing.

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- Subscription Controls and Information (in alphabetical order) -

address change attachments black list (dnsbl) - am I on one? can't send e-mail can't subscribe change your address commands fail - for example No Requests Found check your status control mail after subscribe - drop, resume, stop, suspend, unsubscribe courtesy / rules / control - how to send mail to vse-l

digest mode - hints and tips don't get mail/missing e-mail file attachments get e-mail, but I can't send hold mail how vse-l works not getting e-mail post/send to vse-l resume mail sending to vse-l fails spam

status check subscribe - types of subscriptions subscribe - why you should subscribe subscribe - how to subscribe subscribe fails - how to handle problems TEST vse-l? too much mail!! I'm swamped!! What can I do? unsubscribe mail viruses vse-l not getting my postings

Why Subscribe to vse-l? - To get in on the Action!

Subscription Types - Your choice

How to Subscribe  

Posting to/mailing to vse-l

Send to vse-l@lehigh.edu with an appropriate subject.

When you respond to a message - use your mailer's "reply" function. Please don't touch the subject - leave it untouched. If you must type in subject use cut and paste.

NOTE: POSTing to vse-l exposes your email address to potential harvesting by SPAMmers.

NOTE: test messages, problems and other items should not be sent to vse-l. See listproc instructions for proper procedures.

Problems

NOTES:

"No requests found" means you probably sent a message that was not in plain text Just because text in your mail looks like it's plain text doesn't mean your mail system will send plain text - COMMANDS MUST BE RECIEVED AS PLAIN TEXT. Commands regarding subscriptions must be mailed to LISTPROC@lehigh.edu, not to VSE-L Do not send test messages nor commands to vse-l, like 'THIS IS A TEST' or 'SUBSCRIBE ME'. Intead, send a query. For help on issues other than getting and receiving mail, go to the top of this page. Three classes of problems are described below: no response to a message or command you sent, you got a response (mail) you don't get e-mail or are missing postings or digests from vse-l If none of these work please go to I Still Need Help.

1. no response to a command you sent or your message did not get posted
Likely causes: 1) your mail never arrived at Lehigh, 2) we ignored the message because of an unacceptable message-id and 3) we reject message from your ISP. We can't do much about #1 - the problem is at your end or somewhere between you and us. As for the other problems ...

• #2 duplicate or invalid message-id - Every message on the internet must have a unique message-id meeting internet standards. If Lehigh gets mail with a message-id that has already been logged, then we throw the message away. The typical cause of duplicate message-ids is YOUR mail software or internet gateway. You must change your mailer's options or talk to your ISP. Example below shows a message ID from a typical mailer, but the mailer software never changed the message id (consequently, every message from this person except the first will be ignored by our system):
  

  Message-ID: MAPI.Id.0016.006d69636f2020203030303530303035@MAPI.to.RFC822
  

• Read at least the top 10 lines of the message you got back from our system.
  • Lehigh rejects all mail from sites identified as a source of spam mail. If you or your system gets a message like the one below, then your ISP/site has been labeled a spam site. You will not be able get mail to me, vse-l or the listproc.

        Connected to 128.180.nnn.nnn but sender was rejected.
        Remote host said: 550 Mail from nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn refused; see
        http://maps.vix.com/rbl/
    

    You have two choices: 1) get a new ISP or 2) get your ISP to correct the situation. To do the later, send the error message you received to your ISP and tell them to check the instructions at the web site listed in the message. It tells them how to correct the problems that put their site on the list of spam sites.

2. You got a response

• If your problem occurs while creating a new or updated subscription, please use the subscription instructions.

• The message said you are not subscribed ... (you must be subscribed to post):
  Carefully read the message you received.
  • your e-mail address changed since you subscribed (perhaps change made by your company or ISP).
  • you sent from an account/an address that is not tha same as the one you subscribed with
  • or, you were never subscribed - see Why You Should Subscribe.
  If you need further confirmation or information about your situation, send a query command from the same account, using the same mail software you used to send the posting to vse-l.

3. Don't get mail / postings from vse-l

Several possible reasons:
• blip ... in your mail server - it's down or rejects mail to your address,
• spam ... your system is tagging vse-l's messages as spam or junk - so it's deleting it or it's going to a junk mail folder - check with your mail administrator,
• dnbl ... you get e-mail but you can't send or don't see responses - you may be domain name black listed (dnbl)
• your ISP's news server is down,
• your ISP/news server is not getting new messages from its news feed (from a point between Lehigh and you),
• vse-l has no activity ... a rare day of no or few postings include major holidays and the days surrounding those holidays, the entire "summer" (June thru early September) and December - otherwise 'normal' vse-l activity is 30-100 posts per day (you can check when the last posting occurred).
• vse-l is down or not sending mail (rare - there's nothing you nor I can do - just wait it out)
Still stumped? Then check Still Need Help.
• Still need help after reviewing the above items?
  • Check your status
  • Resend your command to listproc@lehigh.edu with a cc: to XY-REMOVEME-YZ-wsm0@Lehigh.edu.    Then send the following to XY-REMOVEME-YZ-wsm0@Lehigh.Edu (first, remove "XY-REMOVEME-YZ-") and patiently await a reply, i.e. do not send multiple copies of the same request/message before you have time to receive a response.
    1. send me an EXACT** copy of what you sent to our server, including all date/time and mail headers
    2. send me an EXACT** copy of what you got back, from us at Lehigh (i.e. the e-mail), including all date/time and mail headers
       **EXACT** means use insert, cut and paste to get your exact copy from the original source - DO NOT type/retype if you have the original.

TEST vse-l, Check Your Status, Control Your Subscription and Other Instructions

Do not send test messages to vse-l, like 'THIS IS A TEST.'
If you don't see what you need below, check the HELP! information
If something doesn't work for you, see the problem procedures
• TEST vse-l ...
  Use Check

• CHANGE e-mail address ...
  

• UNSUBSCRIBE, END, DROP, TERMINATE your subscription ...
  

• CHECK the status of your subscription ...
  Send query vse-l in the body of a message to listproc@lehigh.edu.
  (do not send test messages to vse-l)
  • If your subscription is gone, please use the subscription instructions.

• HOLD / SUSPEND / STOP mail ...
  

• RESUME / START mail or digests ...
  

I'm swamped and getting too much mail! What can I do?

The most popular methods are listed toward the top:

1. News - bit.listserv.vse-l newsgroup - A newsgroup is kind of like a public bulletin board. Required is news reader software on your PC and a news feed, or some type of access to news access, for example your service provider (ISP). You read the vse-l mail traffic via the news system. You will also subscribe to vse-l and then set your subscription to "postpone". This way you don't get mail, but you can still write/post to vse-l. For more information see subscription types

2. Web - archives or google - Somewhat like news. For more information see vse-l archives

3. Mail and News Filters - Many PC-based mail systems and news readers allow you to customize your incoming mail according to your interest/need. Many can reorder, prioritize, rank, redirect, and even delete messages (for example kill messages that mention MVS if you don't use MVS -:) ). You might for example filter all your vse-l mail to a folder called vse-in where it's out of sight and out of mind, and then read it just once a week or every coupld days.

4. Digest mode - vse-l sends you one (just one) e-mail per day. It contains an index of all the topics of the day, plus all the messages. For more information see subscription types

5. An alternate e-mail address - Subscribe from an e-mail account that is not your primary business address. This way, you will not be interrupted throughout the day by mail from vse-l. You need to get a second e-mail address and then subscribe to vse-l from that address.

Spam and virus control, attachments and VSE-L

[for background and more information see how vse-l works]

Readers and subscribers must educate and protect themselves. vse-l does not check for virus or spam nor is it likely to any time soon. However, vse-l is not normally a source of either. But, if you post to vse-l then your e-mail address becomes public and may be harvested by spammers, because vse-l is replicated on usenet (news). (If you don't post then you are not at risk.) Remember, one bad apple (i.e. one poorly protected subscriber) can spread spam or a bad bug. Protect yourself and you will also not be a source of spam or virus. Use proven approaches to protect yourself and others from spam and viruses:

• use good PC virus protection and detection software,
• keep your operating system updated to the latest standards,
• virus scan outgoing or incoming mail,
• take appropriate precautions before opening a message with attachments (if you open it at all),
• use mail software or mail options that minimize exposure,
• use an e-mail address dedicated to posting on the Internet, so that your business e-mail address stays spam free.

The daily protocol is:

• be alert for large byte count messages bearing unwelcome gifts,
• avoid forwarding (quoting) the contents of a prior message when you reply (i.e. trim your posts),
• upon finding a virus, alert the sender and alert the list.

Occassionally someone asks "Is it time to block attachments through the list?" and "Do we close the list [to newsgroup]." Thoughtful questions, but the short answer is "no":

• the list does not support blocking of attachments. Even it it did, I probably wouldn't block them because ...
• eliminating attachments will make documenting your problems or answers more difficult, and
• most subscribers are good netcitizens as measured by the relative lack of viruses flowing through our list.
• vse-l currently doesn't have an new-style, non-mail interface alternative to usenet.

Courtesy - Control how your mail system sends mail to VSE-L

Courtesy.   The above items bloat messages with unneccessary content which is unwelcome to many vse-l subscribers.

Is it me?       Yes. It may not be obvious, you ofthen can't tell just by looking. Colors, bold characters and varying fonts are a definite signs that it's not plain text. But ...
My message looks looks fine - plain text and and no prior text is visible. - see above
Which postings? - view the source of your posting
What's the big deal? ... If the list owner or someone complained then your system is at fault. Just because you see the message as plain text doesn't mean it is sending as plain. You must investigate and make changes to correct your methods or system, or subscribe from an address that does not cause the same problem.
What is quoting?  Which is trimming?   Quoting is when a person replies, some or all of the text of the message to which you are replying is copied and sent with your response. Trimming is manually removing some or all of that prior text.

> What must I change - in my settings or in how I send

(for more information about the summaries below, see the HOW item further down)

Quoting ... Your habit should be to remove all previous material from your posting except pieces that help your reply. (see hints below)
Files ... Instead of attaching a small file, please copy and paste the text. Make sure you paste as "plain text". Attached files should be small i.e. more than 5k. Reduce file and message size by editting. NEVER send .bmp screen shots. Use png, or better yet put the image up on a web page.
Formatting ... Many mail systems (Exchange server, Ms-Outlook, MSMail, Eudora, Netscape, etc.) send large formatted messages without your knowledge. Such messages and/or attaches encoded information (font size, color, etc.) which are terribly large messages not readable by many subscribers, especially those who receive vse-l digests.
Exchange users ... Please consult http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q138053/ to make user you don't send winmail.dat attachments

> HOW - Hints and help regarding quoting and trimming:

• http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/unice.htm#quote
• http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/unice.htm#trim
• http://www.river.com/users/share/etiquette/#inline
• http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote2.html#ss2.1

> HOW - set text formats to achieve plain text for specific mail systems:

(Send improvements or corrections of these instructions to me.)

In general ...
 - often, mail settings are found in preference/properties/option as
   'send in plain text' or 'do NOT send html or mime encoded formats'.  
 - set your address book entry for vse-l to plain text, i.e. *NOT* use RTF (rich text)
 - MS-Outlook - see above
 - Remove 'Use MIME when sending messages' from internet mail properties
   (Message format button).
  
Check your software now to see what options are available. In all
cases you should perform a test, to verify that what you changed works.

Mime, HTML and other software settings are not desirable:

* AOL - see ... AOL formatting and more AOL formatting

* hotmail - see this

* MSMail  --click mail, options, send tab, change the check box (about 5  
            settings down) "include original message in reply."

* MS Outlook (in general?)
     -- (not sure about quoting, send me a note documenting steps)
      - on each message, after clicking reply, right click the name and select
        "Send Options", specify plain text
      - uncheck "Use Word as E-mail editor" in Tools pull down
      - Put VSE-L in your Personal Address Book
        - click properties, uncheck "Always send to this recipient in 
          Microsoft Outlook rich text format".
      - change this property in the "TO" section if you use the "REPLY" button.

* MS Outlook 2002 -
          --An automatic plain text option is available with Service Pack 1 applied.
            ("For earlier versions, manually change the message format to 
            plain text"...with the caveats listed below)

* MS Outlook 2000 (and newer?) - 
          --OL2000 always responds in the format of the original message ...
            unless the author selects the FORMAT button and changes the format
            (for every message). (MS's theory is if the original sender can
            support HTML or RTF then why not reply that way.  This logic is
            great for individuals, but poor for mailing lists.)  A button on 
            the personal address book, can be selected if the user is on an 
            Exchange server as an Exchange client (not Pop3/Imap/SMTP).

* MS Outlook 97 (8.02.4212)
      - changed properties of the "TO" section to 'use plain text'

* MS OUTLOOK 98 with NT4.0 - on a per message basis and also in address book
      (but not settable by address within 'Outlook98 Contacts')
      - click... TO-->highlight name in "Message Recipients" box-->
        send options-->
        -->Check 'I want to specify the format for messages to this recipient'
        -->Select the "MIME" format-->in "Message Body:"
        Check 'Plain text/UUENcode'

* EudoraLight--no option, you must manually delete the text, for example:
            1. Click reply
            2. In the reply window, click Edit, click Select All, hit Delete

* EudoraPro--see Options or Configuration, Reply settings

* cc:Mail --with the Reply ICON, UNCheck checkbox "Retain the Original
            Items" in the REPLY Pop-Up Window. (The defaults for these choices
            & the presence of the "Reply Separator", are in "User Setup")

* Netscape--checkbox "Automatically quote original text when replying."
            Version 3.0+older: options, news & mail preferences, composition  
            Version 4.0(Communicator): edit,preferences,mail & groups,messages

* others mailers: (send me instructions)

(Help me help others by sending your comments, corrections, additions to the instructions above.)

• comments to XY-REMOVEME-YZwsm0@lehigh.edu or call (610)758-3983.
  remove XY-REMOVE-YZ- before sending
• Visit Wayne's home(y) page.

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