The Willow Glen Backfence "eList"
WELCOME MESSAGE
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Welcome to the www.WGBackfence.net eList -- the electronic equivalent of talking with your friends and neighbors over the back fence!
This message gives you important information about using this list - please save it for future reference.
This email list is run by a team on the www.WGBackfence.net website, owned and operated by Larry Ames, private resident of Willow Glen, as a community service. It exists for announcements, questions, discussion and general communication related to the Willow Glen neighborhood. This list is a "closed list" -- only registered members can post. Messages are not reviewed prior to posting -- everything sent to the list is automatically posted. The Moderators may review posts, and may take action as described below to moderate the list.
Please observe proper "netiquette". Acceptable posts are personal email about Willow Glen. Often it is clear that a subject is acceptable [e.g., "lost cat on Cherry Ave"]. For additional guidance on the acceptability of a post, please see http://www.WGBackfence.net/survey_2010.htm. When it is not obvious, the posters are encouraged to contact the list Moderator at "moderator@WGBackfence.net" for guidance. We recommend that new subscribers "listen in" on the conversation for awhile rather than immediately jumping in with posts: it helps for one to first get a sense of the eList, which is by now a well-established community.
Specifically not allowed on the eList are commercial solicitation or political campaigning: no selling telephone time or investment opportunities, and no soliciting of campaign contributions or volunteers. This does not, however, exclude localized personal posts such as yard sales, a great kid's lemonade stand that has popped up on Carolyn St., or responses to requests for information about products or contractor recommendations. It is okay to occasionally announce items for sale, provided: (1): it is not a commercial business (e.g., okay to sell your own car, but not for a car-dealer to do so); (2) be short and sweet: invite interested parties to contact you for more details; (3) include the words "FOR SALE" in the subject line. It is also okay to announce candidate forums, but not okay to promote an event on behalf of a single candidate.
This is not a joke-exchange: please do not forward jokes, cartoons, etc.: they clog the system, and not everybody finds them funny. Humorous stories and anecdotes of life in Willow Glen, on the other hand, are welcome.
Do not send attachments, and do not incorporate graphics into eList posts: they are annoying for subscribers with dial-up modems or cell-phone browsers, can clog email in-baskets, and may spread viruses. To send a picture, post it to your own or other private website, and then provide a link to it in your post.
Regardless of topic, it is never acceptable to personally attack another person, on or off of the eList - NO FLAMING! Be as courteous to your neighbors online as you would be in person. Remember to sign your name and indicate your general location or affiliation.
Failure to follow the rules and guidelines can result in anything from a polite and private warning to immediate and permanent termination of eList privileges. If you have questions about any of this or are not sure if a post might be appropriate, feel free to contact the Moderator at "moderator@WGBackfence.net" for guidance.
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The eList has two modes: "immediate" and "digest".
In Immediate Mode, each post to the eList is delivered immediately as a separate message.
In Digest Mode, the messages are saved, generally for up to a day or two, and then sent as a collection, along with a "table of contents". (If there is heavy email traffic, the digests may arrive more frequently.) The Digest Mode may be preferable for those who do not want to be bothered with frequent "you've got mail" interruptions, but, depending on the settings and software on your individual computer, the messages may be a little more cumbersome to read. (Some computer setups require you to configure the system so that "Notepad" will automatically read files with the ".EZM" extension.)
To switch from one mode to the other, send a message to "admin@WGBackfence.net" with the message "switch to immediate mode" (or vice-versa), and we'll try to accommodate in a timely manner.
LIST INSTRUCTIONS
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*** Sending mail to the list ***
To send a message to all eList participants, use a message with the following form. Note: the email address (eList@WGBackfence.net) is case insensitive.
From: Susan Smith
To: eList@WGBackfence.net
Subject: Lost dog!
Our 4 year old brown poodle jumped the fence at 2 pm today. He is very
tame. Please contact us by email off-line if you see him!
Susan Smith, Cherry at Minnesota
[Note: it is general good practice to not divulge personal information such as the home-phone or street-address.]
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*** Leaving the list ***
To stop receiving messages from the eList, you will need to send a message to the list administrator at "admin@WGBackfence.net": do not disturb everyone else by posting to the entire eList. Indicate on the subject line which mode you were in: e.g., "remove from Immediate mode" in the subject line. For example:
From: Susan Smith
To: admin@WGBackfence.net
Subject: remove from digest mode
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*** To post items for sale ***
Note: the eList is >>not<< for commercial purposes. Be brief, and give contact information. Begin the subject line with "FOR SALE" (or "FOR RENT", as appropriate):
From: John Johnson
To: eList@WGBackfence.net
Subject: FOR RENT: 3-bedroom house
We're leaving town and have to rent our house. Check out our website at
John@Johnson.net for photos, or email us at John.Johnson@inter.net for details.
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TECHNICAL DETAILS
Privacy Policy
The owner(s), operator(s) and associates of the Willow Glen Backfence (www.WGBackfence.net) and its eList, will not sell, share, or otherwise distribute personal information, except by court order.
The eList is a list of subscribers to the neighborhood list-serve email service. While we will not share the personal information, as outlined above, please note that the use of the eList does reveal the user’s email address to all subscribers of the eList, and to anyone to whom that email may have been forwarded. It is against the eList rules and guidelines herein to sell, share, or otherwise distribute another subscriber’s email address or other personal information for commercial purposes without the subscriber’s permission.
The Willow Glen Backfence maintains a webpage (or set of webpages) containing community recommendations. To avoid the risk of slander or anonymous self-promotion, recommendations are only posted if the person making the recommendation is prepared to stand behind the comments. This is to allow others who are interested in a subject to contact the person making the recommendation for confirmation or additional details. However, since the webpage is available to everyone on the World Wide Web, there is the danger of others “harvesting” email addresses from the webpage. In an overabundance of caution, we will not post a recommendation to the webpage unless specifically granted permission to include the quote with attribution. This permission is granted by the person including the phrase “okay to quote” (or similar phrasing) somewhere in the message or subject line.
*** Where to report problems ***
Should you still have any problems or questions, please email the list administrator at "admin@WGBackfence.net" who will be happy to help.
Legal fine print:
This service is provided to you at the sole discretion of the owner(s) and operator(s) of the www.WGBackfence.net website, under the following terms and conditions:
1) We will not be liable to you or to any third party if we discontinue our service to you or if we modify or discontinue this service.
2) You acknowledge and agree that you assume full responsibility for any unlawful, threatening, libelous, obscene, harassing, abusive or offensive material contained in your communications though this service, any infringement of third party intellectual property rights arising from your communications through this service, or any crime facilitated by your communications through this service.
3) You are solely responsible for your communications through this service.
4) Your use of the service is subject to all applicable local, state, national and international laws and regulations.
5) You agree: (a) to comply with US law regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United States through the service; (b) not to use the service for illegal purposes; (c) not to interfere or disrupt networks connected to the service; and (d) to comply with all regulations, policies and procedures of networks connected to the service.
6) We make use of the internet to send and receive certain messages; therefore, your conduct is subject to internet regulations, policies and procedures. You will not use the service for chain letters, junk mail, spamming or any use of distribution lists to any person who has not given specific permission to be included in such a process.
7) You shall not interfere with another participant's use and enjoyment of the service or another entity's use and enjoyment of similar services.
8) We may, at our sole discretion, immediately terminate service should your conduct fail to conform with these terms and conditions.
9) You agree to indemnify and hold the Willow Glen Backfence (www.WGBackfence.net), its owner(s) and operator(s), the website host (www.Superb.net), their parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of participant's use of the service, the violation of these terms and conditions by you, or the infringement by you, or other user of the service using your computer, of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity.
10) We may terminate the service with or without cause at any time and effective immediately. We shall not be liable to you or any third party for termination of service.
11) Any reproduction of posts is prohibited without prior approval by both the author of the post and by the website owner. The inclusion of the phrase "OK to quote", "okay to post" or similar variants, grants us permission to extract, edit, and post information (e.g., recommendations) in an identifiable manner on a publicly accessible webpage (e.g., community_recommendations.htm@WGBackfence.net).
12) We may amend these rules at any time. The changes to the rules will be emailed to the eList and also posted on the www.WGBackfence.net website. Your continued use of the eList indicates your agreement to abide by the current rules.
Translated into English: follow proper netiquette and you will be most welcome.
If you have a problem with these terms and conditions, send an email to
admin@WGBackfence.net and we'll gladly remove you from the list.
Welcome to the list. Have fun!
~Larry Ames, eList moderator and website owner
LLA 6/26/10