| Sections | ||||||
| General | Mail & Settings | Moderation | ||||
| Taken | ||||||
| Wanted | ||||||
| General | ||||||
| Q: How many members does Edmonton Earthcycle have? | ||||||
| Q: What exactly is considered soliciting? | ||||||
| Q: How do I POST, READ messages, REPLY or MANAGE my MEMBERSHIP? | ||||||
| Q: What do I do if I 'win' an item, and then don't hear back from the offerer? | ||||||
| Q: What is a ?angible item? | ||||||
| Mail & Settings | ||||||
| Q: How can I filter messages to read only what I want at one time? | ||||||
| Q: How do I keep Hotmail's automated blocker from interrupting my Earthcycle mail? | ||||||
| Q: Why do I get upwards of 7-10 "Daily Digests" a day from Earthcycle? Is there a way to set it to send just 1 daily digest per day? | ||||||
| Q: I changed my settings/unsubscribed yesterday. Why am I still getting emails? | ||||||
| Q: How do I unsubscribe? | ||||||
| Moderation | ||||||
| Q: Why am I moderated? | ||||||
| Q: Why was my post rejected? | ||||||
| Offers | ||||||
| Q: How do I choose who to give my item to? | ||||||
| Q: I've had responses from people who are interested in an item I'm offering who I don't think have ever posted an offer themselves. Is this allowed? | ||||||
| Q: Why does my first post have to be an Offer? | ||||||
| Posting | ||||||
| Q: What do I put in my subject line? | ||||||
| Q: What do I put in the body of my message? | ||||||
| Q: I made a mistake in my post, can I delete it? | ||||||
| Q: How do I post a message? | ||||||
| Q: How do I reply to posts? | ||||||
| Q: Can I post Gmail accounts? | ||||||
| Q: How do I list items I want to give away? | ||||||
| Taken | ||||||
| Q: Just wondering if it? possible to monitor members who do not show up when they offer to take an item? | ||||||
| Q: What do I do if someone doesn't show up when they say they will? | ||||||
| Q: How do I post that my item is Taken? | ||||||
| Q: Why do I have to post a Taken? | ||||||
| Wanted | ||||||
| Q: How often may I post a Wanted request for a particular item? | ||||||
| Q: How many items may I include in a single Wanted post? | ||||||
| Q: May I ask to borrow an item? | ||||||
| Q: May I ask for a burned CD or DVD, or a taped copy of a TV show? | ||||||
| Q: How many members does Edmonton Earthcycle have? | ||||||
|
A: This is listed on the group homepage in the column on the left hand side, below the group-related links. |
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| Q: What exactly is considered soliciting? | ||||||
| A: Soliciting
would include, but is not limited to: ?ontacting members off-list for any reason that is not DIRECTLY related to the group ?ignature lines that appear to be there for the sole purpose of advertising to our group. These will be rejected and the member may be banned at our discretion. Sig lines will be judged on a case by case basis. |
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| Q: How do I POST, READ messages, REPLY or MANAGE my MEMBERSHIP? | ||||||
| A: To post, send
an email to Edmonton
Earthcycle@yahoogroups.com using appropriate
subject lines, or click on the
Post
link on the left hand sidebar on every page and write your post as you
would an email. To read list archives (especially helpful for new members who may find recent posts of interest there), visit the group main page and click on "Messages" on the left. If you receive group messages in your inbox, simply read your emails for current messages. Otherwise, read messages in the same manner as you would read the archives. To reply to a message received in your email, press the 'Reply' button in your email. To reply to a message from the group site, click on the 'Reply' link on the top left hand side of the message. To manage your membership in Edmonton Earthcycle, click on the Edit My Membership link on the top right of the screen on any page on the Edmonton Earthcycle website. |
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| Q: What do I do if I 'win' an item, and then don't hear back from the offerer? | ||||||
| A: You can do a
few things: ?ou can keep emailing them to try to arrange a pickup or drop off; ?ou can email them once more and wait until you hear from them; or ?ou can email the moderators to alert them to a possible problem. Please choose this option sparingly, and try to resolve any issues off-list. |
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| Q: What is a ?angible item? | ||||||
| A: Any item that you can hold in your hand and that would take up space (however small) in the landfill. Services are not a tangible item, nor are Gmail accounts. If you are unsure if an item is tangible, please email the moderators for clarification. | ||||||
| Q: How can I filter messages to read only what I want at one time? | ||||||
| A: It is
possible to set up Message Rules or filters through most email clients, as
well as most free email providers like Hotmail and Yahoo. Unfortunately,
if you read the messages on the group site, there is no way at this time
to filter messages into categories. To set up filters in Outlook Express, follow the following steps: Click on Tools > Message Rules > Mail Click on 'New...' Click on "Where the Subject Line contains specific words" Click on "Move it to the specified folder" Click on "contains specific words" in the box at the bottom Type 'EdmontonEarthcycle' (or whatever you want to filter by) in the box, and click Add, then click OK Click on "specified" below where it said "contains specific words" Choose a pre-existing folder to filter messages into, or click on "New Folder" and create a new folder Type in a name for your new rule and click OK Your new Message Rule will be applied the next time an applicable messages comes into your email! |
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| Q: How do I keep Hotmail's automated blocker from interrupting my Earthcycle mail? | ||||||
| A: Log into your Hotmail account. Click on Options (far right towards the top). Click on Mail (far left). Click on Custom Filters. Click on New Filter. Identify incoming messages which have EdmontonEarthcycle in the subject. Choose a folder to filter Earthcycle messages to. We recommend choosing New Folder and typing 'Earthcycle' in the box. This should ensure that all messages from Earthcycle get to you! | ||||||
| Q: Why do I get upwards of 7-10 "Daily Digests" a day from Earthcycle? Is there a way to set it to send just 1 daily digest per day ? | ||||||
| A: Messages in the Daily Digest are delivered in batches of 25 or daily, whichever comes sooner. As Earthcycle often receives upwards of 200 email messages per day, there are several daily digests sent out per day. There is no way at this time to compile all messages into 1 digest. | ||||||
| Q: I changed my settings/unsubscribed yesterday. Why am I still getting emails? | ||||||
| A: Whenever a user changes settings, there is an overlap from the time it takes for Yahoo to process the change until emails in the queue waiting to go out to the users are delivered. In other words, in the six hours it takes for Yahoo to permanently stop the emails from coming, there are emails already set up to go out, and will continue to go out until the queue is emptied. Some people have reported this taking up to three days, so please don't email the moderators. Just be patient, and all should be well. Don't make more than one change at a time as each additional change adds on another day of wait. If you encounter further problems, you might want to consult the Yahoo! Groups help pages. | ||||||
| Q: How do I unsubscribe? | ||||||
| A: To unsubscribe, send an email to EdmontonEarthcycle-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.ca or click on the Leave Group button in the Edit My Membership page. | ||||||
| Q: Why am I moderated? | ||||||
| A: All new members are moderated so that we may protect the group from spammers, but mostly so that we can teach you how to post properly. This group thrives on consistency! If you make a mistake in your posting (wrong subject line, etc) we will either edit it before approving, or we will reject the message. In either case we will let you know what you did wrong so that you may know for future postings. Once we see that you have the hang of it, we will unmoderate you. If you feel you are being moderated for an unduly long period of time, please email the moderators, we will check out your posting history and get back to you. | ||||||
| Q: Why was my post rejected? | ||||||
| A: Posts are
rejected if: they don? follow the list rules the subject line does not contain one of the following tag words: Offer, Wanted, Taken, Found there is no item description in the subject line the location is missing from the subject line of an offer you are not offering a tangible item the post was off-topic or contained rude comments Generally a moderator will let you know why your post was rejected. This is not a comprehensive list of rejection causes, and all posts are subject to scrutiny by the moderators. |
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| Q: How do I choose who to give my item to? | ||||||
| A: When you post an offer, you are offering to give someone a gift. It is up to you to give this gift to whomever you feel would be the best recipient. You are not obligated to give your gift to someone who is rich, poor, single, married, has no kids, has 1 kid, has 15 kids, has a car, doesn't have a car, or has a purple octopus named George living in their backyard. You can choose the most polite, the rudest, the funniest, or the shortest response to receive your gift. You can put their names in a hat and do a draw, or you can wave your magic finger over your screen and pick one that way. You can choose the first, 3rd, or 53rd respondent. It is up to you. | ||||||
| Q: I've had responses from people who are interested in an item I'm offering who I don't think have ever posted an offer themselves. Is this allowed? | ||||||
| A: Yes, this is allowed. Members are not allowed to post wanted messages on the board prior to posting an offer, but we have no restrictions on requesting offers that have been posted. As always, you are free to choose who you want to give to, including keeping a list of people you would prefer to NOT give to. | ||||||
| Q: Why does my first post have to be an Offer? | ||||||
| A: To perpetuate the spirit of giving?.Remember no offer is too small! | ||||||
| Q: What do I put in my subject line? | ||||||
| A: You need to use the correct phrase for your posting: Offer, Wanted, Taken, or in the case of updates of a Wanted, Found. You also need to include a very brief description of the items listed. Including your general location in your subject line is mandatory for offers, and is acceptable for all other types of posts as well. Do not put a detailed description of the item you are posting about in the subject line. | ||||||
| Q: What do I put in the body of my message? | ||||||
| Use the body of your message for detailed descriptions of the item(s) you are posting about. Be clear & concise. Do not list your full address in the body of your message; this could lead to an unsafe situation, and is unadvisable. Please do not use words such as 'desperately' in your message. The joy of Earthcycle is that you don't need to have a reason to ask for something. | ||||||
| Q: I made a mistake in my post, can I delete it? | ||||||
| A: You CAN delete your own posts for any reason (for example, if someone's taken the item you offered, or if you've received the item you wanted, or if you posted something by mistake). Go back to your original post and bring it into view on the screen. Right under the Messages bar, where it reads: Reply/Forward/View Source/Unwrap Lines/Delete Click on 'Delete.' That should do it. (Note, though, that deleting a post won't prevent it from showing up in the next digest or being sent by individual mail) | ||||||
| Q: How do I post a message? | ||||||
| A: To post a message, simply send an email to EdmontonEarthcycle@yahoogroups.ca or click on "post" at the group web site. | ||||||
| Q: How do I reply to posts? | ||||||
| A: If you are reading on the message board, or you are receiving individual mail, just hit reply, your message will be sent off list to the original poster. | ||||||
| Q: Can I post Gmail accounts? | ||||||
| A: No, see ?hat is a tangible item? under General section. | ||||||
| Q: How do I list items I want to give away? | ||||||
| A: As clearly as possible. Include, as relevant, descriptions of size, color, condition, environment (smoke or pet free home) as well as your general location (Clareview, Mill Woods, etc). The more detail you give, the less emails you will receive with questions of this nature wasting both your time and that of the interested parties. Remember to give a brief description of items in the subject line along with Offer. If you have too many items to list individually, please use 'Logical Grouping'. This means, group similar items together - books with books, bathroom items with bathroom items, kitchen stuff with kitchen stuff, clothes with clothes. Include as much information about what you are offering as possible, while keeping it short and easily scanned. If you have several unrelated items to offer, a subject line such as "Offer: Books, bathroom items, clothes - Mill Woods" would work perfectly. | ||||||
| Q: Just wondering if it? possible to monitor members who do not show up when they offer to take an item? | ||||||
| A: No, this would require too many man hours and our moderators are volunteers. Members are asked to be considerate of other members. If you cannot show up or change your mind about taking an item, please let the offerer know. | ||||||
| Q: What do I do if someone doesn't show up when they say they will? | ||||||
| A: Email the recipient first, and try to arrange a new pickup time. Something may have happened to change circumstances unexpectedly. If it happens 2 times, please email EdmontonEarthcycle-owner@yahoogroups.ca with the email address of the person in question to alert the moderators to a possible problem. | ||||||
| Q: How do I post that my item is taken? | ||||||
| A: The easiest way to do this, is to reply to your original Offer post, changing the email address to EdmontonEarthcycle@yahoogroups.ca or "Reply to All" and delete your own email address. Then change Offer to Taken in the subject line. This way members reading the thread on the board will see instantly that the item has been taken. It is also helpful to post the message number in the subject line. If you have posted many items in one Offer post, just delete the items that are not taken from the body. | ||||||
| Q: Why do I have to post a taken message? | ||||||
| A: This is to save you from being inundated with requests for items. Once you have posted a Taken, members will generally stop asking for the item. | ||||||
| Q: How often may I post a request for a particular item? | ||||||
| A: Please do not post the same ?anted posting more than once every 2-3 weeks. If someone didn? have it for you yesterday or last week, chances are they don? have it today either. But if you give it a few weeks, new members join, people have been through their closets etc and you will have a better chance of getting the item you request without inundating the list with too many wanted posts. Just be patient. | ||||||
| Q: How many items may I include in a single Wanted post? | ||||||
| A: You may include no more than one item in a single wanted post. | ||||||
| Q: May I ask to borrow an item? | ||||||
| A: No. There must be a change in ownership anticipated in order for the post to be allowed. | ||||||
| Q: May I ask for a burned CD or DVD, or a taped copy of a TV show? | ||||||
| A: No. Copying and burning CDs and DVDs, and recording TV shows, is an illegal practise and therefore cannot be allowed on Earthcycle. | ||||||