E-lists at Cornell
Sending Messages
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Sending a message to the members of an e-list is almost exactly
like sending any other e-mail message.
You simply put the e-list address in the To field, like
this:
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Be sure to include the hyphen and the letter L at the end of
the list name. In this example, it's
sheep-shearing-L
not
sheep-shearing
Messages should be kept as small as possible. Many people access
their e-mail through slow connections or small devices (like cell
phones), or have mailboxes with size limits. Instead of sending attachments
to the entire list, put the file on a web site for people to retrieve.
If you post a message larger than 1 MB (including attachments), it
will be returned to you with an error message.
What happens after you send your message depends on the way the list
administrators have set up this e-list.
- Unmoderated lists: messages are delivered to all list members
exactly as submitted.
- Moderated lists: each message is reviewed by a list administrator,
who can reject messages if they are not appropriate for this list.
The administrator may also edit your message before sending it on
to the list.
- Announcement lists: only administrators can post messages
to these lists. If you try to post to an announcement list (and you
don't have administrative privileges), you'll receive an error message.
Replying to List Messages
Replying to a list message is just like replying to any e-mail message,
except that you must be very careful to check where your reply will
go.
When list owners establish their lists, they decide where replies go.
If the list has been set up for discussion, then replies to messages
will most likely go to everyone on the list. On the other hand, lists
that are set up to serve as a mechanism of information distribution
may be configured so that replies go to the person who sent the original
message.
Some e-mail programs, such as Eudora, can be configured to override
the setting for a list's reply function. For example, if the mailing
list is set up to reply only to the sender, but you tell your e-mail
program to "reply to all," your local setting overrides the
list's setting and your reply goes to everyone on the list as well as
to the sender.
If you receive your list mail in digest format please note that a reply
to the message, whether directed to the sender or to the whole list,
will have the same generic subject line as the digest message had. It
is a good idea to change the digest-related subject line so that it
reflects the original message's subject line (which will be within the
body of the digest, just above the text of the message itself).
When replying (especially when replying to the list), it is considered
polite to delete the parts of the original message that aren't needed
in your reply. This helps keep the overall size of the message small.
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Follow these basic steps:
- Choose the reply command for your e-mail program.
- Check the "To", "Cc", and "Bcc"
fields to see where the reply will be sent. Edit these entries
as necessary so that the reply will go only to the recipients
you intend.
- Edit the subject line as necessary to be informative, especially
if you receive list messages in digest format.
- Edit the quoted text to make your message as short as possible,
including only the relevant text from the original message.
In some cases there is no need to include any quoted text.
- Type your reply.
- Double-check all parts of your message (recipients, subject
line, quoted text, and new text), then send your message.
Learn to configure and use "reply," "forward,"
and other commands that are part of your e-mail program. You will
use these commands routinely when handling correspondence from
an e-list. (CIT supports Thunderbird, WebMail, uPortal.Cornell
E-mail Channel, and Eudora.)
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WARNING: Reply With Caution
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Always check the "To" line when
you use the reply feature of your e-mail program; make
sure that the message is destined for the correct address
(either the list or an individual). A hasty reply can
mean embarrassment to both the sender and the recipient
-- it has happened in the past, and it will happen again.
Don't let it happen to you. |
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As a list member, it's up to you to distinguish between
different kinds of communication, and to send each to the right address:
Last modified:
May 24, 2007
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