BWHE

(The Baltimore-Washington Home Educators on-line community)

Frequently Asked Questions

1) How do I change my e-mail address? -

The moderator cannot change your e-mail address. The only thing the moderator can do is remove your old address from the list and then add your new address. This is the same as unsubscribing from the list with your old address, then re-subscribing with your new address. Before asking the moderator to do this for you, please try doing it yourself. You can do it by e-mail or you can do it on-line.

Here's how to do it on-line:

a) Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BWHE/ and sign in with your Yahoo ID and password (see #2 below if you don't have an ID and password yet).

 

Then follow the instructions on how to add a new e-mail address at http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/mypreferences/mypreferences-07.html You will now be able to use your new address for any of the groups you belong to. This is the best way to change your address as you will maintain web access to your subscriptions and your new address will work with all of your lists.

 

Here's how to do it by e-mail:
b) To subscribe from your new e-mail account, send a blank message to BWHE-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. You will receive an e-mail message asking you to confirm your identity. Just respond that you have changed email accounts and list your old address and your new one and I will approve you (no need to fill out the requested form). You must do this step using your new e-mail account.
 

c) Using your old e-mail account, send a blank message to BWHE-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. This can only unsubscribe the account that the message is sent from, so you must send it from your old account. If you already closed your old account and can no longer send messages from it, then you will have to try the on-line option.

 

The e-mail procedure is the easiest but is not the preferred way to make a change and is not recommended if you have more than one or two groups you are signed up with as you would have to repeat the process to rejoin every single group you belonged to. If you have Internet access (yes, some people have e-mail but no Internet access), you may want to try the on-line option.

 

2) I originally subscribed by e-mail. How do I set up an account to access the on-line features like the calendar, shared files, archives, etc.?

To access the on-line features of our group, you need to create a user name and password. Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BWHE/ and look for the option to "Register." Follow the instructions on the form and enter the Yahoo ID and password you want to use.

 

After your new account is created, you may want to go to http://groups.yahoo.com/memwiz if all your lists don't show up when you sign in. Choose the option to add a different e-mail address.

 

3) How do I "subscribe/unsubscribe," change to "Digest mode/no mail/normal delivery?

The easiest way to control settings for your account is to do so on-line as described in Section 1, part a above. You can also perform many functions just by sending a blank e-mail message to the addresses listed below:

Post to entire list: BWHE@yahoogroups.com  - to send a message to the entire list

To subscribe: BWHE-subscribe@yahoogroups.com  - to subscribe to this list

To unsubscribe: BWHE-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com  - to unsubscribe from this list

To go no-mail: BWHE-nomail@yahoogroups.com  - to stop receiving e-mails but still allow reading of messages on the web site (also good if you are going on vacation and don't want your inbox to fill up while you are gone)

To switch to digest: BWHE-digest@yahoogroups.com  - To get one daily digest compiling the messages from the list instead of individual messages (reduces the number of emails you receive)

To get individual e-mails: BWHE-normal@yahoogroups.com  - To undo "digest" or "no mail/web only" mode and resume receiving individual email messages from the group.

Please note that to produce the desired affect, you must send your request from the e-mail account you used to subscribe to the list.

 

4) Why were my messages not posted to the list?

This is a frequent e-mail message sent to the moderator and there is often an implication that the moderator has unfairly singled these messages to be blocked. As moderator, I cannot block messages for most members. If it is only a few months since you joined, then you might still be on moderated status and I might be able to block your message, but I wouldn't do so without returning it to you with an explanation so you can learn from your mistake.

 

It is important to realize that e-mail is not infallible. If you send a message, it can get lost in cyberspace as easily as a regular letter can get lost by the post office. It may not be a frequent occurrence, but it can definitely happen. Sometimes a message doesn't get lost, but instead gets delayed. Spam filters, mail server problems or Internet congestion can cause a message to get held up for a few hours or a few days before it is delivered. It is not at all unusual for messages to get delayed by several hours. Please do not contact the moderator about a message that hasn't posted to the list unless it has been at least 24 hours since you sent it. The most common reason for a message not appearing on the list is because you did not send it to the list. Check your sent e-mail box and look at the address your message was sent to. When you reply to a message received from the list, your reply goes only to the individual who sent the original message, not to the entire list. About 95% of the messages that didn't get posted to the list were actually sent to an individual and not to the list. Most of the rest were sent to the moderator, to the BWHE-D list, or someplace else with a similar address.