How to Unsubscribe and Other Useful Information

[Liz Bohn <Lbohn -at- UCSD -dot- EDU>]

Hi all -

It looks like it's time to re-post this message on how to subscribe,
unsubscribe, access archived information, and other useful tidbits on using
LISTSERV.  (There have been multiple requests to "unsubscribe" posted to
the list.)  If you have this already, sorry about the re-posting; if you
don't have it, please make a copy and save it.  Here goes:

Your  subscription  to the  TECHWR-L  list  (Technical  Writers List;  for  all
Technical Communication issues) has been accepted.

Please  save this  message  for future  reference, especially  if  you are  not
familiar with LISTSERV. This might look like  a waste of disk space now, but in
6 months you will be glad you  saved this information when you realize that you
cannot  remember what  are the  lists you  are subscribed  to, or  what is  the
command to  leave the list to  avoid filling up  your mailbox while you  are on
vacations.  In fact,  you  should create  a new  mail  folder for  subscription
confirmation messages  like this one, and  for the "welcome messages"  from the
list owners that  you are will occasionally receive after  subscribing to a new
list.

To send a message to all the people currently subscribed to the list, just send
mail  to TECHWR-L -at- VM1 -dot- UCC -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-   This  is called  "sending  mail to  the
list", because you send mail to a  single address and LISTSERV makes copies for
all the people who have subscribed. This address (TECHWR-L -at- VM1 -dot- UCC -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU)
is also called  the "list address". You  must never try to send  any command to
that address, as it would be distributed to all the people who have subscribed.
All commands must be sent to the "LISTSERV address", LISTSERV -at- OSUVM1 -dot- BITNET (or
LISTSERV -at- VM1 -dot- UCC -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU).  It   is  very   important  to   understand  the
difference between the two, but fortunately it is not complicated. The LISTSERV
address is like a FAX number, and the list address is like a normal phone line.
If you make your FAX call someone's regular phone number by mistake, it will be
an unpleasant  experience for him  but you will  probably be excused  the first
time. If you do it regularly, however,  he will probably get upset and send you
a nasty complaint. It is the same  with mailing lists, with the difference that
you are calling hundreds or thousands of people at the same time, so a lot more
people get annoyed if you use the wrong number.

You may leave the  list at any time by sending a  "SIGNOFF TECHWR-L" command to
LISTSERV -at- OSUVM1 -dot- BITNET  (or LISTSERV -at- VM1 -dot- UCC -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU).  You  can also  tell
LISTSERV how  you want it to  confirm the receipt  of messages you send  to the
list. If you do  not trust the system, send a "SET  TECHWR-L REPRO" command and
LISTSERV will send  you a copy of your  own messages, so that you  can see that
the message was distributed  and did not get damaged on the  way. After a while
you may  find that this  is getting annoying,  especially if your  mail program
does not  tell you that the  message is from you  when it informs you  that new
mail  has arrived  from TECHWR-L.  If  you send  a "SET  TECHWR-L ACK  NOREPRO"
command, LISTSERV  will mail  you a short  acknowledgement instead,  which will
look different in your mailbox directory. With most mail programs you will know
immediately that  this is an acknowledgement  you can read later.  Finally, you
can turn off acknowledgements completely with "SET TECHWR-L NOACK NOREPRO".

Following instructions from the list owner, your subscription options have been
set to  "REPRO" rather than the  usual LISTSERV defaults. For  more information
about   subscription   options,   send    a   "QUERY   TECHWR-L"   command   to
LISTSERV -at- OSUVM1 -dot- BITNET (or LISTSERV -at- VM1 -dot- UCC -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU).

Contributions sent to this list are  automatically archived. You can get a list
of  the available  archive  files by  sending an  "INDEX  TECHWR-L" command  to
LISTSERV -at- OSUVM1 -dot- BITNET  (or LISTSERV -at- VM1 -dot- UCC -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU).  You can  then order
these files with a "GET TECHWR-L LOGxxxx" command, or using LISTSERV's database
search facilities. Send an "INFO DATABASE"  command for more information on the
latter.

Please note  that it is presently  possible for other people  to determine that
you are signed  up to the list  through the use of the  "REVIEW" command, which
returns the e-mail address and name of  all the subscribers. If you do not want
your name to be visible, just issue a "SET TECHWR-L CONCEAL" command.

More information  on LISTSERV commands can  be found in the  LISTSERV reference
card,  which  you  can  retrieve  by  sending  an  "INFO  REFCARD"  command  to
LISTSERV -at- OSUVM1 -dot- BITNET (or LISTSERV -at- VM1 -dot- UCC -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU).