---- Mathias Bauer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > Please make people subscribe to the [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing > > list before they can post. Please do not let e-mail from an > > unsubscribed address go to the list. Please send a reply to the > > unsubscribed address telling that person they must subscribe before > > their e-mail is posted. This will make it very clear to any person, > > who is other wise not aware, that they are trying to send e-mail to > > a mailing list and not one person at a business, which is what so > > many people using Windows and MAC think they are doing. > > > > You could also direct them to the gmane list that tracks the > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] list. Then they could find their answers that > > way. > > > > Doing this will cut out a lot of useless chatter about this stuff on > > the [EMAIL PROTECTED] list and will get rid of the people who > > will ask one question, that has already been asked before, and > > never ask another again. > > This would actually be a bad idea as it created a huge barrier for new > users of OpenOffice.org and doesn't let OOo look user friendly. Mailing > lists are a strange thing for many users anyway and they perhaps would > prefer web forums. I hate web forums and so I hope we can keep the > mailing lists as they are. > > BTW: the "chatter" you mentioned would be replaced by complaints of > people about the huge amount of mails they get and never wanted. That's > not better.
Actually the volume of e-mail would drop significantly with required subscription. If it is explained, on the site where they would subscribe, how to subscribe and unsubscribe they would have better understanding. They could be given the option of reading the FAQ (once they are cleaned up, they are a disaster now) or subscribe or both. I agree that Windows users are generally lame when it comes to knowing how to do things with their computer, but they know about mail/group/address lists. If they don't want a lot e-mail then they can subscribe to the digest. That would need to be explained to them. I joined this list to try to help with the site. I am a busy person and don't have a lot of time to give to this project but will give what I can. I could review the site and make suggestions for how to make it more user friendly towards casual non-technical users. Although the site looks professional in appearance it is a disaster to find information that casual and technical users want to find. I know that a lot of what this list wants to do can't be done or gets overridden by the other group controlling the server. I have not been on this list long enough to know all the details of the conflicts and politics. Here are some of the FAQs that we see daily on the user list. Can OpenOffice.org be used/acquired free of charge for personal, business/commercial, not for profit or other use? Can a single copy of OpenOffice.org be installed on more than one computer at a time and be used on those multiple computers at the same time? Can anyone make copies and sell or give away those copies of OpenOffice.org? Will OpenOffice.org install and work on any version (now it is Vista) of Windows? Will OpenOffice.org install on a MAC? Can OpenOffice.org read, write and save to MS Office file formats? Will people using MS Office be able to open and read files created in OpenOffice.org? Is OpenOffice.org going to add _________ to the OpenOffice.org package so it will have the functionality that is in MS Office? I installed OpenOffice.org on my MAC but I only have Writer, how do I get/access/install the other applications? How do I subscribe (or please subscribe me) to the OpenOffice.org mailing lists? I have this answered on my site like this: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the address you want to subscribe to the list. Example you want to subscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED] So, it is [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the address that will receive mail from the list. WARNING: ALL E-MAIL sent to this e-mail address go to a public mailing list that is broadcast to thousands of subscribers and is archived publically and permanently on the Internet in several locations so do not include any information that you do not want the entire world to see when you are sending anything to this public e-mail address. Also the people that will read the e-mail sent to this public e-mail address are not employees of OpenOffice.org and do not have to answer your e-mail. These people are volunteer users who answer questions because they want to answer them. How do I unsubscribe (or take me off the list) from the OpenOffice.org mailing lists? These FAQs would almost disappear if the site was a lot clearer and easier to use. Right now casual users go to the site and say how am I suppose to figure out all this geek stuff, why don't they put it in plain simple to understand language? Why do they make it so hard to find what I am looking for? The sad thing is it is often right under their nose but it is in Geek talk so they don't see it. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
