James E. Lang wrote:
--On Monday, November 02, 2009 12:13:59 PM -0800 "James E. Lang"
<[email protected]> wrote:
--On Sunday, November 01, 2009 10:11:27 AM -0600 Barbara Duprey
<[email protected]> wrote:
Just a thought -- there is a link that can be provided into the
archives for
a particular thread. What if either (in order of preference) the list
manager, a moderator, or anybody on the list who knows how, sent a
message to
the unsubscribed poster containing that link? The poster would not
have to
subscribe (thereby getting what could potentially be a dismaying
number of
messages -- and often leading to a "please unsubscribe me" message).
Yet
they'd be able to follow the discussion, wouldn't they, to see any
responses
on the thread?
I don't know if it is doable to send an automatic reply to anyone who
starts
a new thread saying, "http://... can be used to monitor this message
and its
responses." An alternative would be to only send this message to
those who
are unsubscribed at the time they start the new thread. This is a
short and
sweet message and if it can be automated it will place little burden
on any
person or resource.
Another thought: Add to the short automated message I described above
something like this: "This is a high volume (an average at present of
about 1 message per hour) mailing list to enable users of
OpenOffice.org to help each other. You may sample its archives at
http://... to determine whether you are interested in joining it. If
you want to join it then go to http://... and fill out the
application." Make the links as specific as possible and above all,
KEEP THE MESSAGE SHORT and to the point (pardon the shout).
Another of my messages here has another version of such a message. If we
can reach agreement in principle that this kind of thing would be a good
idea, we can probably hash out a decent message -- once we know somebody
would actually use it!
I don't know what capabilities the list software possesses to create
the type of automated message that I am proposing but if it is within
the reach of the technology then I believe that it would be to
everyone's advantage to implement something along these lines.
That's why I'm not sure whether we can go with the list manager, the
moderator, or "just us folks" to send it -- obviously, automation would
be the ideal.
Slightly off this thread's topic: The relatively high volume of
messages on this list would be reduced considerably if people did not
feel trapped on the list and that problem is precisely what this
thread is attempting to address. People who feel trapped on the list
repeatedly pound on the list to get themselves off while _some_ of the
more knowledgeable consider them to be idiots who couldn't find their
own mouths to feed themselves and make a definite point of telling
them so.
Being "trapped on the list" basically seems to result from subscribing
without realizing the consequences -- both our versions of the message
address that, at least to keep unsubs from subscribing just to see the
responses they want and then getting swamped. Some people have a
boilerplate that they send with any response to an unsub that tells them
they should subscribe; if we can stop that kind of subscription, I'll be
happy.
One more thought on this slightly divergent topic: When responding to
the people who feel trapped on the list I think that we should send
our response to them off list rather than clutter the list with more
of the spitting contests. Maybe the first person to respond could copy
the list indicating that he/she will take responsibility to guide the
trapped person in finding his/her way off the list and then try to be
tactful in helping the person.
I think we should always just be polite and not beat them over the head
with "it's at the bottom of every message, dumbo!" There usually are not
very many different people who respond to a particular "unsubscribe me"
request, but it's hard to know whether you're the first because of the
time delays of message routing. In my own responses, I try to anticipate
the kinds of things that can cause trouble, but I haven't specifically
said I was taking the point position in providing a solution to the
unhappy subscriber. I'll think about that.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
