First, understand that ALL USERS START OUT MODERATED. It is not punishment,
it is the normal state of things.
You'll know your account is moderated if you send mail to the O-list
posting address, and get back a message with the subject:
"Your message to Origami awaits moderator approval"
Do not panic: it just means that your posts will be held temporarily by the
system until a list administrator checks it over to make sure it's OK for
the list.
If, through repeated posting to the list, it is made clear that you
understand:
- what the list is for (all things related to origami),
- that commercial posts should only be occasional
- that there are formatting guidelines (plain text, quoted material
FIRST, replies LAST)
- not to send attachments
- not to CC anyone when posting
...and that you show you are not a list-troll subscribing in order to cause
trouble or send spam, then you can ask (ONLY via mail to the admin address,
given below) to be de-moderated, and your posts will go through to the
entire list membership immediately, with no admin action involved.
If a user fails to abide by the list guidelines, then our one and only
mechanism for getting their attention... is to re-moderate their account.
When we do this, we give a date after which they can request to be
re-de-moderated. (Nice word, eh?) It is in no way punitive, it's just to
provide the user with a reinforcement of the guidelines.
Heck, *my own account* on the list is moderated. I do this - yes, having to
take the step of going into the admin interface and OK'ing each and every
one of my own posts - to make sure that I don't send list administrative
stuff to the entire community by mistake.
If you post only infrequently, we suggest that you keep the moderated
status, as it's easy to forget the formatting guidelines. Messages are
usually OK'd pretty quickly, though problematic ones may languish a little
longer, as they require admin intervention, by hand.
I hope that helps explain things a bit.
As always, contact us at the list admin address (never personal addresses!):
if you have any questions or problems with the list system.
Fold something! Tell us about it!
Anne
for the list admins
P.S. And, yes, if you're thinking that all these rules are annoying - I
agree, they are indeed a curb on any given individual's behavior, thwarting
any desire to do things any which way they please. But the bad-behavers,
the spammers, and the needs of the many (list mail should be readable by
all) outweigh the mild annoyance to the individual, we believe. Best we can
do with the tools and volunteer resources we have. Should we morph the list
to some sort of forum system with an email component? Probably. In my
non-existent spare time, I'm testing some stuff, behind the scenes. More
later, when and if we can get to it!
