Hello everybody I am so so sorry to bore those who have heard this kind of thing before. But recent support activity would seem to indicate that we need another gentle reminder.
You might remember the 1976 song "Barbados", by Typically Tropical? Well, it just so happens that the song was on the radio a few minutes ago and it just so happens that Gordon and I are hoping to head off down to Barbados next year for a once in a lifetime holiday. But anyway, U was just in the kind of silly mood that overtakes me now and then so I decided to use that silly subject line. But in actual fact, the subject line is indeed "Typically Topical". Because I am writing primarily to remind the group about the "Topics" filters which we have now configured for this group. We are aware that some members have iOS devices, but no interest at all in Mac OS X. Others may have Macs, but absolutely no interest in iOS. Some members may become weary of the "VMWare Fusion" discussions, others may be tired of "Boot Camp". Either which way, there is no need at all to have your mailbox filled up by what you consider totally irrelevant messages with regards your line of interest. That's why we configured "Topics" so that members need not be put off this group by traffic they don't want to see; all they have to do is take a couple of minutes to visit their personalised subscriber page, configure the "Topics" found under the "Topics" link, and then only receive that Mac Access Dot Net traffic which appeals to them. We have been asked in the past, and have considered setting up two related though separate groups: one which we'd call "ios-access" and then another, this one, which we'd leave as "mac-access". What do people think of that suggestion? If topics aren't sufficient and if there is a demand we will set up another group dedicated to iOS. Of course, topics probably won't ever be perfect. That is why we would like users to contact us if they have specific topics that they don't want to hear about. It is also true that without a degree of discipline regarding both subject line and message body content, topics could easily break. Therefore, we are going to be watching more carefully henceforth to try and ensure fair play for all. We really think that the "Topics" filtering could be helpful to a lot of our members if only, and this is really the crunch point, they would be prepared to take a couple of minutes to set things up for themselves. Now, there is just one more point regarding topics which I need to make absolutely clear; and it's something which I personally find somewhat distasteful. We were contacted about the "Topics" filtering a couple of weeks back, and asked if we could set up a topic so that certain list members' traffic could be precluded from that which was despatched to list members. Absolutely and totally, not! Whilst we could in theory probably do this, it's definitely beyond the scope of what we want to use the filters for, and there's no way we will ever do that. What "Rules" you choose to make locally regarding traffic is entirely your own business. But we would never insult members by adopting that kind of approach. We frequently get messages saying things like "Please could you configure my access for me", "Please could you change my email address for me, please could you set my password", and so on. We make every effort to honour all support requests wherever possible. However, it would be far more efficient, not to mention fast, if members would just take that few minutes to save us that few minutes. Part of this could be setting up topics. Topics are a very useful yet rarely employed function of the list manager, (MailMan) which really could save so much irritation, time and unwanted traffic. So in summary, we encourage people who think that topics might have a baring on what they want to receive and what they don't, to please visit their personalised subscriber options page and look at the topics filters currently available. If they think that these topics could be refined so that specific and frequently discussed subjects in which they have no interest whatsoever do not reach their inboxes, all the user needs to do is to contact us with suggestions; (off list). We cannot promise to implement the topics, but we will always give them consideration and, if it isn't possible to implement the request, we will explain why. One more very quick reminder; and it deals with another issue on which we are frequently having to spend time. If your email address changes, you do not need to remove yourself from this group in order to re-subscribe. Of course, that is an option. But an unnecessary one. All you have to do is visit your personalised subscriber options page and complete the very simple form there and you're done. Your new email address will be subscribed subject to a authentication message being sent from our server, and responded too. It's a simple function which we here at Mac Access shouldn't really have to handle for you when it's so easy to do it yourself. Of course, and I cannot stress this enough; we are always willing to help you should you encounter difficulties and you cannot resolve them unaided. But where possible please please try a little tiny bit harder to save us time. We do a great deal of work in order to try and maintain this list's integrity. Every day we encounter spam at tacks which we have to block or take other remedial actions to rebut. The list's in-built defence mechanism is quite robust, but not perfect. But it would make our job just that little bit easier if users could take the time to try and resolve their own issues. That's why their web pages exist. :) Thank you for your time. If you wish to comment on this "topic", please write to us off list: supp...@mac-access.net and we will be happy to discuss this with you. Lynne ======================================== This message was written using 100% recycled electrons. Gordon, Lynne & Tracy supp...@mac-access.net Follow us on Twitter: @maciosaccess ------------------------------ <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> To reply to this post, please address your message to mac-access@mac-access.net You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at either the list's own dedicated web archive: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> or at the public Mail Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/>. Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/maillist.xml> The Mac-Access mailing list is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free! Please remember to update your membership options periodically by visiting the list website at: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/>
