For the attention of new visitors/forum members

  Forum Editor 20:33 28 Dec 2005
Locked

There has been a considerable increase in the number of people emailing me with individual requests for help. The server automatically notifies me where each email originates - whether the sender was logged in or not, and if logged in, from which thread the message was sent.

Suddenly I am receiving dozens and dozens of requests for advice and help from people who are not logged in, and in all probability these people have not registered with us.

Please note that:-


1. I cannot resolve individual problems via email - whether they are from registered forum members or from non-registered visitors. I just don't have the time, and it wouldn't be fair to other forum members.

2. I cannot undertake to acknowledge receipt of any messages from unregistered visitors - I receive lots of emails every day, and although I try to respond to those from existing registered members, those from non-members will always go unanswered I'm afraid.

3. If you are registered with us, and you have a problem please don't email me directly - I may acknowledge receipt of your message, but that might take a day or so, and I will not provide solutions in that way. Post your problem/request for advice in the appropriate forum area instead.

4. If you already have a thread running, and you write to me, asking for my input, I will almost always try to help, but it will not be via an email response - I will try to post on your thread. This is so others (who may have a similar problem) can see the resolution process, and so that advice isn't duplicated.

5. Please do NOT use the webmaster link at the bottom of the pages if you want to contact me. The email from that link does not come directly to me, it first goes to our server technical staff, and it may take days for it to be redirected.

By all means write to me if you have a problem with the forum, or if you want to say something that is better not posted in a thread. I'll try to reply as quickly as possible, but my mailbox has reached mammoth proportions now, and I may take a while to get back to you.


Feel free to contact me if any of the above is not clear - it's always good to get email feedback from you, it makes me feel needed.

  PurplePenny 23:15 28 Dec 2005

FE - you will always be needed.

I suppose that it would overload the servers too much to set up an auto-respond that says all that.

  Forum Editor 23:29 28 Dec 2005

Thank you, that's all I wanted to hear.

Auto-responder? It's a thought. We're trying hard to keep the site server overheads to an absolute minimum, but I'm warming to your suggestion as I write, and I could probably set up an auto-responder on my own system. I'll give it some thought.

  Forum Editor 14:45 29 Dec 2005

and I've decided to use a simple email rule to weed out the 'not logged in' messages and respond to them automatically. Until very recently we used a the IDG Lotus Notes Domino mail server in Chicago, and life was in some ways less complicated. Now we're all on the IDG UK POP mail server, and I'm using a beta version of Outlook 12 (the next MS Office version) for my mail-handling. There are so many exciting new gizmos in this version that I can't stop playing, although I hadn't thought of the simple solution suggested by PurplePenny. I can do it off the web server, so no addition to the server overheads.

Thanks Penny - sometimes the answer is so obvious as to be invisible.

  steve263000 13:50 30 Dec 2005

The F.E. has a good point and I am sure those of us that have used the forum have found that public messages are by far the best way of getting help. I have had many helpful replies on assorted subjects, some from the F.E. of course, who's advice is ALWAYS useful.

But most from forum members who take the time to answer what at times must seem like the drivelings of a idiot. So for those who like to bombard the F.E. with unwanted mail, then join in and make it public.

  Forum Editor 15:21 30 Dec 2005

working on my office system, so anyone who emails me without being logged in will get a message automatically.......asking them to register with us and/or login.

Already I've seen a big decrease in the number of messages I need to attend to myself.

This thread is now locked and can not be replied to.

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