Other than administrative and address corrections, recent edits are noted with an *.

I. JC News
1. What is it?
*2. Who runs this place anyway?
3. How do I post?
4. How do I subscribe?
5. How do I unsubscribe?
6. Tricks with University addresses
7. How do I get the digest?

II. Miscellaneous
*1. Flamewars
2. What can I do to make my messages easier to read?
*3. Please do not forward large messages to the list.
4. How can I get a copy of the most recent FAQ?
A. Jcnews
B. Email
C. Web
5. Why do my messages sometimes get sent to the list twice?
6. Who can I talk to for help with jcnews?
7. Jcnews on the Web
8. Sponsorship

I. Jcnews
1. What is it?
Jcnews is an automated e-mail mailing list primarily having to do with people, places, and things around Iowa City and Johnson County, Iowa. Readers of the list who wish to share their views with other readers send their commentary to a central address. The message is then immediately forwarded to each member of the list.

*2. Who runs this place anyway?
Rusty Martin started the thing, originally called RMNews. It has been hosted by a number of internet sites, most recently by Leepfrog.com. It is now located on yahoo.com. When Rusty left town, he turned the list over to Linda Yanney, who edits and posts the FAQ and tries to help folks use the system. If you have questions or problems, please contact Linda <lyanney@avalon.net>.

This list is not edited. Responsibility for the content and tone of the discussion rests with the participants. That would be you.

*The list may be moderated in the event of extended flamewars, repeated violations of the FAQ, or as necessary to preserve the viability of the group. Volunteers to assist in this task are welcome.

3. How do I post (send a message to the list)?
Send your message to: <jcnews@yahoogroups.com>.
It will be sent to all of the list subscribers. Use this address only if you want all readers to see it.

4. How do I subscribe?
Send email to <jcnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com>
If you send your subscription request to the list address, <jcnews@yahoogroups.com>, everyone will get a copy of your request but you will not succeed in subscribing. The subject line of your request doesn't matter. The actual message doesn't matter, either.

Remember, do not send requests to subscribe to the list, send them to <jcnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com>.

5. How do I unsubscribe?
Send email to <jcnews-unsubscribe@yahoo.com>. The subject line doesn't matter; neither does message.

Remember, do not send requests to subscribe or unsubscribe to the list, send them to jcnews-unsubscribe@yahoo.com.

6. Tricks with University addresses.

If you have a UI address (and some other systems work this way, too) please be aware of the address form you use to subscribe, you will need
it to unsubscribe. For instance, if I subscribe using the address <linda-yanney@uiowa.edu>, I will not be able to unsubscribe using the
address <lyanney@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>. When you subscribe to a list, it's always a good idea to save the bounce back message in a file named
"instructions" or "tech", that way you will know how to unsubscribe and what address to use.

7. How do I get the digest?

Some people would rather get one really big message every day or so, rather than a lot of separate messages. That's a digest. You can get your jcnews in digest form by going to the yahoogroups.com website, registering, and modifying your subscription to the group. Or you can email Linda to do it for you.

If you would rather not get email or a digest, but would rather just drop in from time-to-time, you can now read jcnews on the web. More info on that will follow, or you can go to yahoogroups.com and wander around on your own.

II. Miscellaneous
*1.Flamewars. We expect and encourage passionate discussion, but behavior such as flamewars, name-calling, and personal attacks will not be tolerated. Violators will be warned; habitual violators will be sanctioned.
2.What can I do to make my messages easier to read?
There are a few guidelines which, when followed, will make your messages easier to read:
A) Write a descriptive subject line.
B) Quote carefully: When quoting another post, only quote those lines that are necessary to make or clarify your point. Ruthlessly trim unnecessary lines in the message; don't just slap your reply onto the previous post.
C) Keep lines short: Keep lines shorter than 70 characters when you are typing your message. This allows people to quote your message without causing text to wrap around to the next line.
D) Watch line spacing: Use only one return after a line and separate paragraphs by a blank line.
*E) Identify yourself by name at the beginning or end of your post so readers will know whose post they are reading. Anonymous subscribers are not allowed on this list.
F) "Stylized text" comes across many people's mail programs with <FONT...> and <COLOR...> tags. When posting messages to the list make sure your email program is set to send Plain Text; please turn off "styled text" in your email program.

*3. Please avoid sending extremely large messages to the list. DO NOT SEND forwarded newsletters, alerts and other mass mailings to the list.

No one likes to read pages and pages of text, especially when it is
a *forwarded message* from some other source with only marginal relevance. Since your goal is communicating with jcnews readers, make it easy for them. Summarize when you can. Put a description at the top of longer messages so readers can decide if they want to read more. Better yet, post a summary and invite interested readers to e-mail you for the whole thing, or to visit your web page if you have one.

4. How can I get a copy of the most recent FAQ?
Jcnews: the FAQ will be posted to jcnews every few weeks.
Email: send an e-mail message to Linda <lyanney@avalon.net>, requesting the FAQ via email. She welcomes your suggestions for improving the FAQ.
Web: the FAQ is available in the jcnews files on the yahoogroups.com website.

5. Why do my messages sometimes get sent to the list twice?
If you use a Pine mailer, Tom Slockett <slockett@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu> offers this tip:
>Duplication of messages sent to jcnews is caused by answering "y" or "yes" to BOTH of >the following prompts when replying to a jcnews posting:
>A. Use "Reply to" address instead of “From” address. Recommend answering
>"n" or "no".
>B. Reply to all recipients?
>O.K. to answer "y" or "yes" to this one if you want to post your response to everyone >subscribing to jcnews.
>
>Following the above procedure will eliminate the common error of double
>posting to jcnews when replying to a previous post.

6. Who can I talk to for help with jcnews?
You are welcome to contact Linda Yanney <lyanney@avalon.net>.

7. Jcnews on the Web:
By going to the yahoogroups.com website and registering, you can read jcnews on the web, upload and download shared files, and find some handy links for Johnson County and the State of Iowa. You do not have to register with yahoo to get jcnews by email.

At one time, jcnews was archived on the Panda project of the University of Iowa. As far as I know, those files no longer exist. Yahoo does provide archives for its groups, so the new archives has begun with the move to yahoogroups. More information can be found on the yahoogroups.com website, or email Linda.

Yahoo, a commercial discussion site, is the jcnews host. Questions about jcnews should be directed to Linda Yanney <lyanney@avalon.net>.

* * * Play nice and don't break anything. * * *