How to send mail to the list Replying privately vs. replying to the list How to use the DIGEST function How to turn off the DIGEST function How to turn off your listserv mail while you're on vacation How to turn on your mail again when you return from vacation How to use the Listserv Archives How to leave the list Guidelines for the Listserv Troubleshooting Welcome to the DMIA Principals Listserv What is a listserv? It's an automated, broadcast email service. If you send a message to the list address, everyone on the list will receive your message in a matter of seconds. The purpose of the listserv is to provide a means for DMIA member company principals and their designates to share information. The only restrictions on what kinds of information are: Pricing. You cannot discuss actual prices for goods and services. You may discuss in general terms how prices are calculated, but do not quote actual prices. Advertising. The list is not to be used as an advertising/promotional vehicle. If a request is made for a product your company manufactures, by all means respond to the list. But unsolicited announcements about your company's products and services are not appropriate. Political or theological opinions. The listserv is not the proper venue for these discussions. No defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive or illegal materials may be posted. And, you can't post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. Each message you send goes to hundreds of people. Do not send graphics or other attachments to the list. Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or by implication leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts,or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers. A few other considerations about what you post and what you will see posted by others: Each post to the list is YOUR judgment call. With hundreds of people on the list, whatever is posted will NOT interest everyone. For instance, a joke will be tolerated by most people, but will offend a certain percentage and will be considered a total waste of time by another percentage. The listserv is not a court and DMIA is not a police agency. The listserv should not be used to "blackball" or otherwise single out individuals or companies for criticism. Remember when you send a message to the list, you are broadcasting to hundreds of people. Your behavior/speech should be no different here than it would be if you were standing at a podium, microphone in hand, speaking to hundreds of your industry peers. But there is a major difference between the listserv and speaking off the cuff in public—on the listserv, everything you say is recorded, not only in the listserv archives, but also in the computers of everyone on the list. General Etiquette Use a signature file. A signature file, after you create it, is automatically appended to the bottom of every email you send. It saves you typing time and helps recipients identify you and contact you. Remember, not everyone who gets your email wants to email a response. If your email includes your phone and fax numbers, you make it easier for clients and prospects to pick up the phone and talk to you. At least they will know for certain who sent it. To create a signature file, access the Help menu of your email program and search the contents or index there for the word "signature." Or, get the computer nerd in your office to help you. Don't type your messages in capital letters. All caps in email is considered shouting. It's also harder to read than regular punctuation. Because of the threat of viruses, the listserv will automatically reject postings that include attachments. Your posting also will be rejected if it exceeds 250 lines. If you send email in html, it might include graphic attachments (backgrounds, for example) that will cause your posting to be rejected. HTML code also inflates your line count, which can cause your posting to be rejected because of its length. Send your mail in plain text—it's the fastest and cleanest way to get your message across. Send a message to the entire list only when it contains information that everyone can use. Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me too" to individuals—not to the entire list. Do this by using your e-mail application's forwarding option and typing in or cutting and pasting in the e-mail address of the individual to whom you want to respond. State concisely the specific topic of your message in the subject line of your email. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier to search the archives by subject. Include only the relevant portions of the original message in your reply, delete header information and other extraneous text, and put your response before the originalposting. DMIA also operates a Sourcing Listserv that is open to all employees of member companies. You may use the Principals list for source requests, but the Sourcing list may be more effective because it is expressly designed for those types of inquiries. Using the Listserv If you would like to reply to a message from the list (meaning the entire list will get a copy of your reply), use the reply function of your email program. Please note: Most mail programs will allow you to hit "reply" to an email from the listserv to respond to the list, but check to make sure yours is compliant. DMIA_PRINCIPALS@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM should be the "reply-to" address of the message. Who is on the list? There are 600 principals of DMIA distributor and manufacturer member companies on the list. The list is private, and the only access to it is through DMIA. If you know of DMIA member principals who should be a part of this list, ask them to email Brad Holt at to be subscribed. How to send mail to the list To send a message to all list members, compose an email and send it to:DMIA_PRINCIPALS@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Note: there is an underscore between DMIA and PRINCIPALS.) Here's an example: From: your email address To: DMIA_PRINCIPALS@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM Subject: *the issue you want to discuss* *your message* That's all there is to it. Save the list address — DMIA_PRINCIPALS@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM — in your email address book, and use it whenever you want to communicate with the list. To leave the list or select certain list options, you send an email to a different address. Replying privately vs. replying to the list The purpose of the list is to share information. If you have information for everyone, or if you have a question for everyone, by all means write to the list as a whole. And, if you have an answer or information to add, please respond to the entire list. But there are times when the entire list does not need to see your post. For example: Someone has an interesting article he will fax or mail to you if you are interested. If you're interested, you should not send a note to the entire list—you should voice your interest directly to the person who has the article. Remember, hitting "reply" to a listserv message will send your response to the entire list. Take a moment before you hit that button and ask yourself if your post is adding something to the discussion at hand or is it a personal message. If it's personal, send your message directly to the individual. Your email program should show the address of the person on the list who sent the message. Click and drag on that person's email address and copy it into the "To" or "Mail To" field of your email form to send your message only to that person. Who knows, by sending a few personal messages you might make a new pen pal-and get even more email! How to use the DIGEST function With the "digest" function, you can get just one email a day from the list. That single email will contain all the emails generated by the entire list in the previous 24 hours. Here's how: Send an upper case message to LISTSERV@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM, leaving the subject line blank. Note: this address is different from the one you use to send messages to the list. Here's an example: From: your email address To: LISTSERV@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM Subject: In the message section, type in upper case letters: SET DMIA_PRINCIPALS DIGEST Be sure you include the underscore between DMIA and PRINCIPALS. How to turn off the DIGEST function This is the default setting of the list. It allows you to receive emails whenever a list member sends to the list. Send an upper case message to the list server as follows, with the subject line blank: From: your email address To: LISTSERV@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM Subject: In the message section, type in upper case letters: SET DMIA_PRINCIPALS NODIGEST Be sure you include the underscore between DMIA and PRINCIPALS. How to turn off your listserv mail while you're on vacation To stop delivery of listserv mail but remain on the list, send an upper case message to the list server as follows, with the subject line blank: From: your email address To: LISTSERV@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM Subject: In the message section, type in upper case letters: SET DMIA_PRINCIPALS NOMAIL Be sure you include the underscore between DMIA and PRINCIPALS. How to turn on your mail again when you return from vacation To restart delivery of listserv mail, send an upper case message to the list server as follows, with the subject line blank: From: your email address To: LISTSERV@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM Subject: In the message section, type in upper case letters: SET DMIA_PRINCIPALS MAIL Be sure you include the underscore between DMIA and PRINCIPALS. How to use the Listserv Archives Go to http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/DMIA_PRINCIPALS.html Click on "Search the Archives." This will take you to the search screen. You may enter text and search for all messages that contain that text, or you may search subject lines or authors' addresses. You also may narrow your search with date parameters. Click on the "Start the Search" button. Please note: When you use the archive, you will be asked to login your email address and password. The first time you use the archive, you must register your email address and create a password. From the "Login required" screen, click on the link that says "get a new LISTSERV password first." This takes you to a screen that says "Registering your LISTSERV password." Here you enter your e-mail address and your desired password, then click on the "Register password" button. If you already had a LISTSERV password, but cannot remember what it was, this procedure will automatically replace your existing password with the new one you enter. A confirmation of your password request will be emailed to you in a few seconds. To activate your password, follow the instructions in the email. Please wait until you see the message from LISTSERV saying "Your new password was registered successfully" before using it. How to leave the list To remove your email address from the list and stop receiving messages, send an upper case message to the list server as follows, with the subject line blank: From: your email address To: LISTSERV@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM Subject: In the body of the message, type in upper case: SIGNOFF DMIA_PRINCIPALS Be sure you include the underscore between DMIA and PRINCIPALS. If you are still getting messages, you could be subscribed with a different email address. If you have any problems or questions, email . Legal Guidelines for the Listserv: This listserv is provided as a service of the Document Management Industries Association (DMIA), which accepts no responsibility for the opinions and information posted by others. DMIA disclaims all warranties with regard to information posted, whether posted by DMIA or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall DMIA be liable for any special, indirect or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted to this list. Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive or illegal materials. Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that it owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants DMIA the non-exclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print and use such information or other material. DMIA does not actively monitor the list for inappropriate postings, and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to DMIA's attention, DMIA will take all appropriate action. DMIA reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines. If your message is rejected... Problem: Your message cannot be distributed to the list because it exceeds the maximum message size of 250 lines. Solution: Short messages may receive this error because they were composed in Rich Text or HTML format. In your email client, create a new message and change the format from Rich Text or HTML to Plain Text. Copy and paste the text from your original message into the new Plain Text message and re-send to the Listserv. Problem: Your message is being returned to you unprocessed because it appears to have already been distributed to the list. That is, a message with identical text (but possibly with different mail headers) has been posted to the list recently, either by you or by someone else. Solution: When you send a message to the Listserv, you will see your own posting. If your message is not identical to a previous message and you see your own posting arrive in your inbox, you can ignore this rejection message. Do not re-send your original email. Problem: Your message is rejected with the following notice:Text: Out of office Action: DISCARD Text: Out of the office Action: DISCARD Solution: The words "out of the office" appear in your subject line or within the body of your email. These words cause the Listserv to interpret your message as an "Out of Office" autoresponder—something automatically rejected by the system. Remove the words "out of the office" from your email and re-send. If you have any problems or questions, email .