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Informalex :: Informal Guides' Route and Conditions Information Exchange |
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Answers |
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| Questions of the Year (aka: "How to Change Your Email Address") About Informalex - General QuestionsWhat is the
Informalex? What's it mean to "post"
to the list? |
Informalex List Home Pages What are the Informalex List pages? Informalex Moderators Who are the Moderators and what do they do? Recommended links:Bivouac.com - a membership-fee-based public information exchange. Worth joining if you plan to put some work into it. Some information is freely available but the best features are members-only. I recommend supporting this excellent resource - $20/year or $50 for three years. Avalanche.ca - Canadian Avalanche Association's page. Contains excellent weather information links, as well as an (under-used) public trip discussion board GeoGratis - Free online maps resource from the Canadian Government, including digital maps of ALL of Canada (the same ones you buy, 1:50,000 and 1:250,000) in hi-res raster format. You can also download all kinds of amazing digital vector data as well if you have GIS skills. |
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Questions of the Year |
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| Q - I was subscribed but now I get a bounce from the informalex whenever I try to post a message and/or I'm not receiving posts; what's going on? (aka "How to Change Your Email Address") A - This question, or a variant thereof, should be listed as the Question of the Millenium and the answer (explained below) should eliminate 99% of all questions the moderators get. *** When you post to the Informalex using an email account that has not yet been registered, your post will get bounced. *** "Does this make sense to folks?" ... we don't want just anyone posting, right? To send and/or receive email at a new address I can think of three possible scenarios, explained below. To make the changes suggested, you need to visit the Informalex list page and log on with your password (via the "Unsubscribe or Edit Options" box on the list's main page, Informalex List Page - http://informalex.org/list, or Mountain Conditions Report (MCR). If you have forgotten your password, there is a button that will send you your password to your existing account email address (see below for a full explanation). If you are unable to check mail at your existing account email address because the account has been disabled, please send the moderator a note to get him to unsubscribe it for you, and then follow scenario #2... 1. "I have a new account that I want to post from, but I only want delivery to my current account." -- Just sign up for a new account with the new email address, and then disable delievery from the options page for this new account. 2."I only want the Informalex posts sent from/to my new email address. I've said bye-bye to my old address." -- You need to make a NEW subscription for your new address. You should also either UNSUBSCRIBE or SUSPEND DELIVERY for the old account. 3."I want to make and receive posts from both my current account and a new account!" -- OK, no problem, just make a new subscription for your new email address and don't unsubscribe from your old. If you are still having problems, contact the appropriate moderator and he'll refer you to this FAQ... No, seriously, he'll probably help you out. Q - What's my password? A - Your password was emailed to you when you signed up, and is emailed in a monthly reminder. You can also request a password to be sent to you via the list page at http://informalex.org/list. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, enter your email address in the bottom-most box, then click the button beside it that reads "Unsubscribe or edit options". You can also use the email-based commands. |
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About Informalex |
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| Q - What is the Informalex? A - The Informalex is a subscription mailing list for the exchange of conditions and route information among ACMG guides. It was started as a CC-list by Mark Klassen and Grant Statham in 2000 and has grown to a current (June 2013) participant list of about 550+ guides. In 2006 it became an ACMG-sanctioned list6, and is now run by the ACMG's "MCR Committee". A - No! All that is necessary to take advantage of the basic function--that of posting and receiving messages--is to sign up by emailing a subscription request to the list you wish to join. Please see the Informalex main page, http://informalex.org, for guidelines and links to the list home pages for details. It's a way of simplifying sending emails to a bunch of people. Instead of CC'ing hundreds of email addresses, you just send to a single list address. The mailing list program then distributes a copy of that email to all of the subscribed members. Q - Who can join the Informalex? You must be an ACMG or UIAGM/IFMGA guide practising in Western Canada to join (special cases may be made--contact the appropriate moderator if you have questions). A - Membership is free, but you must make a commitment to participate. Q - What responsibilities do I have as member? A - Members of the Informalex should commit to making regular contributions--not just glean the efforts of others for their personal benefit. The Informalex is free to use--but it shouldn't come without a cost, that being the effort of contributing regularly. See the Informalex home page for guidelines, http://informalex.org |
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Using Informalex |
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| Q - What's it mean to "post" to the list? A - When a member sends an email to the list address, this is called "posting" to the list. Everyone subscribed to the list receives postings as a personal email from the sender. Non-members may post a message but this is subject to the approval of the moderator. There are two ways of responding to a post.
Q - What is the etiquette for postings? A - Guidelines for postings are described on the Informalex home page, http://informalex.org. Please do not post the same message to multiple lists as some guides may subscribe to more than one list and will get copies of the same posting. A - Yes, with a caveat. For the sake of those with limited mail capacities and/or modem connections there is a size limit of 1000 KB (1 MB) per email. Messages over 1000 KB in size will be bounced, so if you DO choose to include photos they should be "optimised for the web". Here are some tips on how to reduce the size of your photos:
1) If you have a Windows machine, Download Irfanviewer for FREE!,
a small utilitiy recommended to me by Jordy Shephard. Jordy has written
me an email that describes what it does and how to use it. Click
here for the details. Remember: Emails > 1 MB will be bounced, so keep them small. Most photos can be shrunk to about <150 kB with very acceptable results. Q - What are some examples of good subject headings? A - Your subject heading should give everyone a good idea of what information you are providing. If it's a conditions report, state the name of the area, e.g. "Bugaboos" or "Icefields - A2". If its some other issue, make it clear what you're talking about in your message. Don't use subjects like "Hi" or "Question" or blank. For those of you who wonder, "Who's Who on the Informalex?", there is now an easy way for you to find out anytime your heart desires. It's a simple two-step process: 1. Compose an email to informalex-request@informalex.org 2. In the Subject: header simply put the following line: who [password] address=[email] Note that: Example:
If dude@hireagroovyguide.com is an Informalex member with blah98 as his/her password, s/he will soon get sent a complete member list with real names and email addresses. |
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Informalex List Home Pages |
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| Q - What are the Informalex List pages? A - The Informalex List Pages allow guides to make subscription requests, and allow members to change their subscriptions. Q - Where can I find the list home pages? A - The list home page is found at the following URL:
informalex.org/list Q - What does it mean to "change your subscription"? A - This section is accessed at the bottom of the List Home Page: enter
your email address and click the "Edit Options" button, and
a page will come up with a description of a variety of settings that can
be changed. These settings include password reminders, password changes,
digest options, etc. and should be described adequately there. You can
check other members' settings--look at tom@sawback.com for how I like
to have things set up. Changes of course require the input of a password. Q - Do I have to use a web browser to change my
settings, etc? A - No! You can do everything by email, so you don't need a browser at
all. Send an email to informalex-request@informalex.org
with the word "help" in the subject and you'll get a return
email with all kinds of goodies. Click here
for a copy of it if you're in a rush. Q - What is the digest option? A - "Digest" means that you'll get the day's postings collected
into one single daily email. Handy for limited the inbox clutter--but
maybe more difficult to keep track of what's going on. You can change
this after you subscribe in the "change subscription" section. Q - How do I view the archives? A - You can access the archives via the list home pages, http://informalex.org/list
or http://informalex.org/list. Click on the appropriate link; you will
be prompted for your username (email address) and password. You then have the option of viewing the archives by their Thread (discussion
topic), Subject, Date, Sender, etc. Photos cannot be viewed directly from the archive web interface (they
look like pages of scrambled code...); to do this you must download the
email as a text file and open it with a unix-compatible mail reader that
opens MIME-formatted attachments... (see below under downloading "raw
archives" for a couple of clues on how to do this; best
bet for technologically inhibited folks is to ask the person who made
the post for a copy). You can also download the entire "raw archive".
If you use a Linux/Unix/MAC OS X, then you're in business:
just use pine, elm, or your favourite email client to open the file; HOWEVER,
if you use a Windows machine then you will have difficulty with the raw
archive because most windows email clients struggle with ".mbox"
or unix mail files. The good news is that many freely available mail clients will let you
do this; the bad news is that it's a little complicated, and for a neophyte
probably overwhelming. The easiest by far that I've found (and I've looked
at about 6 or 7 options) is: Sylpheed
for Win32 - Somewhat easier to use, tricky to install. Good luck. | |||
Informalex Moderators |
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| Q - Who are the Moderators and what do they do? A - Moderators monitor the Informalex and approve subscription requests. Direct your concerns, suggestions, etc. to them. <<back to the Informalex Main Page Major Facelift Jun 28, 2007 |
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