PetBunny Discussion List:
Ways to deal with the list volume

Written by Beth Mammini

PetBunny can be a high volume list. This makes it difficult for everyone to keep up with all the discussions. The following are some suggestions on how to deal with the list volume and how we can make it easier for everyone to be a part of our community.

Subject Line

Use a subject line that is descriptive of the post. Unfortunately, some people cannot read all posts and it helps everyone to sort Subjects such as "Help" or "Question" will probably get better responses with subjects like "Help - Bunny won't eat" or "Question on nail clipping". If your reply changes the thread to a new direction, please change the subject. You can include a (was: old subject) afterward if you like.

Replies

When replying to a post, please edit that post and remove all headers and signature files. Including some parts can be helpful so that it is clear what you are agreeing with or replying to, but it is generally not necessary to include the entire post. People have probably already read it once, and this helps keep down the volume problem some have with petbunny.

E-mail address

Include your e-mail address in your post, either in a .sig or simply typed in. This enables other people to respond to you personally, off list. Not all mail readers allow the user to do this easily without the actual address. If you do want to respond personally and can't find the person's address, send the message "scan petbunny some_part_of_name_or_address" in the body to listserv@ukcc.uky.edu. This should give you an address to which you can mail a personal note.

Off Topic

Many PB threads lead to "non-bunny" subjects. While this does contribute to the volume on PB, it is also a part of the community that we have built. However, we ask that you include "Off topic" in the header once the thread has drifted away from bunnies, so that people who are not interested can delete these messages.

Personal replies

If your response is only addressed to one person *and* is not of general interest to the group, please consider sending personal e-mail (not through PB). The line between personal and group mail will be different for everyone. Please just stop to consider that PB mail will go into the mailboxes of 400+ people and decide how best to send it. If you do send personal (non-PB) e-mail to an individual you may want to mark it PERSONAL since not all mail readers make that distinction. This does NOT mean you should send e-mail through PB marked PERSONAL. Many responses such as "me too" and "thanks" can be sent only to the individual. Although a message is short, it can cause a volume problem because of the header and because some members have mail quotas. [This does not mean that these messages are never appropriate on PB.]

Unsubscribed?

People sometimes do become mysteriously unsubscribed. It is generally not a conspiracy, but just some computer glitch. If you are not getting PB mail, send "query petbunny" in the body of a message to listserv@lsv.uky.edu. Be aware that sometimes it is simply a matter of high volume or low volume periods on PB. Questions can be directed to either listowner Bill Tricomi or Simeon Nevel.