Sample Hello Document

The following document is an example of an extensive Hello document that you might want mailed to new members of your discussion mailing list. The document for an announcement or email marketing list would be much shorter. Aurea List Manager provides a Hello template that you may use when creating your own welcome message.

This is a real document, used by the Rhapsody mailing list. It is reprinted here by permission of the author, Vince Sabio.

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* PLEASE SAVE THIS WELCOME MESSAGE! * 
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Welcome to the Rhapsody Discussion List ... 
The purpose of this list is to provide an open forum for the posting and discussion of news and information
relating to the Rhapsody operating system. That means that ANYTHING Rhapsody related is fair game. However,

if you have something that is not somehow related to Rhapsody -- for example, Apple's stock increased
by two points -- it would be better to post it to one of the more general Macintosh-related forums; subscription

information for two of them is provided below. 
Commercial announcements are allowed and encouraged, but please follow the guidelines listed in the
Posting section of the Rhapsody Discussion List FAQ (see item 6 below), or on the web at <http://user.icx.net/~bgiles/rhapsody/posting.html>.

This list is hosted on a Lyris ListManager mailing ListManager, provided to us by ListManager Corp.
As such, we are guests on this server, and a level of decorum commensurate with our status as guests will
be enforced on this list. Please keep discussion civil and constructive, and take heated discussions and
non-constructive comments off the list. Failure to do so will result in the subscribers' posting privileges

being revoked by the listmoms for a "cooling off period." 
The listmoms for the Rhapsody Discussion List are: 
Bruce Giles <bgiles@icx.net> 
Randy Meadows <rmeadows@fgm.com> 
Vince Sabio <listmom@telephonet.com> (list owner) 
To send a message to all three listmoms at once, 
use the address <rhapsody-owner@clio.lyris.net>. 
Please feel free to contact any of us with questions regarding the Rhapsody Discussion List or if
you experience any problems with the 
server. 
Just so that you have all the commands neatly contained in one place, here is just about everything
you will need to know. Note that the list is running on a Lyris ListManager; this is a very new (and VERY
NICE!) server, 
so be aware that the commands might be different from those that you are used to using on other list
managers. (For more information on Lyris ListManager, see 
<http://www.lyris.com/>.) 
1. First of all, almost everything that you might need to do on the server is most easily and effectively
performed via its web interface 
at <http://clio.lyris.net/rhapsody/>. 
2. In case you do not have Web access, here are some key commands; in all cases, the default server
address is <listmanager@clio.lyris.net>. Other addresses are shown where appropriate. Note: Commands
may be placed in either the subject line or in the body of the message: 
SUBSCRIBING: 
subscribe rhapsody your_name 
join rhapsody your_name 
alternate address: join-rhapsody@clio.lyris.net 
UNSUBSCRIBING: 
unsubscribe rhapsody 
leave rhapsody 
alternate address: leave-rhapsody@clio.lyris.net 
SETTING MEMBERSHIP TO DIGEST MODE: 
set rhapsody digest 
SETTING MEMBERSHIP TO INDEX MODE: 
set rhapsody index 
SETTING MEMBERSHIP TO DISCUSSION MODE: 
set rhapsody mail 
TEMPORARILY SUSPENDING MAIL FROM THE LIST: 
set rhapsody nomail 
RESUMING MAIL FROM THE LIST: (command depends on your preferred mode) 
set rhapsody mail 
set rhapsody digest 
set rhapsody index 
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: 
set rhapsody ack 
(sends you a confirmation message when your posts are distributed) 
set rhapsody noack 
(no confirmation message when posts are distributed) 
RECEIVING COPIES OF YOUR OWN POSTS: 
set rhapsody repro 
(receive copies of your own posts) 
set rhapsody norepro 
(do not receive copies of your own posts) 
SETTING YOUR PASSWORD: 
set rhapsody pw=mypassword 
(where "mypassword" is the password you wish to set) 
DETERMINING YOUR MEMBERSHIP SETTINGS: 
query rhapsody 
RETRIEVING THE CURRENT VERSION OF THIS DOCUMENT: 
get rhapsody hello 
MORE INFORMATION ON LYRIS LISTMANAGER'S COMMANDS: 
help 
RETRIEVING THE CURRENT LIST FAQ: 
Send a blank email message to: 
rdl-faq@clio.lyris.net 
RETRIEVING THE CURRENT LIST OF RHAPSODY RESOURCES: 
Send a blank email message to: 
rhapsody-resources@clio.lyris.net 
RETRIEVING THE CURRENT LIST OF RHAPSODY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: 
Send a blank email message to: 
rhapsody-faq@clio.lyris.net 
POSTING TO THE LIST: You must be a subscriber to post messages. Sending 
mail to this address will distribute it to all the members of the 
mailing list: 
rhapsody@clio.lyris.net 
3. CHANGING YOUR SETTINGS/ADDRESS VIA THE WEB INTERFACE: To do this, go to <http://clio.lyris.net/rhapsody/>
and click the link in the "Change Your Settings" section. You'll need to enter your email address
and 
password (if you chose one) to continue. 
(If you've forgotten your password, you can type in your email address in the field at the bottom
of the page and click "Get password" to request Lyris ListManager to email your password to
you.) 
At the following page, you can read messages, post a message, adjust your settings, or unsubscribe.
From the settings page you can change your status (MAIL, DIGEST, INDEX, or NOMAIL), choose whether or
not to 
see your own messages, or choose whether or not you want to receive a separate acknowledgement via
email when one of your messages is posted to the list. You can also change your email address if you need
to. When you change your settings, make sure you click the Save button at the bottom of the page.

4. RDL Web site: The Rhapsody Discussion List has a Web site at <http://user.icx.net/~bgiles/rhapsody/>.
The Web site includes all the information in this document, PLUS a list of common questions and answers,
and a list of Rhapsody resources, both on and off the Internet. 
Please visit the site and let us know what you want to see there. 
5. OBTAINING THE FAQ AND OTHER DOCUMENTS: You can receive the current version of the Rhapsody Discussion
List FAQ by email at any time by sending an email message to <rdl-faq@clio.lyris.net>. The subject
line 
and body text of your message are ignored. Simply sending a blank message to this address is sufficient.

You can receive a current list of Rhapsody resources by sending a blank email message to <rhapsody-resources@clio.lyris.net>.

You can receive a current list of Rhapsody questions and answers by sending a blank email message
to <rhapsody-faq@clio.lyris.net>. 
6. BOUNCED MAIL: One of the key features of Lyris ListManager is its ability to handle mail bounces
transparently to the list owner; as such, bounced mail will be handled primarily by the Lyris ListManager.

7. POSTS/REPLIES FROM DIGEST USERS: You *must* change the Subject: line when replying to a digest;
all posts with "RHAPSODY DIGEST" in the 
Subject: line will be rejected by the server (you will receive a "rejection letter" when
this happens). 
PROBLEMS: If you have ANY problems related to the Rhapsody Discussion List, *please* do not post them
to the list. Listmoms (list managers) are at your disposal for this very purpose; please avail yourself
of 
the resource: 
Bruce Giles <bgiles@icx.net> 
Randy Meadows <rmeadows@fgm.com> 
Vince Sabio <listmom@telephonet.com> (list owner) 
To send a message to all three listmoms at once, 
use the address <rhapsody-owner@clio.lyris.net>. 
If you have any questions about the list or the Lyris ListManager, feel free to contact any or all
of us. (NOTE: I currently manage five mailing 
lists; please be sure to state in your message which list you are referring/subscribed to. Thanks!)

Once again, welcome to the Rhapsody Discussion List. 
- Vince Sabio 
Rhapsody List Owner 
listmom@telephonet.com 
OTHER LISTS: 
As I mentioned earlier, here are two very good Macintosh-related mailing 
lists: 
Mac-L: Macintosh News and Information 
Format: Open subscription/open discussion 
Server: listserv@list.nih.gov 
In body: subscribe Mac-L your_name 
MacMarines: A Macintosh advocacy/activist group 
Format: Open subscription/moderated/very little discussion 
Server: listmaster@marlowe.net 
In body: join macmarines your_email_address 
DISCLAIMER: 
The Rhapsody Discussion List is not associated with Apple Computer Corporation or its affiliates.
The list is an independent open forum for news, information, and discussion relating to the Rhapsody operating
system. The server and resources for the Rhapsody Discussion List are provided by Acme Corp, Ltd., which
also has no association with Apple Computer Corp.