Emails and messages in discussion groups(our weekly aim for April 12- 19, 2006)
Is there any difference between e-mails and messages in a discussion group?
Can you say which of the following statements are FALSE?
1.Discussion groups are spam protected, and messages go to the group by default.
TRUE, at least in theory, as Elizabeth has cleverly noticed. Bear in mind that group owners can choose to set Yahoo! groups so that replies to messages go just to the person who's posted them, to the group owner, or even disallow replies (turning the group into a newsletter).
2.Messages in a discussion group can be grouped according to date or topic .
TRUE, if reading them at the website, after clicking on "Messages", click on "As Thread" to see them grouped as "conversations", or "As: Msg List" to see them ordered according to date. (Notice that Outlook Express allows you to do the same using "View--->Order by")
3.Members can edit other people’s messages.
FALSE, unless, of course, you're thinking of the group owner or moderator, and you refer to "pending messages" (awaiting moderation), or of messages included as part of replies. Good for "naughty Dennis"!
4.Attachments can be disallowed, and automated messages can be created.
TRUE, this is one of the many choices the group owner has (and which can be modified once and again). To see what automated messages, visit the "Files" section in our group (where they're saved as text files).
5.Messages posted to a discussion group get lost after all members have read them.
FALSE, once again, this is a choice of the group owner (and eventually moderators). Old messages are known as "archives", and the options are: "accessed by anyone" (more about this when we discuss RSS and syndication), "accessed by all members" (our case), "accessed just by group owner" or "no archives available". But no option allows you to delete them once they've been read by all members... What's more, you can never actually know who's read a certain message (unless they've replied, of course!
Gladys
NOTE: see message # 381 for the results of the "competition"!
"I say number 3 is false. Members can reply, but not edit other people's messages." Júlia
If you mean "certain" members can edit others' messages, that's true for members with a moderator or owner status. But I don't think anyone else can do that.
In my opinion Nº 5 is the false one. Messages remain in the group archives forever... forever?
Claudia
P/S: I'm very fond of prizes, Gladys. A digital photo camera would be all right with me!
Dennis has posted his answer as a comment. Don't miss it! (just click on the blue icon "comments" at the top of your screen).
I think number 5 is the false one.Messages remain in the group archives so members can read them later by using the search engine. Isabel
Very tricky - Discussion groups can be spam protected, but it doesn't aways work. Can messages be grouped by date? Well they are, sort of; that is, they are listed by date. Only the moderator can delete a message, but I don't think members at large can edit others' messages. 4. is ture, but 5. is definitely not true, unless we are speaking philosophically, not technically.
Tough questions, Gladys. I'll be interested in reviewing the answers.
Cheers - Elizabeth
What are the options for reading group messages in email?
You have these options for your message delivery for messages posted to our Yahoo! group
adapted from: http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/messages/messages-01.html):
1. Individual Emails
Messages are delivered one at a time to your email inbox. This is the best option if you want to keep up on the latest posts immediately. Email attachments (when included) will be sent directly to you.
2. Daily Digest
Messages are delivered in batches of 25 or daily, whichever comes sooner. This is the best option if you want to receive fewer mail messages and don't need up-to-the minute posts in your inbox. Email attachments are not available in digests.
NB: make sure to adapt the subject line and not include the whole digest as "Original message" when replying to messages if you choose
this option.
3. Only Special Announcements
This means you will receive email messages only when the group moderator posts a "Special Announcement" message. This is a good option if you want to pass on day-to-day discussion for very busy groups but do want to receive important updates from the group moderator. (mind you, the moderator may choose to never use this feature, in which case you would never receive email messages).
4. No Mail / Web Only
This option also permits you to read messages at the Yahoo! Groups web site. (Note that not all groups keep message archives). You may prefer this if you're disciplined enough to visit the group website regularly (and are not worried about your time online!) or to put email message delivery on hold, for example while you are on vacation.
To set any of these options, log into LearningWithComputers, click on "Edit Membership" (at the top of our home page, next to your ID and status), and select your choice under "Mailing preferences".
If you belong to several Yahoo! groups, a more effective way to deal with this issue for all your groups is to go to My Groups and choose from the drop-down list of message delivery options for your group.
You can change your choice as often as you please.
Once you've made up your mind on how you prefer to get messages, try our poll. (Hurry up! It closes on April 24!)
Gladys
How can I automatically organize my e-mails using Webmail?
If you read your mail directly at Yahoo! website, Ibrahim Rustamov's file will clearly guide you so that you can set filters that put all our messages in our folder (He wrote this for a similar online community, called "baw06").
How can you automatically organize messages from our group if you're using Outlook Express?
adapted from: http://www.webterrace.com/outlook/filter.htm)
"Message Rules" (as Outlook Express calls filters)will basically read over emails before putting them in the inbox and they'll do any number of specific tasks (from blocking spam to organizing emails into various folders). This tool can actually save you a great deal of time and trouble! Here's how to set a filter for messages from our group:
1. Open Outlook Express, and go to Tools--->Message Rules--->Mail and Click.
2. A box will open up:
Click on "New" and you'll get this new screen:
If you click in
1.Select the conditions for your rule:
Where the Subject Line Contains specific words,
and in
2. Select the Actions for your rule:
Move to the specified folder,
then you'll see in
a message that reads (the screenshot below shows a Spanish version):
Apply this rule after the message arrives
The Subject line contains specific words
Move to the specified folder
Clicking on "contains specific words" you should type "learningwithcomputers" (without the inverted commas)and clicking on "specified" you should click on the folder of your preference,
or on the "New folder" icon on the right to create a special folder for messages from our group.
You can give your rule a name by typing it into section 4. of the box you opened to create it (see previous picture). This is not essential, but it'll help you organize your filters!
Once you have clicked okay, the new rule will appear in Message Rules. Here you can add more rules, modify existing rules or remove the rules altogether.
You can use this tool to do anything from setting up a filter that will block porn spam ads, spam ads, or any other unsolicited emails (and even delete them from your server!), to marking your own messages to the group as "read" immediately after downloading them, so that you don't think there's unread mail in your folder when you have been the only one posting!
Searching for messages with Outlook Express
How many times have you remembered something you've seen in a message, and would have liked to go over the text once again, only to find it's lost in the mysterious lands of your emails, or the group website?
Well, setting filters to automatically organize your email should help you overcome that problem, but there's an even better tool for that:
__To search for a message in Outlook Express__:
1. In the Outlook Express window, click the Edit menu, then click Find Message. The Find---> Message. A dialog box will open.
2. If you want to search in a specific folder, select the name of the folder from the "Look in" box.
3. Set the criteria for your search, by filling in as many of the fields as you like:
(a) In the "From" and "To" boxes, type the name of the sender or addressee (or part of it, capitalization doesn't matter).
(b) In the "Subject" or "Message" boxes, type a few words that appeared in the message subject or body, respectively.
4. When you're finished filling in criteria, click the Find Now button.
Any messages that fit the criteria will be displayed at the bottom of the "Find Message" dialog box. If nothing is found, you will see 0 message(s) on the screen. If you want to start another search, click the "New Search" button.
For a very friendly tutorial (including screenshots and step-by-step instructions) of this and many other capabilities of Outlook Express, visit Outlook Express in the Classroom, a website produced by ACT360 Media Ltd.in conjunction with Microsoft Corporation (1998). Let @tom, the green extraterrestrial, help you master Outlook Express!
Searching for messages at the group site
Clicking on "Messages" from the group home page (from the box on the left-hand side of the screen) will take you to a screen where you can see the following options:
If you happen to know the number of the message you're looking for, just type it in the box on the left ("Message #") and click on "Go". You can also search for messages using the other box on the right to type in any word (or part of) which you remember the message included, either in the subject line or in the body (even the username of the poster). Then click on "Search".
PS:I've resized this last screenshot using the tip Buth had given us... Thank you, Buth! Really user-friendly! Gladys
Avoiding Email Overload
Click here to enjoy a 4-minute video by Andrea Coombes, and overcome email overload by applying the 2-minute rule!
Acting upon incoming email
Have a look at The ClearContext Information Management System Daily workflow":
This product was reviewed at Digital Inspiration blog on Jan 29, 2008. Though it's not freeware, they offer a free 30-day trial, and the email extractor feature works even after the trial expires (which allows you to add all addresses in your email messages to your Outlook contacts).
Using Emails in the Classroom: visit our Emails4Teaching page.
Comments (2)
Anonymous said
at 6:38 am on Apr 12, 2006
5 is wrong. All messages stay in the list's archives, unless removed by the moderator, for as long as the list exists or until Yahoogroups' computers crash.
Anonymous said
at 3:53 am on Apr 14, 2006
Aha, is 5 wrong if someone can remove a message, e.g., the moderator?
Is this a trick question?
Hi, Dennis. This is a fun group, eh?
--Elizabeth
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