KyCycList FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions
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What is this mailing list?
How do I subscribe?
What do I have to do to post to the list?
What is the digest list?
Anything special about kycyclist?
What does that mean?
What happens when a non-subscriber post to the list?
What do you mean, depending...?
Again, how do I post messages to kycyclist mailing list?
A special request
Where can I get more info on this list?
How do I tell others about signing up for this list?
I just joined the list, is there an archive of old messages somewhere?
Thinking about spamming the list?
Somebody stops the train, I want to get off...
How do you pronounce the name of this list?
Finally, what if I have any further questions?

What is this mailing list?

This mailing list, , or as I like to call it, KyCycList (Kentucky Cycling List), is a forum for all cyclists — local, regional or otherwise — to share cycling-related discussions. It is administered on behalf of the Louisville Bicycle Club, but the discussion is not in any way restricted only to LBC-related matters, nor is it strictly a forum for official LBC communications. Feel free to post any cycling-related message, or join in the on-going discussion of the moment, or, if it’s to your liking, just lurk and listen. But I do want to make everyone feels welcome about making a posting to the list.

If you’re interested, here’s a brief history of the KyCycList mailing list.

How do I subscribe?

Send an e-mail to the automated with subscribe in the subject line.

You’ll be sent a message requesting confirmation. Follow the instructions in that message to confirm the request (hit 'Reply' and send), and you’ll be subscribed instantly.

Alternately, you can subscribe to the list using the form at:

http://www.kycyclist.org/interface.html

and choose subscribe. You still have to confirm your subscribing request when using the web interface.

What do I have to do to post to the list?

First, you have to be a subscriber of the list. Non-subscribers are not allowed to post to prevent spamming.

To post to the list, send an e-mail to . It doesn’t matter whether you receive each message individually or the list traffic batched in digest mode, send your posting to .

What is the digest mode?

Whereas subscribers on the mailing list receive postings as individual messages by default, subscribers can choose to receive a daily compilation of the previous day’s postings, or, if the traffic is unusually heavy, when about 30 KB worth of messages have been posted.

With Mailman, the digest option is settable by the individual subscriber, and you can switch back and forth between the regular option and the digest option without having to unsubscribe and resubscribe. The digest option is settable using the web interface at:

http://www.kycyclist.org/interface.html

Anything special about kycyclist?

This mailing list is a restricted list running on the Mailman mailing list software.

What does that mean?

This means that only people who subscribe to the list may send message to be redistributed to the KyCycList mailing list. This means that spam should not get through. :-)

And Mailman offers several nice features for the list subscribers, such as the ability to suspend list traffic (for vacation, eg.) and switching between regular and digest modes without unsub/resub.

What happens when a non-subscriber post to the list?

The message will bounce to the list owner or administrator (that’s me!), and depending on the originating e-mail address, I either approve the posting and send it on to the list, or I flush it.

What do you mean, depending...?

Well, let’s say you subscribed to the list with the e-mail address myname@foo.com. If your mail system authenticates your outbound mail as coming from myname@mail.foo.com, Mailman doesn’t recognize this variant as a subscribed address so it bounces the message to me. In this case, I’ll approve the message and send it on to the list, and it’s transparent to all except maybe the poster, who has been wondering why it took so long for his/her posting to show up. (Same thing happens if you’re subscribed with a "home" e-mail address and try to post with your "work" e-mail address, or vice versa.)

If I cannot determine that the bounced message is from one of the subscribers, or especially if it’s an unsolicited commercial e-mail, then it’s unceremoniously flushed. I’m proud of the spam-free traffic on the list, and will work hard to keep it that way.

Again, how do I post messages to kycyclist mailing list?

Address them to

A special request

When you send a posting to the KyCycList mailing list please use plain text. Your e-mail software may label this option variously as plain text, ASCII text, or just text. What we don’t want is the fancy, HTML-embedded messages. If your e-mail software allows you to change text sizes or colors, that’s a dead giveaway that you’re not using plain text.

There are still a lot of people with mail clients that cannot handle fancy text. Also, in compiling the digests, HTML-encoded messages completely mangle up the digest compilations. The results are not pretty for the digest subscribers.

Lastly, please do not send any attachments to the list for the same reasons above. Additionally, due to the risk of viruses being sent as attachments, aggressive filters have been set up to keep attachments being resent to the list. So if you want your postings to get through, don’t get caught by the attachment filters.

Where can I get more info on this list?

It’s available right here at this web site:

http://www.kycyclist.org/

How do I tell others about signing up for this list?

Point them to this web page where they can get all the necessary information to sign up:

http://www.kycyclist.org/faqs.html

I just joined the list, is there an archive of old messages somewhere?

Of course! You can view old messages posted to KyCycList from its beginning to the most recently archived message at:

http://www.kycyclist.org/archives.html

The archived messages are intended for use of KyCycList subscribers only. Please do not publish the location of the archives on other mailing lists or usenet newsgroups. For list subscribers’ privacy protection, web bots are prevented from mining the archives. The down side of this is the popular web search engines (except Google) have no knowledge of the archived messages.

The archived messages are posted here every week or so, whenever I feel like it or have the time. At worst, the archive will be updated monthly.

Thinking about spamming the list?

Don't! Spamming, the practice of sending unsolicited commercial e-mails, is strictly forbidden on this mailing list. If a list subscriber wants to send an advertisement for a cycling-related commercial interest, please clear it with the list manager () first. The list manager reserves the right to approve/disapprove such postings. Occasional personal for-sale postings are welcome, of course!

A subscriber who spams the list will be banned from the list at the discretion of the list manager, and your ISP will be notified, which will result in revocation of access. This mailing list was not created just so you low-life spammers have a ready audience. Get a real job!

Somebody stops the train, I want to get off...

To unsubscribe from the mailing list, send an e-mail to the automated with unsubscribe in the subject line.

Or you can unsubscribe using the web interface at:

http://www.kycyclist.org/interface.html

and choose unsubscribe (scroll to the bottom of the page).

Either way, a confirmation request is sent to your e-mail address, reply to that message to effect the unsubscribe.

As a last resort, you can requesting help in unsubscribing. Do not send a note to the entire list asking to be taken off the list. All that does is announce to the entire list how clueless you are.

How do you pronounce the name of this list?

Don't make it too hard. Just say "Kay-why-cyclist."

Finally, what if I have any further questions?

Just send an e-mail to and I will be happy to help.

This FAQ is maintained by Duc M. Do
kycyclist list owner/manager