Melissa Kaplan's
Herp Care Collection
Last updated January 1, 2014

IML Welcome Letter

May 13, 2002 Update

KEEP THIS TO FIND OUT HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE, EDIT YOUR POSTS, AND MORE!
Read this entire document if you have never been a member of an email list before, or were a member and had lots of people on that list mad at you.

Welcome to IguanaMail!
Last update 05/13/02

** NOTE **
This document will be referred to as the "IML Welcome letter." All users are expected to read it and follow the rules listed below. Failure to do so may result in being censored or banned from the list.

"Censored" means being placed on pre-moderated status: each of your posts will be put on hold pending review and approval or rejection by one or more moderators. If you continue to do what you were asked not to do (such as editing your posts properly, or submitting ALL CAPS posts), your post will be rejected without your being notified.

CONTENTS
I. How to Save This Message for Future Use
II. Contact Information
III. Welcome
IV. Why an Iguanas Mailing List?
V. Before You Post Your First Message
VI. The Rules
VII. [ADMIN] Posts
VIII. Subscribing and Unsubscribing
IX. Digest and Normal Modes
X. No Mail/Web Only
XI. Files and Attachments
XII. How to Send Mail

I. HOW TO SAVE THIS MESSAGE FOR FUTURE USE
SAVE THIS MESSAGE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE FOR: - unsubscribing from the list - changing your mode from normal to digest or back To save: - Create a special folder in your email area or hard drive, and file the welcoming letters from all the lists you join in that folder/file. - Or, you can print it out and file it somewhere you can get it when you have a question.

II. CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions about the LIST OPERATIONS (not about iguana care), you can contact the moderators by addressing your email to:

iguanamail-owner@yahoogroups.com

Your Moderators:
Alta Brewer
Melissa Kaplan
Katie Kearns
Bill Myers

III. WELCOME TO IGUANAMAIL, HOME OF THE
IGUANAS MAILING LIST (IML)
This is the continuation of the Iguana Mailing List (IML) founded by Liza Daly. After a hacker took down the old list, she and a few new moderators created a new one here. The new moderators are listed above, under "II. Contact Information"

IV. WHY AN IGUANAS MAILING LIST?
The Iguanas Mailing List is geared towards anyone who owns, raises or is simply interested in iguanas. As pets, iguanas are challenging yet rewarding, frustrating yet adorable, and always fascinating. In the wild, iguanas are an excellent index of environmental and economic conditions in endangered habitats. Whatever your focus, this list hopes to be a forum for advice, facts, and humor about these unique reptiles.

The IML was the original mailing list focusing on green iguanas, and still has many highly experienced iguana-keeping members and regular contributors from those early days. While most of the discussion is about green iguanas (Iguana iguana), the focus is broad enough to include all animals generally classified as "iguanids," and all issues relating to their care, biology and conservation. So, if you have questions about your Cyclura or spiny-tailed iguana, feel free to ask them!

V. BEFORE YOU POST YOUR FIRST MESSAGE...
Hundreds of people read every message. If your question can be answered by one of the easily-navigated iguana sites already, we'd prefer you looked there, first.

Excellent resources by experienced pet keepers, available on the World Wide Web:
Adam Britton's Wong's Green Iguana Heaven
Melissa Kaplan's Giant Green Iguana Information Collection
Melissa Kaplan's Iguana Care, Feeding and Socialization
Jennifer Swofford's Iguana Manual
John Binns' Cyclura.com

Resources for those new to computers and the Internet:
"Emoticons and Abbreviations," a glossary
"Researching Herp Information"
Getting The Most Out Of The Net

VI. THE RULES
You have agreed to certain behaviors and boundaries, not just with us, but with Yahoogroups and your local ISP. Some information on 'Netiquette (Internet etiquette):
Netiquette
Introduction to Network Etiquette
The Art of Getting Help

VII. THE RULES FOR THIS LIST:
By remaining subscribed to the list, you give your tacit agreement that you will abide by the rules stated by the list administrators/moderators, in the Welcome letter as well as in any administrative posts that may be posted to the list from time to time.

CONTENT

1. USE SPECIFIC SUBJECT LINES, like "Need help finding reptile vet in St Louis MO". Do NOT use unhelpful subject lines like "Help!" or "Re: IguanaMail Digest 25."

2. DO NOT QUOTE ENTIRE LETTERS IN YOUR RESPONSE - JUST THE FEWEST LINES NECESSARY. For most posts, this means you will leave only be 2-3 lines of quoted material. Make sure to remove all of the footers and headers before sending. If you don't understand what headers and footers are, or how to edit your posts, email the moderators at iguanamail-owner@yahoogroups.com or read the file on Editing Posts in the Administrative Files folder, in the IML Files area (accessed through your MyGroups page at Yahoogroups.com). As there are more than 950 people on the list, we have had to become more rigid about this point. If you don't edit your posts, you will be placed on moderated status, and your improperly edited messages will be rejected. We tried begging, cajoling, pleading and lots of Stink Eye. Since it didn't work, once the list membership topped 1100, the moderators decided to take these more dragonian measures.

3. KEEP POSTS ON-TOPIC. Off-topic questions and responses should be handled by private email between IMLers. Posts about iguanas of any sort are on-topic. Posts about computer viruses are not. If in doubt, email the moderators privately and ask. If the moderators state the topic is closed or recommend it be taken off list to private email, please do so.

4. DO NOT ATTACH DOCUMENTS OR GRAPHICS FILES TO IML POSTS, OR SEND YOUR MAIL TO THE LIST CODED IN RICH TEXT FORMAT OR HTML FORMAT. Attachments are cut off by Yahoogroups. (See "Files and Attachments", below). To share pictures with other list members, post it on your own page, or in the Files area of Yahoogroups (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IguanaMail Files).

5. DO NOT INCLUDE IN YOUR POST, OR ATTACH TO YOUR POST, MAIL YOU RECEIVED FROM OTHERS WHICH INCLUDES JOKES, VIRUS ALERTS, NEWS ITEMS FROM OTHER EMAIL LISTS, CHAINLETTERS, MISSING CHILDREN ALERTS, UNRELATED SAFETY ALERTS, ETC.

If you aren't sure what is a hoax or whether an alert is real or not, check out computer viruses at Symantec's Virus and Hoax Encyclopedia (http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/vinfodb.html) and other type of things (email campaigns, Kentucky Fried Rat, Free Coke, Missing Kids, email taxes, etc.) at the http://urbanlegends.about.com site. Read the "Virus and Hoax FAQ" in the IML Files > Administrative Files area (accessed through your My Groups page at http://groups.yahoo.com/files/IguanaMail)

Again, this means NO FORWARDING OF EMAIL - even if it is on-topic - from other lists. If you must pass on a pertinent piece of information you received on another list or email, COPY AND PASTE ONLY the pertinent part into a new IguanaMail message. No one needs to see all the headers and footers and extraneous stuff, especially the folks receiving the IML in digest form or those paying for online connect time.

6. DO NOT POST E-MAIL THAT WAS SENT OR FORWARDED TO YOU PRIVATELY WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE SENDER.

7. THERE ARE OCCASIONS WHEN A SIMPLE RESPONSE WILL SUFFICE. On those occasions, please post your response at the top of the post so that others don't have to scroll to see your words. Please edit (by deleting the unnecessary text) the messages you are replying to so that IML messages and digests don't become excessively long or repeat several previous messages. Leave just enough of the message so that the thread can be maintained. If this sounds like #2 above, it is. For some reason, this seems to be the hardest thing for people to remember or take the time to do, even though their not doing so annoys and causes problems for the greatest number of people on the list. We have found that one way to remedy the situation is to put offenders on premoderated status and just reject their causing their improperly edited posts. If you want your post to be read on a timely basis, EDIT!

8. NO SOLICITATIONS. A part of doing reptile and other types of animal rescue is shouldering the financial burden and finding funding to pay for expenses. The purpose of the IML is to provide and share information on care and keeping of iguanas, not provide a direct source for solicitation for rescues. For the purposes of the IML, "Solicitations" are considered to be outright solicitation of funds from IML members, and blanket solicitations in signature blocks under the poster's name. People who are interested in donating to iguana or general reptile rescues can find contact information on them in listings of such organizations available on the net, or can contact rescuers privately by sending them an email personally, using the individual's email address that appears in their posts.

9. LIMIT THE CC (CARBON COPY) OF YOUR POSTS. It is sometimes appropriate to send a copy of your post to IML to several other individuals and mailing lists. HOWEVER, if you put their names in the CC field of your mail, whenever anyone replies to your post on the list they received it on, it will not only go to the list they are on, but to ALL the other recipients including, in many cases, appearing on lists to which they are not actually subscribed. This is not only poor etiquette, it can cause serious system problems for email list providers, who are flooded with hundreds of copies of a few responses sent out to dozens of their lists, and can cause some private email accounts to shut down or have mail bounced because of the duplicate postings filling up their mail box. If you must send a copy of your post to other lists and individuals, put their names in the BCC (blind copy) field.

CULTURE
10. TREAT IMLERS AS IF THEY WERE CHERISHED FRIENDS, NOT FAMILY MEMBERS AT WHOM YOU ARE TICKED OFF. Emotions do not travel well in type.

11. PLAY NICE. ATTACK ISSUES, NOT PEOPLE. It is fine to disagree with people, but do so politely. DO NOT: Call people names Question their character Insult Bait Troll Harass Flame Send other people viruses Forward to the list an email a listmember sent to you privately withOUT that listmember's specific knowledge AND approval. If you have a problem with another member badgering you on the list or harassing you off of the list, send your complaints to the moderators (iguanamail-owner@yahoogroups.com), NOT to the list. If you don't, we'll be very grumpy.

12. IF THERE ARE THINGS THAT ANNOY AND IRRITATE YOU WHEN DONE BY OTHER PEOPLE ON OTHER EMAIL LISTS, DON'T DO THEM ON OUR LIST.

13. THE IML IS FOR THE USE BY IMLers ONLY. The IguanaMail moderators will not share subscriber names with others, nor will Yahoogroups.com. IMLers who spam the list or harvest list names will be terminated with extreme prejudice.

14. KEEP YOUR CAPS KEEP UNLOCKED! As people started using the internet for communications, certain conventions were adopted by the users to help convey the emotion underlying the printed words scrolling across the screen. One of those was to use all capital letters to convey SHOUTING or similar emphasis. Unfortunately, there are people who use ALL CAPS FOR EVERYTHING THEY WRITE. This tends to annoy readers who may, if there is a lot of capitalized text, just ignore the post and go on to the next one. For those people with impaired vision who may find all caps easier to read, an easy work around is to use your computer's accessibility settings or software options to automatically adjust the size of the font or type that appears on your screen. This way, you get the size you need without blinding or deafening the other list members. If you submit posts in ALL CAPS while you are in moderated status, your post will be rejected. An easy way to convert ALL CAPS to sentence case (upper and lower case mixed) is to copy your all capped text into a New Document in your word processing software, then use the software's case conversion utility to convert it. Then, you simply highlight the converted text, paste it into the new email form, fill in the address and subject, and send it off. REMEMBER: If you submit posts in ALL CAPS while you are in moderated status, your post will be rejected. If you do it more than once when not in moderated status, you will be moderated and your posts rejected.

15. HAVE FUN. :)

16. And don't forget: EDIT YOUR POSTS and disable your Caps Lock key!

VIII. [ADMIN] POSTS
There are times when a moderator will post something to the list - a reminder about one of the 16 guidelines above, about a topic or subject being closed to further posting, or other order of list business. Scan your list of new IML mail or the subject index in the digests and read the [ADMIN] (administration) posts first, before responding to any of the other mail. Posting on topics or subjects that the moderators have closed is not the way to stay on our good side. You do not want to suffer the wrath of the Moderator Stink Eye. If you are subscribed to the list in No Mail/Web Only status, you are still responsible for scanning the online archives for any [ADMIN] notices and abiding by them. No Mail/Web Only members are also required to abide by the RULES of the list.

IX. SUBSCRIBING AND UNSUBSCRIBING INSTRUCTIONS
To remove yourself from this mailing list:

Step 1: Go to the Yahoogroups.com website: http://groups.yahoo.com

Step 2: Type in your email address and password

Step 3: Click on the My Groups link or tab

Step 4: Follow the directions on the page

Or send email to: iguanamail-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

To subscribe again or under a different name, go through the Yahoogroups website again, or send your email from the address you want to be subscribed from, to: iguanamail-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

X. DIGEST AND NORMAL MODES
Yahoogroups offers two ways to get mail from the list. "Normal" mode sends each individual mailing as it is sent to the list by other listmembers. The "Digest" mode sends 25 messages combined together in one mailing; at least one digest will be mailed every day.

Don't forget to put in a proper Subject line and crop away the rest of the 25-post long message when you reply!

All new subscribers are set to "individual emails" mode. To change to "digest", go to your My Groups page at Yahoogroups, click on the selector box to change from Individual emails to Daily Digest, and save your change. Or, you can do it email, by sending a blank email to: iguanamail-digest@yahoogroups.com

To change from Daily Digest back to Individual Emails mode, send a blank email to: iguanamail-normal@yahoogroups.com

XI. NO MAIL/WEB ONLY
If you need to go on vacation, or need to take a break from the volume of incoming mail but want to stay subscribed to the list, you can use the "No mail/Web Only" option. This will result in your not getting any IML mail in your mailbox, but you will still be able to access the archives, shared files, and calendar of events. Go to your My Groups page at Yahoogroups, click on the selection box to change your subscription status to "No Mail/Web Only" save your change, and off you go. When you are ready to get your mail again, simply return to you're my Groups page, click the box again to reset it to either Individual Emails or Daily Digest, and you will start getting mail again.

If you want to see the mail you missed while you were set to No Mail/Web Only, you can read the posts in the online archives through your My Groups page, too. "Web Only" means just that: you can access your lists through the WWW from any computer. If you told Yahoogroups sign-in to remember you, all you need to do is to go to http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups/ or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IguanaMail.

If you are at someone else's computer, go to http://groups.yahoo.com, sign in with your email address and Yahoogroups password, and your My Groups screen should appear; if it doesn't, just click the My Groups tab.

XIII. FILES AND ATTACHMENTS
=============================
Files and attachments are not allowed on the list - they are stripped from your message by Yahoogroups as your post is processed by Yahoogroups to be sent to listmembers. To share a file with the other list members, go to the Files feature at the IML's page at Yahoogroups.

Step 1: Launch your web browser and go to the http://groups.yahoo.com website.

Step 2: Enter your email address and password on the left side of the browser window

Step 3: Click the "My Groups" link or tab.

Step 4: Click on the IguanaMail link Step

5: Click on the Files link in the column on the left.

OR: if you told Yahoogroups to "remember" you (accepted its cookie) just go to http://groups.yahoo.com/files/IguanaMail

Step 6: Click the Upload File link, and follow the on-screen prompts to upload your file.

To delete files, click the Delete icon next to the file name.

To move a file into a file folder, click the Edit icon next to the file name of the file you want to move, then open the folder you want to move it into, then click the Paste icon that appears next to the file name of the file you want to move.

Because we have a limited amount of tile space, the moderators will, on an ongoing basis, delete files from the Files area, oldest dates first. Excessively large files will be deleted, period. If you have questions about what software to use to compress files, please ask the moderators directly, letting them know what your operating system is. Send your request to iguanamail-owners@yahoogroups.com. You can also check out freeware and shareware available through www.cnet.com's software downloads area.

XIV. HOW TO SEND MAIL
=======================
To send mail to the list itself (which gets sent to every member of the list) address your message to: iguanamail@yahoogroups.com

To send mail to the moderators to discuss list administration issues, address your message to: iguanamail-owner@yahoogroups.com

Thank you for joining the IML!  We look forward to seeing you around!