Sending messages ('posts')
To post a message to the group, use the email address indepconsultants@yahoogroups.com If replying to an existing message, click Reply (but only if your reply is intended for all members of the group - see below).
Hit Reply, hit everyone's eye
When you are replying to a message, if you click Reply your post goes to all members of the group. Very often that's what you want (i.e. if your reply is of some general interest). However if your message is private (for example, "tell me more about the project and I'll give you a quotation") you should write the individual recipient's address in the address line instead of clicking on Reply. This cuts down the number of posts which other members receive which are of no interest to them. As one member said, 'common sense and self-discipline are the only solutions on this'.
Sender's email address
It is helpful if members include their own email address at the foot of their posts, so that those who wish to reply privately have the address readily available. (It can also be detected by recipients in other ways - these vary for Outlook, Outlook Express and other email software.)
Changing the subject
Please use the Subject line wisely. If you click Reply, the existing subject is automatically transferred to your new message. That's fine when your subject remains the same. But if you are changing the subject, it is helpful to others if you over-write the old subject and enter the new one, so members can see immediately what the message is about.
Multiple messages below the Reply message
When replying to a message it is often helpful for readers to see the earlier post so it is clear what you are responding to. However sometimes a post to which you are replying via the Reply button also has one or more earlier messages shown underneath it. This especially applies to members who receive the Daily Digest; when they use the Reply button all the other messages in that day's Digest are appended below their reply. Please delete these earlier messages before sending your Reply. This is so that the egroup members who are receiving their posts in the form of the Daily Digest do not receive excessive duplicated messages, as this makes it harder to locate the start of each original message in the Digest. (For more on the Daily Digest, see the 'Delivery' page).
Attachments to posts
The ability to send attachments has been switched off, because of the risk of transmitting viruses. Experience with other Yahoo egroups where attachments were permitted has proven that it can occasionally happen that some members' PCs are infected by a virus unwittingly transmitted via the attachment. Instead, post a message to the group to let everyone know that the file can be obtained via private emails.
Unsubscribing
If you wish to resign from the egroup, send an email to the moderator at guy@consterdine.com who can do it for you, and who would like to understand your reasons for wishing to unsubscribe. Please be aware that notices of job opportunities are only posted on the egroup, so anyone who does not belong to the egroup will not see the job opportunities.
Self-promotion
Please do not use the egroup for naked self-promotion, such as straight announcements of changes to your company or status, or unprompted descriptions of what services you offer. The appropriate place for such information is the Connect section of this website, where ICG members looking for potential associates with a specific kind of expertise can search.