From: nerpsfaq@cybernothing.org (NERPS FAQ) Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.cyber,rec.games.frp.misc Subject: NERPS Mailing List FAQ Date: 15 Nov 1995 09:00:08 GMT Welcome to NERPS, This document contains the first part of the NERPS FAQ. It will explain to you the basics of what the NERPS project is and how to get on and off the mailing list. Additional information will be included in Part II of the FAQ, which is sent to new subscribers and posted periodically to the mailing list. Thanks for your interest, Virtually, The NERPS Listowners Robert Hayden: "Fearless Leader" J.D. Falk: "Assistant Fearless Leader" Gurth: "NERPS Project Leader" ____________________________________________________________________________ _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frequently Asked Questions for NERPS@HEARN.BITNET Version 4.1 (9-9-95) Compiled by your fearless leader: Robert Hayden hayden@krypton.mankato.msus.edu With editing & additions by: J.D. Falk jdfalk@cybernothing.org Gurth gurth@xs4all.nl ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. INTRODUCTION A. What is NERPS? B. How do I subscribe to NERPS? C. How do I post to NERPS? D. How do I unsubscribe to NERPS? E. How do I reconfirm my subscription F. Other Important LISTSERV Commands. G. Why am I getting deleted from the list for no reason? H. Why does the list reject postings from my account? I. HELP! Mail from the list has stopped coming, but I'm still subscribed! ______________________________________________________________________________ _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PART 1: INTRODUCTION -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- A. What is NERPS? NERPS (Net Enhancements for Role Playing ShadowRun) is a mailing list that serves as a committee base for a group of individuals spending time organizing and writing up a series of net.shadowrun manuals. These manuals contain everything from new races and spells to new technology and alternate magic systems. The specific project the list is currently working on is detailed in Part II of the FAQ, and changes periodically. ********** B. How do I subscribe to NERPS? To subscribe, you must send a control message to the listserv at HEARN.bitnet. To do this, send email with the following parameters: TO: listserv@hearn.bitnet SUB: 1st line: subscribe nerps your-real-name In a little while you should get email instructing you how to confirm your subscription request. Simply follow the instructions and you will soon start getting regular postings. If you have difficulty with bitnet addresses, you can also use the internet address, which is LISTSERV@HEARN.nic.SURFnet.nl ********** C. How do I post to NERPS? To post to NERPS, you send your posting via email to NERPS@HEARN.BITNET (or NERPS@HEARN.nic.SURFnet.nl for internet). ********** D. How do I unsubscribe to NERPS? To unsubscribe, you must send a control message to the listserv at HEARN.bitnet. To do this, send email with the following parameters: TO: listserv@hearn.bitnet (or LISTSERV@HEARN.nic.SURFnet.nl) SUB: 1st line: signoff nerps In a little while you should get email confirming your unsubscription request. ********** E. How do I reconfirm my subscription From time to time while you are subscribed to the lists, you will get a message from the LISTSERV that requests that you reconfirm that you still want to be on the list. If you wish to stay on the list, you need to follow the instructions in your confirmation request. If, for whatever reason, you no longer wish to be on the list, you can simply wait for two weeks and your subscription will timeout and you will be removed from the list. ********** F. Other Important LISTSERV Commands. There are many commands you can give to the listserv in order to change how your subscription works. SET listname REPRO (default): This command will have the listserv include you in the distribution of any posting you make (ie, you get your own things back, too). SET listname ACK: This is simply an confirmation of the posting you just made. It is returned to you in email. SET listname NOMAIL: If you are going on vacation or something, sending a NOMAIL command will halt your receiving any postings. This is helpful if you know that your quota will be exceeded during Christmas break, for example. WARNING: If you forget to do this and your quota is exceeded, this will cause all of the postings to be bounced back to the list, possibly leading to a loop. The only way to quickly alleviate this problem is to delete your subscription, so PLEASE use the NOMAIL command if you are going to be gone for a while. SET listname DIGEST: When this option is set, instead of all of the postings being delivered separately, they will be delivered in one mailing at the close of the day (in HEARN's timezone). This is helpful if the number of mailings become a burden. SET listname MAIL (default): This option is invoked to restore active status after sending a NOMAIL request, and is also used to change from DIGEST back to getting all postings separately. HELP: Sending this command will give you a listing and brief descriptions of all available commands. ********** G. Why am I getting deleted from the list for no reason? 99% of the time, the reason you are deleted from the list (by the listowner) is because for some reason mail is bouncing off of your account. Usually this is caused by one of two reasons. Either A) your account is filled and can't hold any more or B) for some reason your account is not available (either the machine or your account is down). When this happens, it causes an error message to be sent back to the list. The list software attempts to detect error messages and route them to the listowner. Sometimes, though, the error is not detected by the listserv software and the error gets reported to the list. This causes the error message to get sent our to all subscribers, including the person who is bouncing mail. This leads to a loop that really messes things up. Thus, standard procedure when an error message is reported it to delete the subscription of the person causing the error. Once the problem has been fixed (you are back on the net or have room), you are, of course, free to join the list again. ********* H. Why does the list reject postings from my account? As part of some security features installed, the list will only accept mailings that come from the same address your subscription is registered on. This is to prevent non-list people from flooding the mailboxes of dozens of people. Because of this, if you attempt to post from another account or machine, your message will be rejected. Please read the error message enclosed with your rejection and determine what you must do to fix it in the future. ********* I. HELP! Mail from the list has stopped coming, but I'm still subscribed! Mail has an annoying characteristic in that, while most of the time it is instantaneous, there are times when it can take up to two weeks to go from one computer to another that is located ten feet away (much like snail mail, eh?). If mail suddenly suddenly stops coming, wait at least 48 hours before you contact the listowner. Very likely a link is down between you and the list, and as soon as that link comes back up, you will get all of the old mailings. Also note that the listowner won't be able to help at all in terms of mail not arriving. All he can do is to verify that you are indeed subscribed, anything beyond that is under the control of someone else. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- -- Gurth@xs4all.nl - Gurth@dds.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html He has you all fooled -> Unofficial Shadowrun Guru & NERPS Project Leader <- -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version 3.1: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+(++)@ U P L E? W(++) N o? K- w+ O V? PS+ PE Y PGP- t(+) 5 X R+++>$ tv+(++) b+@ DI? D+ G(++) e h! !r(--) y? ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------ --