Western Australian Genealogical Society Inc.

Members Mailing List

About WAGSnet

WAGSnet is a Free Genealogy Mailing List available to current Members of the Western Australian Genealogical Society Inc., and its Affiliated Societies.

Non-members are ineligible for membership of the WAGSnet mailing list.

Subscription to the Mailing List is free to all members who have email access.  It is a convenient way to communicate with other members on the Mailing List and to share views, news and research clues.

WAGSnet is facilitated by Google Groups (since June 2008) as a private archived mailing list for members only. Members can change their own contact details and choose how to view emails, particularly if going away. WAGS Members need to contact the Mailing List Convenors (see below) if they wish to join WAGSnet.

Please read the following sections of this page:
Subscription Instructions  
Rules and Guidelines for Posting to WAGSnet 
Unsubscribe
Changing your email address
Glossary of terms

WAGSnet Convenors:  Jennifer Lydon and Marilyn Dimond.

For general enquiries, or for reasons other than Subscribing to WAGSnet, please use the following Email link.

Email: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Subscription Instructions - joining WAGSnet for the first time     

• Send an email to   This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it   with,

     SUBJECT LINE:   "SUBSCRIBE WAGSnet"
     IN THE BODY OF YOUR EMAIL:
     * Your name
     * WAGS or Affiliated Society membership number
     * your email address
     * your location

or, use the following Email link which will automatically fill in the subject line for you, and you will just need to insert the details in the body of your email, as outlined above:

Email:       This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

• Following this, you will be sent an "invitation" email from Google Groups with instructions on how to join Google Groups if you have not already done so.  An email is also sent from the WAGSnet managers (Jennifer or Marilyn), advising you of the invitation and asking you to let us know if you do not receive the "invitation"' or have any problems.
  
• Once you have followed the instructions and joined Google Groups, you can sign in and manage your own details and decide how to receive or view WAGSnet as - email, a summary email, digest email or read the group on the web (as with webmail).
  
• Once subscribed, Email  WAGSnet at:   This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it   - your emails will then be sent to all other subscribers of this Mailing List.
  
  

Unsubscribe - no need

• There is no need to unsubscribe unless:
  - you are no longer a member, or
  - you wish to withdraw from WAGSnet.
• If members are going away or don't want to receive email for a time, you can turn the emails off.
• Just sign in to Google Groups as usual, go to "Edit my membership" (on the right) and click on "No email" then "Save Settings".
• When you return, just reverse the process by clicking on "Email" and "Save Settings".
  
  

Changing your email address     

• If members change email addresses, the advantage with Google Groups is that you can do this yourself.
• Just sign in to Google Groups as usual, go to "My Account" (on the top, second from right next to "sign out") and change email address or change password then "Save".
• This saves the managers having to unsubscribe and resubscribe under the new email address as with the previous process.
  
  

Rules & Guidelines for Posting to WAGSnet - Do's & Don'ts

These may seem a lot to get through, but most of the following rules are basic protocol for corresponding on-line. Problems and concerns over virus attacks and in box congestion caused by lengthy and off topic emails are just two of the reasons for complying with these rules. Feel free to contact us if there is something that you do not understand.

• Greet Everyone on the Mailing List - eg. "Hello Everyone, Fred said.....". Any personal email to an individual must be sent to their own private email address.
• Subject Line must be relevant to the topic of discussion - When the subject changes, change the subject line to suit.
• Topic must be of a genealogical nature - Any issue related to the Society which should be handled by a particular person or committee, must be directed to the This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it   - WAGSnet is NOT a forum for professional research or services with a fee. The Society provides Education Courses and a Certificate Courier Service for WAGS members.  WAGS also has a Research Team who will undertake limited research, on a fee for service basis.
• Message should be relevant and on topic - Clear, precise Questions and Answers.
  Know your audience - There are less than 200 or so WAGSnet members - only a portion of the total WAGS membership. If discussion becomes personal or repetitive, then respond off the Mailing List and send an email direct to the individual.
  Please report back any comments, results or feedback that you receive, to share with rest of the WAGSnet Mailing List members.
• State your research question clearly -
  * WHO        - the ancestor in question.
  * WHERE  - the ancestor lived, worked, was born, married, died etc.
  * WHEN     - dates of relevant events.
  * WHAT      - help you require with the problem.
  and summarize your previous research if any, in regard to your query.
• Reply at the top of the email - with any quoting included below your message.
• Do not overquote - Retain only enough of previous email to make sense of your
  reply.  By deleting the unwanted text, you do not lose the original email.
• Send emails in plain text - to avoid inadvertently sending attachments, see below
• Do not send emails in "HTML" - Not all email software is able to read emails written in "HTML"(web page text & graphics), so reset your email default to ordinary "plain" text.
• Use a Signature File - to Include your Name, Location, email address & research names. Limit this to 4 lines. Check your email program for instructions on how to add signature files. An exampleof a signature is shown below:
  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  Jane Smith                    This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
  Anywhere WA
  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
• Do Not send file attachments - Please don't send file attachments, documents, zip files, html shortcuts, graphics or photographsto the Mailing List, but DO tell us where to get them if you think they are of interest.
• Do not cross post - by sending mail to more than one Mailing List at a time. Nor send postings from other newsgroups and mailing lists, make a summary if the topic is of interest.
• Please read ALL - of your WAGSnet mail.
  
  Happy hunting.    JL & MD
  
  

Glossary of Terms     

Here is a short description of some of the terms you will come across while using a Mailing List.

• Cross posting - is sending the same email to more than one Mailing List.
• Digest - is the compilation of a few days postings into one email.  Useful in mailing lists with a lot of traffic.
• HTML - Hyper Test Markup Language - is used for writing web pages and now often used in email programs to embellish fonts and add graphics.
• Mailing List - the email address This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it handles all the email for the WAGSnet Mailing List and sends all incoming emails to the list of subscribers
• Message or Posting - is the content of an email.
• Netiquette - is just being polite and considerate in all correspondence.
• Quoting - is the part of the email or message left in your reply with the > symbol at the left hand side.   Too much quoting from previous messages can lead to confusion and to very long emails.   Use some quoting to keep on topic and relevant, but use <snipped> to show that the text has been trimmed.
• Signature File - is a way of including your contact details at the bottom of your email or posting. You may include your Name, Location, email address & research names, but try to limit your file to 4 lines, see example above. Your email program will have the option of adding a signature file to the end of you email. Check your email program for instructions.
• Subject Line - is the topic of your correspondence and should be kept relevant to the email contents.
• Subscribe - is the term for joining a mailing list. This and most mailing lists are free to all or specific users ie. this mailing list is only for members of WAGS and Affiliated Societies.
• Unsubscribe - is to have your email address removed from the mailing list subscribers.