Welcome to ZC2ZC3 List



Table of Contents
What is the ZC2ZC3 Email Discussion List? What can't I do on the ZC2ZC3 Email Discussion List? ZC2ZC3 Email Discussion List FAQ
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The Heart of ZOID CITY Community

ZC2ZC3 email discussion list (zc2zc3@onelist.com) forms the heart of ZOID CITY Community and ZOID CITY Community Competition.

It is a place to, have others get to know you better. You can:

  1. Advertise your web site via a single sentence or a sig-file if you are in competition or even if you're not.
  2. Mention changes to your web site.

More importantly, the list is a place to learn about improving your web site, by reading about graphics, audio, general design, and how to find links on subjects that interest you.

The list is a place to ask questions about web site construction and HTML. It is a place to discuss, plug-ins, graphics, cgi, interactivity, contests, and Java.

It is a place to hear about what others have seen and found when exploring the web, including accounts of their visits to web sites that are in competition.

The list welcomes discussion about open source software, censorship and regulation, the inequalities of the information society (I used to call this the "when are we going to have Africans on the net?" question.), filtering software, use of the internet in school, gambling, advertising, and other subjects that concern technical and social life on the net.

The list also welcomes any topic that touches on the use of the net for personal enrichment and self-education. Examples include art museums on the net, sources of foreign language chat rooms, homework help, pages devoted to gardening, the environment, or political causes, and many others.

The ZC2ZC3 list is the seat of governance for ZOID CITY Community. Governance means decisions that effect how the community works. Except in emergencies or where one person's judgement is required, governance of ZOID CITY is by consensus of the active membership. The active membership are those who contribute to the mailing list. If you have a suggestion, complaint, or praise, please bring it to the ZC2ZC3 mailing list.



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Is all that for me? A member picks up her mail

The ZCZC3 email discussion list is not a place for...

  1. Flames....Arguments are permitted. You can criticize ideas but do not criticize individuals. If you disagree with someone, do it without insults.
  2. Constant advertising of your site and vote reminders. In other words, please don't beg. You have a sig-file at the bottom of your message. Use it. A sig-file is two to six lines of text that should include the URL of your site with disclaimers or the url of the exhibition space, http://www.zc2zc3.addr.com/zexib.html. Sig stands for signature. Put the exhibition space URL and your site name in your sig-file, and then join the conversation. Members, especially those without positive experience at traditional voting and visiting competitions such as Site Fights, will vote for sites of those they know and respect, and will find the spectacle of begging irritating and loathesome. Let others get to know you by talking on the list and doing community work.
  3. Cheers. Saying something good about your house or ZOID is welcome, if you really have something to say, but cheering which often has no message behind it other than the need to shout it out to win points, will only win the ire (as in irate and angry) of the mailing list owners and much of the membership. Join the conversation instead. Note: if you really enjoy cheering, setting up a cheer board or guest book might make an excellent work requirement.
  4. Excessive off-topic forwards. Please forward only one post per week that does not deal with the topics of the list (see above). I know you may want to pass the stuff on as a public service, but this is not the place. If you really feel that it is important to direct people to inspirational prose, dying children, good jokes, a political campaign, religious revival, or what have you, put the URL of the site along with a brief description in a letter that fits inside the lists' topics.
  5. CHAIN LETTERS. These are illegal whether they are email or through the US Postal service. Sending them will only get someone in trouble with their ISP. Also even if all they ask for is a hug or prayer, they maniuplate people's emotions. Finally, I have seen all too many fraudulent appeals couched in a chain letter's wrapping. FRAUD HURTS. Do not pass it on out of the "goodness of your heart." For the purposes of the ZC2ZC3 mailing list, chain web sites and ICQ appeals with instructions to "pass them on" are also chain letters. DO NOT INCLUDE THEIR URL's in letters to the list. If you feel there is a need to gather email addresses, messages for a grieving or injured person, or any other heart-felt cause, web boards, guestbooks, and Blogs exist. Setting one up will earn you work requirement.
  6. Posts formatted in HTML. Yes, they look beautiful, but for those whose mailers are Eudora, Pegasus, or a shell account (nonweb account. These were very common before 1995 and one of the Trustees has one.), your letters end up filled with code and gibberish. If you are using Microsoft Outlook, set it to plain text.
  7. Graphic attachments. I know you want to say "thankyou" but again, not everyone's mailer reads these files as pictures. People with Eudora, Pegasus, or a shell account get a long string of unreadable numbers. Graphics are heavy users of bandwidth, and a mailing list is for words. If you want to send thankyou graphics upload them to your site for public consumption and let those on the list know the URL or send them privately back channnel.


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ZC2ZC3 Email Discussion List FAQ


  1. If I sign up for the mailing list, won't I get spammed?

    No. Spam is unsolicited mail from advertisers. What will happen, however, if this is your fist discussion list is you will see significantly more mail in your mailbox. I am a notoriously bad predictor of traffic. A good rule of thumb that breaks down at low numbers is one post for every ten bodies on the list. This means that when the membership hits five hundred, you will see fifty emails per day. Currently the participation rate at ZOID is at an enviable 25%.

    If the load in your mailbox gets too heavy, you have the option to "go digest" As a digest subscriber, you will receive only one fairly long messages per day. Onelist's digest option is available by logging in to Onelist and then clicking changing your subsccription to "daily digest."

    If there are an excessive number of off-topic posts, one of the Trustees will moderate the list. It will take longer for posts to appear in your email box but the moderators will screen out the real spam.

  2. How is a discussion list different from a reminder list?

    On a discussion, list you are expected to respond back or to start discussions, and when you write a letter to the list, everyone on the list can see it and respond. Letters and responses that are on a similar topic are called threads. You can start threads or respond to them.

  3. What if I go away on vacation?

    If you are going away on vacation, you can freeze your membership, but you will have to set the list to "read only on the web." This stops list mail from entering your box so that you do not face a large pile of mail when you return. You will, however, need to reactivate subscription back on when you come back. To inactivate your subscription log in to Onelist. If you need help, please ask for it. Help is also available at Onelist.

  4. I do what!

    You give Onelist your email address and password. If you lose your Onelist password you can usually get another. The Trustees do not have your password nor should they. Your privacy matters at ZOID.

  5. Can I criticize people's web sites?

    Yes and no. You may not mention members or their web sites by name if you plan to say something critical. If you are an honest member of the community and you have a sincere and active interest in improving your own site's design and content, then there should be times when you are moved to offer criticism. Please be gentle. For example, you have just visited a twelve year old's site or even a grownup's site and found the text unreadable due to a heavy background, you can post disucssing difficult backgrounds on web sites, how to avoid them, and what to do with them.

  6. Can I cuss or use foul language or racial epithets?

    What you do on your web site, your own chat room, or on your own discussion board is your own business as long as you disclose and describe it. What you do on the ZC2ZC3 email eiscussion list is everyone's business because this list enters all members mailboxes. They can not avoid your posts as they can your web page, so the answer is NO. Think of this list as a tight public space that all of us must share. Netiquettte covers sharing a crowded public space harmoniously. Or if you prefer consider it a high class public forum like a college seminar. Foul language and racial epithets no place here.

  7. I don't understand what those guys are talking about!

    Why don't you ask them for an explanation either back channel or in front of the whole list? Chances are good that if you don't understand, neither do others. The dumbest questions are those you are afraid to ask.

  8. Can I post in a language other than English?

    If you think anyone will understand you, "yes," though the ZC2ZC3 list will probably be dominated by dumb Americans who speak only English.

  9. Will I have to explain everything to THOSE people?

    I hope you will because I hope they'll ask. Many of us are here to teach as well as learn.

  10. I'm just a novice at all this!

    Well, this list is for you. Hopefully, you will not remain a novice for long. Learning is what ZOID City Community is all about. Take your seat at the table with the pros.

  11. I've been on the net since 1984 and I do all my coding without an editor.

    Well this list is the place for you. Everyone has something to teach and something to learn.

  12. My cat just got run over! Can I talk about it on this list?

    Yes, you can discuss the major events in your life, births, deaths, marriages, illness, graduation and new jobs etc..... That is what community is all about. I hope most of you can see the difference between discussing your own story and passing on some shopworn piece of uplift.



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