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THE ONELIST_MODERATORS UPDATE - OCTOBER 6, 1999
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Dear ONElist Community Moderator,

With the launch of the new site and an expanded set of features, we will be offering you regular suggestions on how to get the most out of the communities you moderate, as well as any other information pertinent to moderators, such as scheduled maintenance.

IN THIS ISSUE:

o How To View/Edit Your Community Settings, Part I - Description
o Drop Us A Line:  We Listen!
 

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HOW TO VIEW/EDIT YOUR COMMUNITY SETTINGS, PART I - DESCRIPTION
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In our last edition of the ONElist_Moderator Update, we guided you through an overview of the Community Main Page.  This week, we're going to dig a little deeper into that page and start to discuss the Community Settings area.  We'll start with the first of the settings - Description - and move on to the others in subsequent editions of this newsletter.

The Description settings are used to define how your community appears, if at all, to other ONElist users and therefore what kind of people it attracts. It is also the place where you can delete a community altogether (one of your own, of course).

To access and edit the Description setting for your community:
1.  Go to any community you moderate (designated by an "M" symbol on the My ONElist page at: http://www.onelist.com/myonelist
2.  Click on the Settings link in the left-hand bar
3.  Click on the edit button.
4.  Click on the Save Changes button.

Below appear the areas you can edit within this Description area:

1. Purpose: The descriptive paragraph about your communities which appears in search results as well as on the Community Main Page. If you observe a few simple rules when describing your community's purpose, you will have a much better chance of attracting the kind of membership you want:

o be brief
o be accurate
o explain who you want to join

2. Directory Listing:

If you are interested in growing your membership base, then you should be listed in the ONElist directory. With over 7 million users of diverse interests, ONElist's directory is a great way to grow your subscribership.  If you do not want your community to grow, you should change this setting to "not listed in directory."  Also, keep in mind that you can still be listed in the directory and make your community restricted, which means you approve only those members which you want to join.  (This will be covered in a later edition of this newsletter but in the mean time, advance users can find this under the Options Settings).

3. Category:

If you choose to list your community in the ONElist directory, this is where you can specify the category in which it is listed.  It is unlikely that you will need to change this, but if you feel that you didn't put your community in the right category when you created it, you can change it here.

4. Maturity:

This setting describes the recommended age level of the community members. Be as accurate as possible about the age-appropriateness of your content. Choices are:

o Safe for kids
o For people 10 and up
o For people 13 and up
o For people 17 and up
o For people 21 and up

Note: Specifying an age level does not mean that potential members are screened for age verification. This setting merely serves as a recommendation for potential members about the age range of your intended audience.

5. Name:

Although it is unlikely that you should want to rename your community, you may do so here. Remember that if you do so, there may be a delay before email messages can be received at that address, and also that once the change goes into effect, the old email address becomes invalid.  This is likely to annoy your subscribers.  Bottom line:  think twice before changing your community name.

6. Language:

Choose the primary language of the community.  You can do so here.

7. Delete Community:

This eliminates the community altogether.  Click on the Delete This Community button and the Confirm button which follows.

For more detailed help on Settings, go to the Settings Help page at:
http://www.onelist.com/help/help17.html
 

Next Issue:  The Welcome Settings
 

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DROP US A LINE:  WE LISTEN!
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We thank you for all of the positive messages many of you have sent to us.  ONElist is the leading email community provider largely because of your valuable input.  As always, your suggestions are welcome, so please send us your thoughts at comments@o...
 

Thanks

The ONElist Team