LBSG OFF-TOPIC MAILING LIST INFORMATION DOCUMENT VERSION 3.00 WHAT IS THE LBSG OFF-TOPIC MAILING LIST (OFFTOPIC)? This list is separate from the Group’s letter box related discussion list (LIST). It is designed for discussing all those topics which are not relevant to our hobby but which may interest members. WHY A MAILING LIST SPECIFICALLY FOR OFF-TOPIC SUBJECTS? Our LBSG-LIST Mailing List is only for subject matter related to letter boxes and suchlike. Off-Topic subjects include other street furniture, general interest items, chatter, jokes, etc. which many members may not wish to see on a daily basis. Consequently, a separate list was created in August 2005 to allow members to discuss these subjects should they wish to. WHAT IS IT FOR? Subjects which are acceptable to discuss and post attachments about are anything which is not relevant to the LBSG. This includes photographs, slides, postcards, newspaper articles, documents, extracts from books, provided it is not related to post boxes, telephone boxes and/or the LBSG and anything related to these subjects. However, it is the responsibility of the sender to ensure he/she is not in breach of copyright or any other laws or regulations which may pertain to the material he/she is posting. The LBSG takes no responsibility whatsoever in relation to this matter. WHO IS IT FOR? Any current paid-up member of the LBSG. When you attempt to join OFFTOPIC, your details will be checked against the current LBSG membership list. On leaving the LBSG, an individual also leaves OFFTOPIC. This is strictly enforced. HOW DOES IT WORK? First, you join OFFTOPIC. You then receive all the messages that members send to OFFTOPIC. You are then free to reply to any of those messages and your reply also goes to everyone on OFFTOPIC. This way, everyone can see what everyone else is writing and effective lively discussions take place. OFFTOPIC is processed every 2 minutes, every day of the year (including weekends, bank holidays etc.). HOW DO I SUBSCRIBE TO OFFTOPIC? First, make sure that the Secretary (e-mail secretary@lbsg.org ) knows the email address you would like to use. Then, send a blank e-mail to offtopic@lbsg.org. and in the subject line put the single word SUBSCRIBE. You should receive a “Welcome” message within a few minutes and messages from other members should follow soon after. WHAT HAPPENS ONCE I HAVE SUBSCRIBED? You should receive e-mails with a subject line starting “[LBSG-OFTPC] – ” This indicates that the message has been posted to everybody on OFFTOPIC. You might like to set up a filter or routing in your e-mail software so that these messages go to a special folder or suchlike. If you want to add something to a message or make a comment, then reply to it. Because the “Reply-to” field of messages is always set to offtopic@lbsg.org, your e-mail software should set up the reply to go straight to the list. When you post to OFFTOPIC, there is no need to add the “[LBSG-OFTPC]” at the beginning of the subject. This is done automatically. HOW DO I POST A MESSAGE TO OFFTOPIC? Send your message to offtopic@lbsg.org. Be sure to send the message from the same address which you used to subscribe with, otherwise it will get automatically rejected. Use a subject line for your e-mail as normal, but do not add the “[LBSG-OFTPC] – ” prefix. The mailing list software will do this automatically. Do not CC or BCC messages to the mailing list. The software running the system expects to see the list’s address in the To: field only. You should receive a copy of your message sent back to you by the mailing list within about 5 minutes. Please keep to one topic of discussion per message. If you have two different things to discuss or write about then it is perfectly acceptable to send two separate messages, each with an appropriate subject line. If you want to start a new topic of discussion, please do not reply to an existing message. Start a new e-mail instead and set the subject line appropriately. DO I NEED TO INTRODUCE MYSELF TO EVERYONE ON OFFTOPIC? If you’d like to, then yes, please go ahead and write an introduction to yourself, where you are from and your interest in our hobby. Perhaps include a little “story” on how your interest started and how it has evolved. WHO WILL SEE COPIES OF THE MESSAGES I POST TO THE LIST? Any message you send to OFFTOPIC will be seen by all the other subscribers to OFFTOPIC. If relevant and appropriate, then copies will also be sent to those committee members who are not subscribers to OFFTOPIC. Any relevant information you send to OFFTOPIC or which is discussed on OFFTOPIC will be monitored by the Information Officer, or in the case of the Information Officer not being an OFFTOPIC subscriber, copies of any messages containing relevant information will be sent to him/her. The Information Officer will then include this information in LBSG records and The Directory data files. HOW DO I UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THE LIST? To unsubscribe from OFFTOPIC send an e-mail to offtopic@lbsg.org. In the subject line put Unsubscribe. You must spell Unsubscribe correctly or it will not work. It does not matter what you put in the body of the e-mail – it will be ignored. You should then receive an e-mail informing you that you have been unsubscribed. If there was something particular which you did not like about OFFTOPIC or which made you decide to unsubscribe, please e-mail the Mailing List Moderator at moderator@lbsg.org and discuss it. The mailing list is, of course, for the use and enjoyment of the subscribers, so please let us know about any problems which hamper this enjoyment. You can, of course, subscribe again at any time. WHO MAINTAINS IT? The LBSG Mailing List Moderator and the IT Officer maintain OFFTOPIC. The role of the Moderator is to oversee the day-to-day running and usage of LIST and answer any questions about OFFTOPIC. It is also the Moderator’s job to uphold the rules and guidelines of OFFTOPIC (see below) and in extreme circumstances to remove from the list those subscribers who persistently flout them(!). To get in touch with him e-mail moderator@lbsg.org. This address is for private e-mail to him and any e-mail sent to it will not get distributed to all OFFTOPIC members. The IT Officer’s role is to resolve any technical problems with OFFTOPIC, any technical issues should be raised directly with him and not on OFFTOPIC, he can be emailed at tech@lbsg.org this address is for private e-mail to him and any e-mail sent to it will not get distributed to all LIST members. The LBSG pays the costs of running OFFTOPIC. WHO ELSE IS SUBSCRIBED TO OFFTOPIC? IS MY E-MAIL ADDRESS PUBLISHED OR GIVEN OUT TO ANYONE? There is no published list of subscribers. The only way to find out who else is subscribed to OFFTOPIC is by reading their postings. This protects people’s anonymity, should they not wish to be involved in discussions. The result is that if you subscribe and subsequently do not make any postings, no-one else (other than the LBSG committee) will be able to find out that you have subscribed or what your e-mail address is. It’s perfectly possible to just be an “observer” on OFFTOPIC, but the more people post messages and get involved in discussions, then the more effective OFFTOPIC will be. I AM NOT RECEIVING ALL THE MESSAGES FROM OFFTOPIC. OTHER MEMBERS ARE TALKING ABOUT A MESSAGE I HAVE NOT RECEIVED YET. If you think you are experiencing missing messages, firstly please allow an hour or two to see if the missing messages were merely delayed in transit. After that please contact the IT Officer at tech@lbsg.org with details of the problem. I THINK THERE IS A TECHNICAL PROBLEM WITH OFFTOPIC. THE SYSTEM DOESN’T SEEM TO BE WORKING PROPERLY This is perfectly possible. The system is not infallible. In the first instance please do not raise it publicly via the mailing list. Please contact the IT Officer at tech@lbsg.org with details of the problem. HOW DO I CHANGE THE ADDRESS I USE TO RECEIVE AND SEND MESSAGES TO AND FROM THE MAILING LIST? Subscribefrom the new address you want to use. use Ensure that the Secretary (e-mail secretary@lbsg.org ) knows the e-mail address that you intend using. Wait until you receive the welcome message at your new address (generally about 5 to 10 minutes). Unsubscribe from your old address (only once you are sure that you are subscribed from your new address). Wait about 5 to 10 minutes for the goodbye message sent to your old address. Following this procedure in this exact order ensures that at no time are you ever unsubscribed totally and likely to miss any messages. If you were to alter the order and do steps 3 and 4 before steps 1 and 2 then there would possibly be an hour or two when neither of your addresses were subscribed and you would not receive the messages posted in that interval. This could also happen if you were to do steps 1 and 3 on the same day. If this procedure causes you problems, then e-mail the IT Officer who can do it manually. This is likely to be necessary if you no longer have access to your old address to do steps 3 and 4. WHAT IS THE FULL LIST OF COMMANDS WHICH OFFTOPIC WILL RECOGNISE? The LBSG Off-Topic Mailing List recognises the following commands in the subject field of messages sent to offtopic@lbsg.org: SUBSCRIBE subscribes you to the list UNSUBSCRIBE unsubscribes you from the list SUSPEND suspends your list subscription until you send a RESUME command SUSPEND-xx suspends your list subscription for xx days or until you send a RESUME command (where xx is whatever number of days you choose, e.g. SUSPEND-12 would suspend your list subscription for the next 12 days) RESUME restarts your suspended list subscription STATS responds with an e-mail containing current statistics for list usage HELP responds with an up-to-date copy of this list of commands If the subject of your message is anything other than one of the above commands, the message is forwarded to everyone who has subscribed to the mailing list. All the above commands are automatically processed and not seen by a human. If you want to communicate with a real person then e-mail the moderator at moderator@lbsg.org. RULES It is not acceptable to post comments or attachments to OFFTOPIC that are unlawful, harassing, abusive, threatening, harmful, obscene, profane, sexually orientated or racially offensive. This includes comments that are offensive to others with regards to a personal characteristic or protected characteristic such as age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. The maximum message size permitted is 2,048 Kb (2 Mb). Messages larger than this will be ignored. The LBSG Off-Topic Mailing List is not the acceptable medium for letter box related discussion. Letter box related discussion should be on the LBSG-LIST Mailing List. GUIDELINES These are not rules, but general guidelines which should be adhered to. They are mostly common-sense things and are pretty much the same as you will find on any mailing list or newsgroup. If something is of general interest to everybody then send it to the list at offtopic@lbsg.org. Please keep to one topic/subject of discussion per message. If you want to write about two separate things then send two separate messages, each with an appropriate subject line. Postings should not (generally) exceed 100 lines and total no more than 2 Mb (2,048 Kb) including attachments. Please sign all messages with your name and LBSG membership number and try to include your geographic location under your name at the bottom of your e-mails, e.g. “Bob 9876, Cardiff” as many members like to know where you are based. Any message sent to offtopic@lbsg.org will be automatically sent to everybody who has subscribed to the list, provided it is not a “Subscribe” or other command message. Please be sure that messages sent to the address are intended for “public” consumption, i.e. polite, of general interest to subscribers and take into account that the LBSG has members of many different nationalities, political inclinations, religions and moral standpoints. This is particularly relevant when giving a personal opinion or making a seemingly harmless joke. If you think there is a technical problem with OFFTOPIC or the system doesn’t seem to be working properly, please do not raise it publicly via OFFTOPIC. Please contact the IT Officer at tech@lbsg.org with details of the problem. DISCLAIMERS The LBSG Off-Topic Mailing List (OFFTOPIC) is an officially recognised service of The Letter Box Study Group. The Mailing List Moderator reserves the right to remove any subscriber from the mailing list, to prevent him or her from posting to the list or to review any message before allowing it to be forwarded to all subscribers. There may be occasions when problems outside the control of the Mailing List Moderator and/or the LBSG cause the list to fail to operate for one or more days (e.g. ISP problems, communication system problems, power supply problems). You use the LBSG Off-Topic Mailing List at your own risk. If you get a virus or any other undesirable effect on your computer equipment as a result of using the mailing list you agree that the Mailing List Moderator and the LBSG are not responsible for any loss or damage caused by this. By posting an e-mail to the LBSG Mailing List, you agree that it may be included in an archive of messages which may or may not be made available to members only through the LBSG web site, on paper or via any other medium at any point in time. Everything presented in this document is for informational purposes only and not to be taken as a contract, either implicit or explicit. It is the responsibility of the person posting the message and attachment to ensure that he/she is not breaching any laws, rules or regulations (including copyright) by doing so. The LBSG and the Mailing List Moderator will not take any responsibility whatsoever in regard to this. As the LBSG Off-Topic Mailing List is intended solely for non-letter-box related discussion, it will not receive the same level of attention from the Mailing List Moderator or the same level of technical support. It is a service provided as-is. Members are expected to be largely self-supporting in their use of the Off-Topic Mailing List. The Letter Box Study Group is an operating name of Letter Box Study Group CIO Registered Charity Number: 1198577. WHAT IF I HAVE A COMMENT OR QUESTION ABOUT SOMETHING I HAVE JUST READ ABOVE? E-mail the Mailing List Moderator at moderator@lbsg.org or if you are already a subscriber and your comment is of interest to other subscribers to the list then send it to offtopic@lbsg.org. When was this document last amended? LBSG Off-Topic Mailing List Information Document Version 3.00 1 March 2026 WHERE CAN I READ THE LATEST VERSION OF THIS DOCUMENT? On the LBSG web site at https://lbsg.org/off-topic/