Woodland Heights Mailing List

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)


If your question is not answered below, please send mail to the mailing list administrator at mailing-list-admin@woodland-heights.org


What is the Woodland Heights mailing list and who can join?

The Woodland Heights mailing list is one of the online communication tools sponsored by the Woodland Heights Civic Association (WHCA). The "info" mailing list is a private mailing list intended for the dissemination of information to neighborhood residents. The list is intended for the use of the persons who who live in the area of Houston generally known as the "Woodland Heights", which is located in the 77009 zip code and is bounded by Studewood on the West, Key Street on the North, North Main/I-45 on the East, and White Oak Bayou on the South.

The mailing list is open to individuals who are residents of the Woodland Heights (as defined by the boundaries above), as well as for various local school teachers, interested members of the media, residents of nearby neighborhoods, former Woodland Heights residents, and Woodland Heights residents' relatives or friends. Exceptions may be made for others who would like to join, but ony if they can demonstrate some noncommercial connection to or interest in the neighborhood.

All subscribers are required to abide by the Acceptable Use Policy, which is availalble for viewing on the signup page. This policy is subject to change periodically without prior notice, though all changes will be announced by a message to the list itself. To join, prospective members should click here. After submitting the form, the mailing list administrator (mailing-list-admin@woodland-heights.org) will review and process your request as soon as possible.

As part of membership, the only benefit supplied is inclusion on a private mailing list supported by the WHCA, its officers, and administrators, which allows the member to receive mail directed to group. No other benefits are provided.


What is the Woodland Heights bulletin board and who can join?

The Woodland Heights bulletin board is a set of private web-based forums use for non-time-sensitive collaboration among residents. The bulletin board is open to the same individiuals as the mailing list (see above). To use the bulletin board, go to http://www.woodland-heights.org/phpBB2.


Who pays for the operation of the mailing list?

While much of the mailing-list support is handled by neighborhood volunteers, a service provider handles the technical operation of the mailing lists. Service provider fees are paid for by the Woodland Heights Civic Association (WHCA), which is funded entirely by the annual dues of neighborhood residents. Subscribers to the mailing lists are encouraged to pay their annual dues not only to support the operation of the mailing lists but to help fund various other neighborhood initiatives as well. Nonresident subscribers to the list are welcome to make donations (non-tax-deductible) to the WHCA. For more information on membership or to make a donation, see the WHCA membership sign-up page.


What is the Acceptable Use Policy?

An "Acceptable Use Policy" describes the types of messages which are allowed on the list and the actions that the administrator may take if the policy is violated. By subscribing to the list you agree to abide by Acceptable Use Policy, which is available on the subscription management page.


How do I subscribe to or unsubscribe from the list?

To subscribe or unsubscribe from the info mailing list, use the form located here. Requests via this page are sent to the volunteer mailing-list administrator, who processes them as frequently as possible. In some cases it may take several days for your request to be processed. Please be patient. When your request has been processed, you will receive a welcome message describing the list and explaining various things about the list.


How do I change my e-mail address?

If you need to change your e-mail address on the list, submit two separate requests. The first one should list your OLD e-mail address and unsubsribe you from the list(s). The second one should request that your new e-mail address be added to the list.


How do I send mail to the list?

You cannot send mail to the list until you are subscribed to the list and your subscription has been processed. Once your subscription has been processed, you may send mail to the list by addressing it to: info@woodland-heights.org

Please be patient after sending an e-mail. During certain times of the day, it may take an hour or more for your e-mail to be distributed to all list members, including yourself. Please leave at least 2 hours before re-sending an e-mail to the list. Also keep in mind that mail larger than 40KB (including the size of any attachments) will simply be discarded without any warning to you.

You may also reply to a message sent from the list. For more details on how to reply to the entire list, see "What's the best way to respond to messages?" , below.


What's the best way to respond to messages?

If you want to respond to a message that someone sends to Woodland Heights Online, you have two options:

BE CAREFUL which type of reply you choose. It can be highly embarrassing to have a private message send mistakenly to the entire group. In addition, excessive messages -- especially those which could have been sent privately -- tend to clutter the channels and annoy all the members of the group.


Can I get or transfer viruses through e-mail?

Yes, it is possible to get or transfer viruses via e-mail from the lists. However, there are several steps you can take to minimize your risk.

MESSAGES TO THE MAILING LIST ARE NOT SCANNED FOR VIRUSES BEFORE BEING DISTRIBUTED. IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU INSTALL AND ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE THE LATEST VIRUS PROTECTION SOFTWARE ON YOUR COMPUTER.


How do I deal with too many messages?

If you find that you are receiving too many messages from the mailing lists, there are several solutions that may be applied:

Please keep in mind that traffic of messages generated by the list may vary considerably. There are some weeks in which dozens of messages may be sent, and other weeks where there is hardly a message at all.


How do I report problems or complaints?

After subscribing, if you have problems sending e-mail to the list oryou should contact the mailing list administrator by sending e-mail to mailing-list-admin@woodland-heights.org.

If you have complaints about the service or you feel you have been personally abused by someone else on the mailing list, please send your complaint to mailing-list-admin@woodland-heights.org. In particular, forward a copy of the abusive message, either by "copying and pasting" into a new message, or using the Forward button in your e-mail program. The administrator reserves the right to remove anyone from a list who does not abide by the Acceptable Use Policies contained within this document.


Why can I receive mail but not send it?

The list enforces strict rules in determining who can send to the list. You must be a subscriber to the list in order to also send mail to the list. The ReplyTo address in mail that you send (or the From address if there is no specific ReplyTo address) is used to determine if you are a subscriber. That address must exactly match the address you used to subscribe to the list (excluding upper/lower-case differences). For example "user@acme.com" does not match "user@mail.acme.com", so if your email provider somehow modifies your ReplyTo address then you will have problems sending to the list. The mailing list administrator is notified of these events and may send you a semi-automated message explaining the situation to you.

To determine if this is your problem, send a piece of email to your self and then reply to it. You will be able to see the associated ReplyTo address for mails that you send.

You can resolve the issue in one of two ways. The first is to explicitly set the "ReplyTo" address appropriately in your mail program's configuration. There are too many possibilities on how to do that to go into it here. Check with your documentation or ISP for help. The second solution is simply to unsubscribe the non-matching address you resubscribe using the alternate email address. Use the subscription form at http://www.woodland-heights.org/MailingList/subscribe.html to do that.