bounced messages/name removal

[Coral Workstation at NOAA/AOML]

Dear Coral-Listers,

	At some point you may find that your name has been removed from
coral-list because email from coral-list to your mailbox is bouncing.
Since I, as the coral-list administrator, receive many (sometimes over a
hundred) bounced messages every single day, I have to make some decisions,
otherwise the messages would continue to pile up.  When email bounces, I
usually choose one of the following actions, based on what the return
error message says:

a)  If the message says "mailbox full" or something along those lines, I
usually give you time to clear up the problem.  However, if the problem
persists, I subscribe you to a "bounces" list, and temporarily unsubscibe
your from coral-list.  The listserver software will send you periodic
messages informing you how to resubscriber to coral-list and unsubscribe
from the "bounces" listserver.  If your name continues to bounce, I
eventually remove you from the "bounces" listserver.

b)  If the message says "user unknown" I have no choice but to remove you
from the list.

c)  If the message says "host unknown" or "host not found" I usually wait
until another message is posted to see if the problem persists before
deleting the name.  Sometimes either a system administrator doesn't inform
the users that their domain name has changed, or the coral-list subscriber
doesn't subscribe/unsubscribe according to their new address, or both.  If
the problem persists, but I know a lot of people use that domain (e.g.,
gov.au), I will put all of the subscribers on the "bounces" listserver.

d)  If the message says "Cannot send message for 1 week" I usually wait
for the down server to get fixed and just grit my teeth while the bounced
messages pile up.  However, if the problem persists, I have to delete the
name(s), or move them to "bounces."

e)  If the message says "dic quota exceeded" it means your messages are
piling up past what the system administrator (at your end) has set for
your limit.  In such a case you are probably aware immediately of the
problem, so I just wait for you to get your act together.  However, if I
get dizzy seeing your name show up again and again in my in-box, I usually
put you on the "bounces" listserver.

f)  If the message says "Non-member submission from
yourname at yourplace.gov" that means you're not a subscriber to coral-list;
or, your domain name has changed, or you are trying to send the message
from another place than from where you subscribed to the list.  In such a
case, I usually read the message to see what it is that you are trying to
send before forwarding the message on to the list.  I may look to see if
your address has changed; but often I can see that somebody from some
organization who would not be a regular subscriber has posted a public
announcement type of message.  Sometimes these messages are relevant,
sometimes they are not.  For instance, I have received messages on
rainfall in the desert Southwest, USA(!); or requests for everything ever
written on the subject of coral-whatever (yet the person is not subscribed
to the list), or (worse) requests (from a non-subscriber) for something
not having anything to do with corals, etc.  Of course, the list also
occasionally receives unsolicited junkmail from people trying to sell
something to everybody on the globe via the Internet.

g)  If the message says "local configuration error" that might mean you
are trying to forward a message to another address, which in turn is
forwarding that message back to the original place of forwarding!  But
this is a sort of catch-all type of error, so it could be anything.

h)  Other problems.  Sometimes I continue to get bounced messages and for
the life of me I can't find out who the subscriber is--this is extremely
frustrating and time-consuming.  When this happens, you may get a message
from me that just says something like, "Test to see if your email is the
originator of a problem..."  If I then get that message bounced back to
me, I remove your name with a gleeful jab at the "D" (delete) button
because I have finally solved the problem.

~~~~~

In closing, please keep coral-list in mind whenever you change email
addresses, and please be patient if your coral-list mail stops coming.  If
you are changing addresses, simply send a message to
majordomo at coral.aoml.noaa.gov like so,

	unsubscribe coral-list name at OLD.domain.gov
	subscribe   coral-list name at NEW.domain.gov


and things should move along smoothly.  Or, let me know what it is you
want to do.  If you ever have any questions, just send a note to me at
Jim.Hendee at noaa.gov so I can be apprised of the situation.


Thank you so much for your patience and cooperation.


	Cheers,

	Jim Hendee
	coral-list administrator