THE DYFED MAILING LIST
- The ancient name Dyfed is used here to describe an entity
comprising the three counties of Carmarthenshire (CMN), Cardiganshire
(CGN) and Pembrokeshire (PEM).
From Wikipedia
(which has a diagram showing the approximate geographic area of Dyfed) ;
" Dyfed was one of the ancient kingdoms (or
principalities) of
Wales prior to the Norman Conquest. It occupied an area roughly
corresponding to the later county of Pembrokeshire. In the 10th century
Howell the Good united Dyfed and the neighbouring kingdom of Seisyllwg
under his rule. The new kingdom became known as Deheubarth and covered
an area roughly corresponding to the later county of Dyfed. During
local government reorganisation in 1974, the newly-created
non-metropolitan county covering Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and
Pembrokeshire was given the name Dyfed. It was divided into six
districts, namely Carmarthen, Ceredigion, Dinefwr, Llanelli, Preseli,
South Pembrokeshire. However, further reorganisation of local
government on April 1, 1996, involving the creation of unitary
authorities resulted in a return to the status quo, with
Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and
Pembrokeshire being restored for administrative purposes. The name
survives as a ceremonial preserved county, and in that of institutions
such as Dyfed-Powys Police" (and more relevantly, Dyfed Family History
Society)
Return to top
- 1. To record list administrative data and advice for easy access
by list subscribers
- 2. To host any data/links which the list administrator considers
helpful
Return to top
A mailing list is FREE to use and is simply an e-mail party
line: every message that a list subscriber sends to the list is
distributed to all other list subscribers. Equally, you will
receive a copy of ALL messages posted. If you join the list then
you should expect to receive more (sometimes many more) messages besides a response to
your own postings.
Archived messages may be browsed by anyone, However, messages may only be posted to the list after subscribing. Subscribing to a mailing list is free of charge and is one of the best ways of connecting to people who share your interests.
Return to top
There are two ways of receiving list messages;
- "Mail mode or the L mode", which means that you will
receive every posting made to Dyfed as a separate e-mail
- "Digest mode or the D mode" where batches of list
messages are received as one message periodically
Subscribing and unsubscribing
To subscribe in either mode, or to unsubscribe, follow the instructions at http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/WLS/DYFED.html
Return to top
Here are some basic pointers which people completely new to mailing
lists might appreciate;
- See the Some do's and don'ts section before
you post anything to the list, this highlights potential problem areas
- When you want to initiate a message to the list then the
list address to send to is always
Dyfed@rootsweb.com
whether you're receiving list mail in mail or digest
mode. If unsure what these terms mean see under How
does one join/leave?
- Subscribing/unsubscribing messages use the list admin address
which is slightly different from the one for list messages, see How does one join/leave?
- If a subject is responded to by other listers then this becomes a
'thread' which might continue for quite some time with many
listers joining in. Try to avoid repeating what has already been
covered but please DO join in if you feel that you can add
something relevant to the exchanges - see items 6 & 8 under
Some do's and don'ts
- Every list message really does need a relevant subject
line, see item 1 under Some do's and don'ts
- If you respond to a list message but your response is really
taking off in a new direction then change the subject line,
something like "Was ..... now ...." will be fine
- List messages should be in plain text, in Outlook
Express, for example, the setting is under Tools/Options/Send
- You can't send attachments to a list, if you do
then Rootsweb will delete them
- If you receive mail in Digest form bear in mind that
listers in mail mode may have
already dealt with queries by the time you see the next digest, may be
worth while delaying sending a response off until the next Digest has
reached you.
- Don't forget the list Archives,
a 10 minutes browse should tell you quite a lot about how the list
works, also useful to confirm that you are or aren't missing any list
mail if it gets quiet
- It is your responsibility to be familiar with Rootsweb's
Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)
at http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/aup.html
The opening para of which says;
"Before
using or subscribing to RootsWeb.com, please review the following terms
and conditions which define your rights, responsibilities, and benefits
as a user of RootsWeb.com"
- If you are unsure of any aspect of how to participate in list
activity then just ask the list administrator's advice/clarification off
list
|
Dai Bevan
|
|
Return to top
This is a fairly easy going mailing list but here are some
suggestions/tips which if adopted by most listers for most of the time
will make the list administrator's job a real pleasure;
- You must follow Rootsweb mailing list rule. See http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/rootsweb/community_guidelines.html for a full list of conditions, but in particular.
As a community member, please,
- For starters, simply treat others the way you want to be treated.
- Respond to the subject (and not the person) if you disagree with
something in a post.
- Don't harass, abuse or threaten other members.
- Don't post any content that's vulgar, hateful, sexually explicit,
illegal or otherwise offensive.
- Don't post commercial messages, fee-for-service postings,
advertising or related links, etc.
- Don't include identifiable information about living people without
their direct consent, or, in the case of minors, the consent of
their parent or guardian. This includes (but is not limited to) a
person's full name, location or contact information.
Then
- 1. Always make the subject line meaningful, and, if
the subject isn't applicable to all three counties, indicate
which county is involved by inserting the relevant Chapman code,
either CGN, CMN or PEM, first and then,
if known, the parish name, followed by the family SURNAME
in capitals, then the approximate date/period
- Example - CMN, Llandybie, DAVIES, 1819-1900
- 2. Keep the message as succinct as possible, some listers
won't scroll down beyond the initial screen on principle and others get bored very
easily. One query at a time is best.
- 3. Apart from in a factual historic perspective, absolutely no
political, religious, or racial opinion or indeed anything that you
wouldn't say to your dear sweet old grandma
- 4. If anyone upsets you onlist then take it
up off list with the list admin who will take whatever action he
thinks necessary. Use the address dyfed-admin@rootsweb.com rather than a personal address in case the admin is away and his deputy is covering the list. Onlist verbal jousting is upsetting for onlookers and
won't be tolerated.
- 5. Light hearted humour is great, but bear in mind that
it sometimes doesn't travel so well across international borders
- 6. When you respond to someone else's list message then always
do so onlist, that's the only way other listers will know that the query has been answered, and others may be interested in the response themselves, or be able to enlarge upon the response.
And delete the bits of the previous message not essential to your response, too much clutter is off putting. In particular, delete any footnotes that are automatically added by Rootsweb.
- 7. If someone helps you on list then a thank-you is always appreciated, don't then 'latch on' to that person off
list as he/she may not be so keen to receive 10 pages of your family history with the request 'what do you think? - it happens
- 8. When replying to a posting, different lists and different email programs behave in different ways. The default for the Dyfed list is that 'Reply' sends directs your response to the original poster's private email, whereas Reply
All will send it to the list and the original poster. However not all email programs use the settings of the incoming mail, and use their own conventions.
When using reply all, I usually delete the sender's address - who
doesn't really need it twice. However, if the original poster receives digest mail, then the direct response will reach them quicker.
- 9 . Viruses. Don't send messages about viruses to the list, if you
have to tell someone, make it the list admin who can decide whether the
list needs to know.
- 10. Non-genealogy threads. Get a feel for what is OK on
the list. If you must indulge put OT in the subject line and
keep it to the one
message from you, it should/may then fade out naturally. Jokes and
chain letters are not appropriate on a genealogy list.
- Nothing to do with mailing lists as such but I strongly recommend
listers read up about the twin dangers of phishing [on Wikipedia] and pharming
[also on Wikipedia]
Return to top
- You can search the Dyfed list archives for a specific message or
browse them, going from one message to another.
- It might also be worthwhile searching the separate county list
archives, especially for pre 2006 periods
It is at the list administrator's sole discretion whether
anyone may subscribe, or remain subscribed, to the list
Return to top
No.
Whilst the Dyfed list is the original and main list
for CGN and PEM there are also nowadays separate Rootsweb based county
lists for Cardiganshire (CGN), Carmarthenshire (CMN)
and Pembrokeshire (PEM) - details of which can be seen on Rootsweb
This note was sent by the list administrator to all members of the CMN, PEM, CGN and Dyfed lists in 2006:
I'd like to share with
you my growing concern that these 3 lists are *separately* teetering on
the edge of becoming less than viable. I'm referring of course to
the very low level of list traffic, the lists' archive statistics show
the reality only too well. Without getting too much into the history of
the thing, the
separate county lists of CGN & PEM came about more or less at
Rootsweb's whim, in the beginning (1998) there was only Dyfed which
did, and does, cover CMN, CGN and PEM. Powys was in the same position
as Dyfed, yet the original Powys
list is vibrant whilst the separate lists of BRE, RAD & MGY see
token traffic.
My inclination now is to follow Powys's lead and contrive to
make the Dyfed list again the main conduit but keep the CGN and PEM
lists going on a 'tick over basis'. There would be the added benefit of
just about eliminating the need for cross postings. One disadvantage
might be, for example, that listers interested
in PEM would receive messages about CGN, but hey, look at the archives'
stats ! (and balance that against not getting duplicate mails)
I would add notes in key places which would explain it to new
listers. It would also make sense for most of us to then unsubscribe
from CGN and PEM. Nothing we decide has any bearing on the separate CMN
list. I would not support closing down the Dyfed list, that is not an
option for me.
It is also true that a number of messages were being sent to more than one of the county pages.
As a result of the majority of list subscribers accepting the proposal to only use the Dyfed list,
the automatic welcome message to the PEM and CGN lists now recommends using the Dyfed list instead.
A manual message is also sent by the list admin, to cater for regular list users who may not read the welcome message:
Hello _______,
I see you have just subscribed to the Cardiganshire and/or Pembrokeshire list. This list is very little used now. You are likely to have more success if you subscribe instead to the Dyfed list, which covers Pembrokeshire, Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire. When posting notes on the Dyfed list, please start with the county codes PEM, CGN,CMN as appropriate if your message is applicable to one county only.
Dyfed list: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/WLS/DYFED.html
The Dyfed list is not just a 'lookups list'- as important as that aspect is. A number of 'resident' or long term listers who really do know a lot about their counties will take every opportunity to share that knowledge with others.
Return to top
The list is operated on Rootsweb,
it was administered since its inception in 1998 to November 2006 by Gareth Hicks
(who also maintains the GENUKI pages for WALES, AGY, CAE, CGN, CMN,
GLA, MER, MGY, PEM, RAD pages) before transferring administration to
Dai Bevan
|
Dai Bevan
|
|
Return to top
Rootsweb
Genuki
South/West Wales Lookup Exchange http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~walesle/wal/AW.html
Gareth's Help Page is a genealogy Help Page slanted towards Welsh matters
on
http://http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ukwales2/hicks.html
and is an excellent first starting point for any queries on genealogy questions of a general nature.
Dyfed Family History Society http://www.dyfedfhs.org.uk/
Cardiganshire Family Society http://www.cgnfhs.org.uk/
John Ball's Welsh Family History Archive http://www.jlb2011.co.uk/index.html
Jill Muir's Welsh Chapels & Churches website http://welshchapelsandchurches.org/
has many pictures of Welsh Chapels and Churches.
History at Home: A Guide to Genealogy gives many general useful genealogy tips.
Return
to top
[Last Updated : 31 December 2012 by Dai Bevan]
