Zoomer-list mail is sent out with a reply address that directs most replies
back to the list. It's set up that way in order to be most consistent with
the purpose of the mailing list: sharing information among the list's
subscribers. I say that "most replies" are sent back to the list because
people use a wide variety of mail programs to read the mail they receive
from this list, and different mail programs handle replies differently and
they display differing amounts of information. I know that some mail
programs ignore the "Reply-to:" header and send replies back to the
individual author of zoomer-list messages. Evidently, some other mail
programs don't display the "From:" header, and so it's not clear to users
of those programs how they can reply directly to an individual author.
Unfortunately, I can't solve these problems in a way that will satisfy
everyone.
Here are some guidelines on what you can do:
If your mail program sends replies to the individual author and not to the
whole list, but you want to reply to the whole list, you'll need to edit
the "To:" field manually. The correct address for replying to the whole
list is "zoomer-list@lists.best.com".
If your mail program sends replies to the whole list, but you want to send
a reply to an individual author, look at the message and see if you can
find the "From:" header. If the "From:" header is present, you'll need to
manually edit the "To:" field of your reply and replace the zoomer-list
address with the address from that "From:" header.
If your mail program sends replies to the whole list, you want to send a
reply to an individual author, and the "From:" header is not displayed by
your mail program, then your best bet is to wait a day and then look at the
zoomer-list archives on the Zoomer WWW site (they get updated once each
day). You'll find the "From:" header there. The archives are at
http://www.grot.com/zoomer/zoomer-list/.
If your mail program sends replies to the whole list, you want to send a
reply to an individual author, the "From:" header is not shown by your mail
program, and you don't have access to the Zoomer WWW site, you're really
kind of out of luck. Send me a note letting me know what message you're
trying to reply to (be as specific as possible), and I'll send a note back
with the address of its author.
And now, back to our regularly schedule Zoomer discussions....
-- -Brian Smithson brian@grot.com