Timetable

Messages will go to the mailing list unedited. Subscribers to the list will know the email addresses of contributors to the list, and any other personal information included in the message such as that in a ‘signature’ appended to it.

An archive of each mailing list will be available on the web site. Messages will be published unedited, with the exceptions noted below. This means that if your message includes personal information (e.g. address, telephone number) it will be published on the web site. The exceptions are:

Email addresses will be removed and replaced by the text "<address removed>" to prevent them being "harvested" from the site by spammers.
If you send messages in HTML format (but please try not to!), they will appear in plain text on the web site.
Entire messages may be removed from the web site by the moderator if they are considered inappropriate.

When commenting on a post, you have the option of replying to the list or to the originator. Please check the address line of your message before sending it, as you may find that your email software sends to the originator instead of the list, or vice versa.

The moderators will monitor the lists as well as facilitate the discussion. Abuses will be dealt with privately between the moderator and the offender. The moderator has the option of removing messages from the web site archive, and subscribers from the list.

DFID is committed to evidence-based policy. Where possible, please try to support points made with case studies and evidence.

Send your messages as plain text. Do not use HTML or rich text. Some subscribers may be using email software that does not understand these formats, or deliberately does not display it for security reasons.

When you are starting a new thread of discussion, pick a good subject line for your message.

Don’t include copyright material in your messages unless you have permission to do so.

Be careful that you do not include all the senders message in your reply, but quote enough of the original message to ensure that the context of your remark is easily understood.

If you want to thank someone, send a message to the individual rather than the whole list.

Don’t send the same message to several of the consultation mailing lists. Choose the most appropriate one, or refine your message so it fits within the topic of a single list.

Don’t promote yourself, your company, or your organisation. The moderator might remove such messages from the web archive.

Don’t send attachments to the list. These will be removed automatically before the message is posted. If you have a paper or other document that is relevant and you feel it will benefit the discussion, send it to contech@gre.ac.uk with a note saying which list it is associated with. It will be forwarded to the moderator, who will decide whether it should be posted on the web site.

Check that you sent the message using the same email account that you used to subscribe to the list. The lists will not accept messages from unsubscribed email addresses.
Wait for a while, because it may be that the server is busy with other things. However, if you are getting mail from the list that has been sent after your message, there may have been a problem with it. If your message hasn't appeared after 48 hours, try resending it.
If nothing seems to work, send email to contech@gre.ac.uk explaining the problem.

Sometimes mail fails to be delivered ("bounces") because the receiving account is over-quota, or because there are network or system problems at the user's site or somewhere in-between.

When this happens, your address will be removed from the list, and will be subscribed to a bounces list instead. The bounces list will try to send you a message every couple of days or so, telling you what has happened. When your account is working again, you can re-subscribe to the original list.

It may be that no messages are being posted. You can check by going to the list archives on the web site and looking for messages later than the last one you received. Please don't send a test message to the list. Instead, think of something relevant to say and post it.

If the web site shows that the list is active but you are not receiving messages, you might have been unsubscribed for some reason:

Your mail was bouncing (see above).
You have broken the guidelines and the moderator has taken you off the list.
There has been some kind of system problem. You can test whether you are still subscribed to the list by subscribing again. The list will either send back a message asking you to confirm your subscription, or tell you that you are already subscribed.