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The VHoChat FAQ
Below is some help for the most common technical problems. If you can't figure something out don't hesitate to mail us. Please also take note of our Chat Rules and the Safe House Website FAQ. Thanks!
 REGISTERING WITH YAHOO: We recommend being a member of Yahoo BEFORE joining our group. Go to the Yahoo!Groups page to do so:
http://groups.yahoo.com/
On the left side, click on the "Click here to register" link. Yahoo will guide you through the sign-up process. Once you've completed the forms, Yahoo will ask you to verify your submission by typing in a code. Once you have successfully put in the code, you have created your Yahoo account with personal ID (username) and password.
JOINING THE GROUP: Just click on the link provided in our invitation e-mail. It will lead you to a Yahoo page in your browser. Click "continue." Sign-in with your Yahoo username and password. If you don't have a Yahoo membership yet, please register.
On the following page, you can make adjustments to your liking (for example, select a Yahoo!Profile to access the group's website, and how to receive the group's e-mail messages -- our default setting is "daily digest"), then enter the code that Yahoo has generated and click "join." Congrats, you are now a member of VHoChat!
CHANGING AND MONITORING GROUP SETTINGS: You can monitor ALL your Yahoo!Groups settings at your "E-Mail Preferences" and "Edit My Groups" pages (you need to be signed in with your Yahoo username and password):
http://groups.yahoo.com/myprefs
http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups?edit=1
IMPORTANT: If you don't want to receive invitations from any other Yahoo group, or if you want to block the option to be added to any group directly (possibly without your consent), please make the necessary arrangements on your MyPrefs page.
Being a member of Yahoo itself is a risk. Be sure to read their Terms Of Service and Privacy statements and monitor your Yahoo settings closely.
E-MAIL ADDRESSES AND CONTACTS:
To post a message to the whole group, send e-mail to: VHoChat@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail to: VHoChat-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
To contact the list administrators, send e-mail to: VHoChat-owner@yahoogroups.com or thesafehouse@vartanho.com
E-MAIL DELIVERY SETTINGS: Yahoo!Groups is a mailing list that sends out posted messages to members of the group as e-mails. The following mail settings are available:
1) You can get e-mails delivered to your personal mailbox individually (NOT recommended due to the volume of messages);
2) You can receive compiled messages (about 25 per e-mail) as a "daily digest" (our default setting);
3) You can choose "no mail" or "special notices" -- you won't get any e-mails, and you can still browse all messages at the group's website.
To alter your message settings, go to "Edit My Membership" or "Edit My Groups."
IMPORTANT: DO NOT unsubscribe from the group if you're flooded with e-mails. Simply change your delivery settings. If you unsubscribe, you will lose access to everything.
Furthermore, we reserve the right to change these settings for you without warning if need be.
CHANGING YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS: You can assign new or alternate e-mail addresses to your Yahoo ID without it having an effect on either your Yahoo or VHoChat memberships. Simply go to your MyPrefs page, click "Add Email Address" or "Remove Email Address," follow the steps to verify this, and your Yahoo account is updated. To change addresses for your groups (i.e. VHoChat), simply adjust the delivery settings on your "Edit My Groups" page.
BOUNCING E-MAILS: Some members have trouble with bouncing e-mails: Messages that are sent out by the group cannot be delivered to their mailboxes and are sent back to Yahoo. This can happen for various reasons, for example, when their mailboxes are full, or their e-mail addresses have become obsolete, etc.
Yahoo doesn't tolerate bouncing mails and will deactivate these persons' memberships. It will, however, send you a "reactivation request." All you have to do is reply to that (once you've fixed the problem with your mailbox), and Yahoo will resume sending you the messages. We will also send out these requests daily.
IMPORTANT: Beware that if Yahoo or we have failed to contact a bouncing member for a couple of weeks, we'll unsubscribe you from the group. You can track your bouncing status yourself, and send out reactivation requests. Visit your "E-Mail Preferences" page!
http://groups.yahoo.com/myprefs
ACCESSING THE WEBSITE / YAHOO!PROFILES: Once you are a member of our group, you have access to the group's website at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VHoChat
Please make sure you're logged in with your username and password, otherwise it won't recognize you as a member! You can do so here:
http://login.yahoo.com/config/login?.intl=us&.src=ygrp&.done=http://groups.yahoo.com%2F
You'll need to have a Yahoo!Profile (a short biography) to get access to the web features. Otherwise, you'll only have access to the basic mailing list and not the website. If you haven't selected a Profile yet, you can do so here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups?sort=m&order=a&page=1&edit=1
You can also contact the moderators at VHoChat-owner@yahoogroups.com, and we'll send you a Yahoo-generated e-mail that will hopefully make creating one easier. We reserve the right to send this out sporadically without solicitation. Example of a Profile: http://profiles.yahoo.com/sourismom
FILE SHARING Attachments are NOT permitted. There are two sections on the group's website, "Files" and "Photos," where you can upload any picture or file you'd like to share with the group (up to 5 MB per file). Remember that pictures won't get displayed full-size in the "Photos" section, so please consider posting them in the "Files" section if they're very large or very important.
If you're unable to access any of the files, the group has run out of its hourly data transfer limit. Please try again at a later time.
Yahoo!Groups also offers features like "Database" (where you can create tables to list your age, location, interests, etc.), a "Chat" room, a "Links" section, and "Polls." Feel free to make use of any of them, but not excessively. They can be accessed at the group's website:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VHoChat
VIRUSES, HOAXES, SPAM Only registered Vartan Hos are invited to join the group, so viruses or spam are very rare. If we do come across any kind of spam, chain letters, or advertisements, however, we'll do our best to delete it ASAP. Spammers will be unsubscribed from the group immediately and without warning. If you want to plug your own site or forum, please ask the moderators for permission first or post your link in the "Links" section. DON'T send mass invitations or ads to members on-list OR off.
If you hear of a computer virus, please RESEARCH it on the internet first before creating a panic! You can do so at Symantec.com, for example. Most mails alerting you to viruses are hoaxes. If you really have a virus, please alert the moderators, so *we* can post an official warning to all members.
MODERATION, BANNING We have multiple moderators reading the group along with the main Safe House administrators. If you fail to follow our rules or the basic internet guidelines known as "Netiquette," your post(s) will be deleted. You'll receive a private notice explaining why your post(s) got deleted. Feel free to resend! If you keep acting against our rules (i.e. forget to snip your mail) -- be it deliberately or by mistake -- we reserve the right to ban you for a month, or remove you altogether. We administrators will put the word "ADMIN" in our header if we have something important to announce.
Should you ever have a problem with any message or member of the group, a question, or experience an annoyance, please contact the moderators off-list immediately and we'll take it from there. Do NOT reprimand someone on the group. We'll try our best from OUR end to resolve the situation quickly and in a fair way. You can alert us to anything at VHoChat-owner@yahoogroups.com or thesafehouse@vartanho.com.
~ The Safe House Webmistresses
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