RULES (Everyone *MUST* read this section)

We would prefer to run this list with the absolute minimum number of rules, so here are what we think are the essential ones. We reserve the right to alter, change, and add to these as it becomes necessary - the list will always be notified if this happens. Once new rules are posted to the list, it is automatically understood that members of CFS-20s agree to abide by them, or they agree to unsubscribe immediately.
 
 

Absolutely NO commercial advertisements of any kind, without express written permission of the list owner. The posting of bulk advertising, and bulk junk mail to the list as a whole and to its members is not allowed. Postings where the primary purpose is financial gain for the author are also not allowed, unless there is express written permission of the list owner. Chain letters, regardless of their nature, and "spamming" to the group and its members, are also strictly prohibited.


 

Disagreements may occur, and healthy skepticism or discussion is allowed, BUT the list discussion is intended to be supportive of all members.  Flaming and personal attacks are NOT allowed. Flaming means to direct abusive comments at an individual, or about an individual, for something they posted.


 

Reposting private e-mail is a violation of privacy. Please check your message headers carefully before pressing REPLY or SEND. We understand brainfog, and if you do inadvertently repost someone's private mail, the best first response is abject public and private apology. Short messages such as "me too" or "thank you, so-and-so" should most likely be sent via private e-mail rather than to the list as well.


 

Reposting or rediscussing list mail to another source (or to another person not subscribed to CFS-20s -- excluding immediate family members, spouses, fiances, and S.O.'s) is not permitted unless permission is granted from all authors involved. This is a private list, and the e-mails contained therein are to remain private.


 

Assembling group messages into a database and archiving messages is strictly prohibited for ALL reasons except for personal, private use.


 

This list is designed for individuals only, as a private support group. No groups or organizations may subscribe. Individuals from groups or organizations may subscribe for their PERSONAL use -- from their PERSONAL e-mail account -- but these individuals must request and receive permission from the authors and list owner on CFS-20s before passing on *any* list mail.


 

Members of this list are expected to be who they say they are. Deliberately misrepresenting your age, sex, professional, or educational experience, marital status, reason for subscribing to CFS-20s, etc., is not allowed.


 

This list is a SAFE SPACE for CFS-20s subscribers to share information, conversation, and support. It is not intended to be a place to conduct research, sell products, "preach" religious or political propaganda, spy on other list members, harass other list members, etc. Use of this list for the purposes mentioned above is not allowed. Surveys and Questionnaires are not to be posted to the group without express written permission of the list owner. Replies to these will not be sent to the list as a whole, but to the one posting the survey/questionnaire. If a list member or someone they know is conducting a research project, and they need help from the members of CFS-20s, prior approval must be given by the list owner.


 

Do not post exceptionally large posts to the list, as well as (and including) files and encoded binaries. Many people do not have computer systems that can receive such large downloads, and several list members pay a by-the-minute connection fee. Please be understanding and respectful. And if in question about a large post, please seek prior-approval from the list owner.

 
If these rules are broken, then the listowner and board of directors may do one or more of the following:
 
• The board will decide that it was an honest mistake and it won't happen again.  The error will be pointed out to the person(s) involved but no further action will be taken.

 
• Messages sent by the person(s) involved will be moderated, this means that every post comes to us directly first and must be approved before everybody sees it.

 
• Posting privileges may be suspended temporarily, this means you can read mail but not post.

 
• The board may unsubscribe a member from the list, either permanently or temporarily, which means you can neither read nor post.

SENDING MAIL TO THE LIST

To mail the list, send your message to:

CFS-20s@listserv.icors.org

and LISTSERV makes copies for all the people who have subscribed. Send commands to the LISTSERV address:

listserv@listserv.icors.org

Do not send mail to the listserv address, only commands. See the next section for more information on commands.
 

Trimming Replies:

When replying to a post, please trim your message. This means deleting text from the original post(s) that isn't directly relevant to your reply, to prevent emails from becoming too long. If there are several bits that you are replying to, you can delete the irrelevant bits in between and type in 'snip' to acknowledge that there is a bit missing.

Some people receive CFS-20s in digest form, (several posts as one long email), because they are too sick to receive all the separate messages. If you don't trim, they will get the same message several times, making it harder for them to deal with the sheer volume of posts.

If you are in doubt, contact the board for further guidance.
 

Using the Subject line:

Please make use of the subject line when posting to the list. Some people are not able to read all list messages and a useful subject line helps them stay involved with the list without becomming overwhelmed. If you are replying to a post the subject line will be included automatically, but if the theme of the message has changed please update the subject line as well. For example:

Subject: vitamin supplements (was: spinach recipes)
 

Using Topic Headings:

CFS-20s uses the topic prefix feature because this method allows those who are very ill to select which topics they wish to see, and saves them from having to view things they aren't interested in, or are unable to cope with right now. This can mean the difference between being able to remain on the list or having to go nomail to someone who is going through a rough patch. As always though, we are understanding, especially as this will be new to some people. Please feel free to contact the listowner or members of the board if you have questions concerning the topics.

The current topics available are SOC: for social things, HUM: for humorous posts and jokes, and OTHER: for everything else concerning CFS. The OTHER: prefix isn't necessary as everything without a prefix falls under that, and this is expected to include anything having to do with CFS, like coping, asking for support, medical topics, etc..

For information on how to change your topics settings, see the commands section.
 

Using topic settings is fairly simple. When writing the subject of your e-mail, you just add the prefix at the beginning. For instance, say you wanted to post a humorous joke. The subject would look something like:

HUM: Lightbulb joke

The HUM: part would make the message go only to those receiving humor postings. It works the same for SOC: posts. Just add that to the beginning of the subject, and that's it. Your time and understanding will greatly help the list and assist those who find it hard to keep up with the list.

Note: the topic prefix must appear as it does in the example. That is, it must be all capitals, followed immediately by a colon, then a space, and then the subject. Also note that those on digest mode receive all topics.

Finally, when you reply to a message that already has the prefix, you don't need to move it to the front of the message. The Re: added in front will not affect it. For instance, replying to the above example would create the subject:

Re: HUM: Lightbulb joke

That would be fine and also get distributed only to those receiving humor postings.
 

WHAT TO TALK ABOUT

As subject matter is concerned, CFS-20s is intended to be an "anything goes" environment. However, subjects such as gender relations and religion tend to end up in heated arguments, no matter how good the authors' intentions. Please think carefully before you bring up, or respond to, such topics -- and take into account geographical differences, different (if any) religious preferences, societal backgrounds, etc. The key word in these discussions is RESPECT. This is a support group environment, not a platform. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Some examples could be: Dating (or not dating) with this disease, school, career, intimacy, money, living environment, family, venting, and anything to keep your spirits up, even if it's not CFS/ME/FMS-related!

• How do I tell someone that I'm involved with about this disease, and convince them that we can have a future with it?
   
• How will I ever get an education/career with my health as it is?

 
• How do others on this list deal with the sexual issues, problems, and concerns that go along with this illness?

 
• How can my significant other and I make rent, pay bills, buy groceries, and purchase my medications on one income?

 
• Will I have to live with my parents forever?

 
• Support -- "How do I survive just now?"

 
• Vent what is on your mind (the bad AND the good)

 

1. The content is appropriate to the list and provides a clear benefit to the members.
2. Any benefits the sender may obtain are specifically stated.
3. The sender should be willing to share the same information or resources without material benefit.

LIST SETTINGS AND COMMANDS

There are a number of commands you can use to personalize your subscription to CFS-20s. These commands are processed automatically so follow the instructions exactly, or if you need help contact the listowner at cfs-20s-request@listserv.icors.org

For complete descriptions of the commands and settings available, read the online files LISTSERV REFCARD and LISTSERV GENINTRO, which can be obtained by sending the following commands in the body of a mail message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NET:

INFO REFCARD

INFO GENINTRO

To contact the list owner, email cfs-20s-request@listserv.icors.org and your mail will be forwarded to the appropriate person.
 

How to send a command:

All of the following settings may be changed using the same procedure. Send an e-mail message to listserv@listserv.icors.org.

In the BODY of the message type set cfs-20s followed by the command. Each description includes an example. The Subject of the message does not matter, it can be left blank.
 

DIGEST Mode:

The default setting is to receive each post individually. The digest feature allows you to receive several posts as one message, or "digest", instead of separately. To receive your messages this way, please send the command:
set cfs-20s digest

To go back to receiving individual messages:
set cfs-20s nodigest
 

Going NOMAIL:

Nomail is a setting that allows you to remain subscribed to the list, but to no longer receive posts. This is good for if you are going away or otherwise unable to check your e-mail for a bit. While nomail, you are also able to post to the list, just not receive any messages. This allows you to post from several addresses if you so desire. Just subscribe the extra address and set it to nomail. To go nomail, send the command:
set cfs-20s nomail

To go back to receiving messages again, send:
set cfs-20s mail
 

Topic Prefixes:

See also Sending mail to the list - Using the subject line.

The current topics available are SOC: for social things, HUM: for humorous posts and jokes, and OTHER: for everything else concerning CFS. The OTHER: prefix isn't necessary as everything without a prefix falls under that, and this is expected to  include anything having to do with CFS, like coping, asking for support, medical topics, etc..

When you are subscribed, you are automatically set to receive all topics. Adding or subtracting subjects is very easy. Send the command like this:
set cfs-20s topics: -topicname/+topicname

For example, if you don't want to receive SOC: postings, you would send the command:
set cfs-20s topics: -soc

or if you weren't receiving SOC: postings and want to add them back, the command would be:
set cfs-20s topics: +soc

If you wish to receive all topics again, just sent the command:
set cfs-20s topics: +all
 

SUBSCRIBE and UNSUBSCRIBE

If you have been sent the welcome letter, you have probably already been subscribed to the CFS-20s list.

The format for these commands is a little different, the command comes first.

To unsubscribe, send the command:
unsubscribe CFS-20s

To subscribe to CFS-20s send:
subscribe CFS-20s Yourfirstname Yourlastname

replacing Yourfirstname and Yourlastname with your first and last names. Note that the CFS-20s subscriber list is viewable only by the listowners and will be kept private. When you first subscribe, your membership will be moderated. This means that when you send a message to CFS-20s it will be viewed by a member of the board before being posted to the list.
 

THE #cfs-20s IRC (Internet Relay Chat) Channel

CFS-20s has its own official channel on IRC called #cfs-20s. It is located on IRC Undernet servers and the channel is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you are planning to be in the channel at a certain time, you can send a message to the list so others will know when to join you. Remember that if you mention a specific time you should indicate the time zone too!

For further information, please see the CFS-20s IRC FAQ

Other useful links: