Here's a basic outline for using the group mailing list:

First off, what is it?

"A mailing list is very much like a conference, except that the conversation comes to you in your e-mailbox."(studiodog.com)

Mailing lists are discussion forums which operate through email. A listserver maintains a list of all subscribers to the mailing list. Contributions are made to an e-mail address (eg. groupaddress@lists.relocalize.net) that then redirects the message via email to all subscribers.

All messages and message threads are also stored online on the group web site, so members of the group can follow discussions online and choose whether they want to be emailed each time there is a new posting. With the group mailing list, subscribers can reply directly to a posting from within their email and their reply will automatically get sent to all of the mailing list subscribers and a corresponding posting reply will appear online. Likewise, if a member posts new content to the group web site, their posting will also get sent to all of the mailing list subscribers.

The catch?
You must send to the mailing list from the same account as you are registered with on relocalize.net. This is to prevent spam from being sent to everyone on the list and verifies that only members of the group are allowed to post to the list.

What about sending attachments?
You can send files as attachments as you usually would. These files will then be uploaded to the online forum to accompany the posting.

Setting up your mailing list subscription

To sign up to a list, you first need to check that you have enabled email notification for your user account. To do so, log in and click on the link for "my account" in the right-hand user menu (see figure).

Click on the 'edit' tab at the top of your profile page, then select either the option of always sending notifications or selectively sending notifications by group (see figure).

If you would like to change your subscription to an individual group, click on the "my subscription" link in the top right hand box (see figure).

From there, you can choose whether you would like to receive individual emails, a daily digest, or none at all (see figure).

While the mailing list tool is mostly working, we expect that there may still be a few kinks to iron
If you notice any strange occurrences, please contact us at network@postcarbon.org.